Roots of Stephanie Mills

Donald Lawrence is an American gospel music songwriter, record producer, composer, singer, and music arranger. He is best known for the songs he had created, in which had been known for their the blend of several genres and genre-influences. In the 2000s, his Grammy Award-nominated songs "The Blessing of Abraham" and "Encourage Yourself," became few of the most known "staples." He owns the record label, QuietWater Entertainment.

First Choice is an American girl group and vocal music trio from Philadelphia. Their soul and disco hits included "Armed and Extremely Dangerous", "Smarty Pants", "The Player ", "Guilty", "Love Thang", and "Doctor Love". They were signed to soul label Philly Groove and to disco label Gold Mind, and later to Warner Bros. and Salsoul.

Paul Frederick Jabara was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday (1978), as well as "No More Tears ", Summer's international hit duet with Barbra Streisand. He also co-wrote the Weather Girls' iconic hit "It's Raining Men" with Paul Shaffer.

Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and producer. The son of singer Eddie Levert, he formed the R&B vocal group LeVert alongside his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon. He was also a member of the supergroup LSG, along with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. Levert is often credited with the discovery of R&B groups The Rude Boys, Men at Large, and 1 of the Girls. He released nine solo albums, and posthumously won a Grammy Award. In 2013, he was a part of the inaugural National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame inductees.

Mary Vesta Williams was an American singer-songwriter, who performed across genres such as soul, funk, R&B, Quiet storm, jazz soul and Urban Contemporary. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was simply known as Vesta beginning in the 1990s. She was known for her four–octave vocal range. She once sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the Los Angeles Lakers game opener using all four of those octaves.

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her second studio album, Whitney (1987). The song was written by Michael Masser and Will Jennings and produced by Masser, his fifth released production for Houston, and vocally arranged by Houston herself.