Her father, who worked at the Pentagon, taught Amy to play music. At nine she took dance lessons, but her guidance counsellors in junior high school tried to steer her away from a career in show business. 

Her high school principle who happened to be her Uncle, came to her rescue and arranged her class schedule so she could enrol in 'Workshops For Careers In The Arts', the first arts school of it's genre in the nations capitol. Through this she performed in many productions including the Emmy Award winning special "Genesis Juba And Other Jewels" while in her teens.

There already was an Amy Stewart registered with Actor's Equity, so she changed the spelling of her name to Amii. She began attending Howard University in Washington but soon left to work with the D.C. Repertory Dance Company, studying ballet and modern dance. At 19 she joined the touring company of the Tony Award winning musical "Bubbling Brown Sugar," appearing first in Miami then on Broadway and finally on London West End. 

While in London she appeared in "All God's Children," an award winning BBC Television Network special as assistant choreographer and lead dancer.

It was in London that she met record producer Barry Leng. 

Their first recording was the Barry Leng/Simon May composition "You Really Touched My Heart" for the Hansa Records label. The record generated enough interest to merit the recording of several more tracks for an album release.  Barry and Simon wrote four more songs for the album. For good measure three "oldies" were used, "Get Your Love Back," The Doors "Light My Fire," for which Leng and May wrote an uptempo song to incorporate with as a medley and a cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood."

 When the album was completed, disco was at it's fevered pitch and the ailing American label Ariola Records quickly optioned the recordings. Their first release was a 12" single of "Knock On Wood." The song was not the usual 4/4 disco beat, and many D.J.'s found it hard to mix. However it quickly found an audience and entered the charts on January 27, 1979. Twelve weeks later it hit the number one spot, earning Amii her spot in musical history. It eventually sold more than 8 million copies world-wide. By March the single had gone Gold and by August it went Platinum. The album achieved Gold status in February before it hit number nineteen on the Top Forty. 

The follow-up, a medley of "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven" was released on a promotional-only red vinyl 12" single and quickly raced up the club charts. It did not find the same reaction on the radio charts in the US, stalling at number 69. It did go top five in Britain.

For more information on Amii Stewart, visit her official website on the link above.