Amii Stewart (born Amy Paulette Stewart) was a dancer who dropped out of college to perform with the DC Repertory Dance Company. While starring in the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar in London, she recorded songs with disco producer Barry Leng at his request.

Her first single, a cover of the 1966 Eddie Floyd hit “Knock on Wood” became an international smash in 1979. It topped the US Pop Chart, was certified Platinum in less than a year and earned her a Grammy nomination.

Its success sent Stewart’s debut album of the same name into the top 20 in the US and she instantly became famous for her outrageous costumes that were made by a female German designer. Three months later, her ‘disco-thump’ reinterpretation of The Doors' “Light My Fire” became a top 40 hit in six countries overseas including a #5 peak in the UK, her highest to date there (it was a minor hit in the US).

Stewart’s sophomore album Paradise Bird was released the same year and its singles found success overseas. The lead single “Jealousy” reached the top 40 in five countries and its title track did the same in three.

The following year, a duet with Johnny Bristol of the 1964 Smokey Robinson-penned “My Girl” as “My Girl / My Guy” was a moderate hit in the UK and US. It was included on her third album Images, released in 1981. This was the end of the peak of her international success.

Over the next six years Stewart morphed from a flashy disco act into a more soulful R&B singer. Her 1985 reissue of “Knock On Wood” backed with “Light My Fire” was her biggest post-1981 success. In the UK, she found moderate success with 1984’s “Friends” and another cover of “My Girl / My Guy” with Deon Estus in 1985. Her last UK Chart appearance to date was one week at #99 with 1987’s “Love Ain’t No Toy”.

Without again reaching the same level of international fame she’d seen in the late-70s and early-80s, Stewart still continues to have a successful career as an entertainer in Europe. She released six albums in the 1990s and was one of a dozen artists chosen to perform for the Pope in Vatican City in 1993 – the only one asked to come again the following year. She also played the role Mary Medgeline in the 2000 Italian tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.