Stephanie Bentley (born April 29, 1963 in Thomasville, Georgia) is an American country music singer-songwriter. She made her debut in 1996 as a duet partner on Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at #21 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The single and Stephanie's only other Top 40 hit, "Who's That Girl", were both included on her debut album Hopechest, which was also released in 1996.

Bentley never recorded an album or charted a single after the release of Hopechest; however, she did find success as a songwriter, having penned Faith Hill's 1999 crossover single "Breathe", as well as Martina McBride's 2002 Top 5 hit "Concrete Angel". She has also co-written album cuts for Céline Dion, Pam Tillis and Jo Dee Messina.

Biography

Stephanie's musical interests began at age nine, when she, her sister, and a friend entered and won a talent contest. The three later toured briefly as a musical group, even singing for Jimmy Carter, who was President of the United States at the time. In 1984, she formed a band called Special Delivery.

Stephanie later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she worked as a demo singer. One of the songs for which she sang a demo was "Shake the Sugar Tree", which later became a Top 5 hit when Pam Tillis recorded it for her 1992 album Homeward Looking Angel; Bentley's demo vocals were dubbed into Tillis' recording of the song.

After two failed record deals, Bentley signed to Columbia Records in 1996. Her first chart entry in 1996 was as as a duet partner Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.[3] "Heart Half Empty" was followed by Stephanie's first solo single, "Who's That Girl". Both songs were included on her debut album, 1996's Hopechest; the duet was also included on Herndon's 1995 album What Mattered Most. Hopechest produced two more singles after "Who's That Girl".

Although Bentley never charted or recorded an album after 1997, she has had success writing songs for others. One of her biggest hits as a songwriter is "Breathe" by Faith Hill, which spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard country music charts and became the Number One song of 2000 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end countdown. Bentley also co-wrote Martina McBride's 2002 single "Concrete Angel".

In 2002, Bentley married Brian Prout, drummer for the band Diamond Rio.