Dionne Warwick
Encyclopedia
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations
Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization
, and a United States Ambassador of Health.
Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era (1955–1999), based on the Billboard
Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. According to Billboard Magazine, Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin
as the most charted female vocalist with 56 singles making the Billboard Hot 100
between 1962 and 1998.
and later a Certified Public Accountant
; and Lee Drinkard Warrick (1920–2005), manager of The Drinkard Singers
, the renowned family gospel group and RCA
recording artists, in East Orange, New Jersey
. Warwick had a sister Delia "Dee Dee" and a brother, Mancel Jr., who was killed in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21. She has African American
, Native American
, Brazilian and Dutch
ancestry.
Dionne's career as a singer was almost inevitable considering her family background. Dionne's mother, aunts and uncles were members of a renowned group known as the Drinkard Singers that frequently performed throughout the New York metropolitan area. The Drinkard family originated in Blakley, Georgia and migrated to Newark, New Jersey in the late 20's. The family was composed of Nitcholas "Nitch" Drinkard, and Delia Drinkard, Warwick's grandparents, and their children: William, Lee (Warwick's mother), Marie "Rebbie" (Warwick's namesake), Hansom, Anne, Larry, Nicky, and Emily "Cissy" (who is the mother of Warwick's cousin, Whitney Houston
). Dionne's paternal grandfather Elzae Warrick was the preacher at St. Luke's AME, the church attended by the Drinkard family. Lee Drinkard and the preacher's son, Mancel, were later married, and Dionne became the Drinkard family's first grandchild on December 12, 1940. The original Drinkard Singers (known as the Drinkard Jubilairs) consisted of Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nicky. Marie instructed the group and they were managed by Lee. As they became more successful, Lee and Marie also began performing with the group, and they were augmented by Judy Guoins, later known as pop/R&B singer Judy Clay, whom Lee had unofficially adopted. The Drinkards became so well known that even Elvis Presley expressed an interest in having them join his touring entourage. Dionne began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She performed her first gospel solo at the age of six and frequently joined The Drinkard Singers. Her first televised performances were in the mid-and late 1950s with the Drinkard Singers on local television stations in New Jersey
and New York City
. Warwick grew up in a racially mixed middle-class neighborhood. She stated in an interview on The Biography Channel
in 2002 that the neighborhood in East Orange "was literally the United Nations of neighborhoods. We had every nationality, every creed, every religion right there on our street." Warwick was untouched by the harsher aspects of racial intolerance and discrimination until her early professional career, when she began touring nationally.
Warwick graduated from East Orange High School in 1958 and was awarded a Scholarship in Music Education to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut
(a school from which she earned her Doctorate
of Music Education in 1973).
Also, in 1958, Warwick, Myrna Utley, Carol Slade, and Warwick's sister Delia, who by this time had begun to be known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick
, formed their own group, which they called called "The Gospelaires." Their first performance together was at the world famous Apollo Theater
, where they won the weekly amateur contest. Various other singers joined The Gospelaires from time to time, including Judy Clay
, Cissy Houston
, and Doris Troy
, whose chart selection "Just One Look," when she recorded it in 1963, featured backing vocals from the Gospelaires. After various personnel changes (Dionne and Doris left the group after achieving solo success) The Gospelaires eventually became the recording group the Sweet Inspirations, which had minor chart success but were much sought-after as studio background singers. The Gospelaires and later the Sweet Inspirations performed on dozens and dozens of records cut in New York City for artist such as Garnet Mims, the Drifters, Jerry Butler, and later Dionne's recordings, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley.
Warwick recalled, in her 2002 A&E
Biography, that "a man came running frantically backstage at The Apollo and said he needed background singers for a session for Sam 'The Man' Taylor and old big-mouth here spoke up and said 'We'll do it!' and we left and did the session. I wish I remembered the gentleman's name because he was responsible for the beginning of my professional career."
The backstage encounter led to the group being asked to sing background sessions at recording studios in New York. Soon, the group was in demand in New York music circles for their background work for such artists as The Drifters
, Ben E. King
, Chuck Jackson
, Dinah Washington
, Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, and Solomon Burke
among many others.
Warwick remembered, in her A&E Biography, that after school, they would catch a bus from East Orange to the Port Authority Terminal, and then subway to recording studios in Manhattan, perform their background gigs and be back at home in East Orange in time to do their school homework. The background vocal work would continue while Warwick pursued her studies at Hartt.
While she was performing background on The Drifters's recording of "Mexican Divorce," Warwick's voice and star presence were noticed by the song's composer, Burt Bacharach
, a Brill Building
songwriter who was writing songs with many other songwriters, including lyricist Hal David
. According to a July 14, 1967, article on Warwick from Time
, Bacharach stated, "She has a tremendous strong side and a delicacy when singing softly—like miniature ships in bottles." Musically, she was "no play-safe girl. What emotion I could get away with!" And what complexity, compared with the usual run of pop songs.
During the session, Bacharach asked Warwick if she would be interested in recording demonstration recordings of his compositions to be used to pitch the tunes to record labels. One such demo, "It's Love That Really Counts"--destined to be recorded by Scepter-signed act The Shirelles
--caught the attention of Scepter Records
President Florence Greenberg
. Greenberg, according to Current Biography
1969 Yearbook, told Bacharach, "Forget the song, get the girl!"
Warwick was signed to Bacharach's and David's production company, according to Warwick, which in turn was signed to Scepter Records
in 1962 by Greenberg. The partnership would provide Bacharach with the freedom to produce Warwick without the control of recording company executives and company A&R
men. Warwick's musical ability and education would also allow Bacharach to compose more challenging tunes. The demo version of "It's Love That Really Counts," along with her original demo of "Make It Easy on Yourself," would surface on Dionne's debut Scepter album, titled Presenting Dionne Warwick, which was released early in 1963.
Her first solo single for Scepter Records was released in November, 1962. The song was titled "Don't Make Me Over
", the title (according to the A&E Biography of Dionne Warwick) supplied by Warwick herself when she snapped the phrase at producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David in anger. Warwick found "Make It Easy on Yourself
"—-a song on which she had recorded the original demo and had wanted to be her first single release—-had been given to another artist, Jerry Butler
. From the phrase, Bacharach and David created their first top 40 pop hit (#21) and a top 5 US R&B hit. Warrick's name was misspelled on the single's label, and she began using the new spelling (i.e., "Warwick") both professionally and personally. According to the July 14, 1967 Time magazine article, after "Don't Make Me Over" hit in 1962, she answered the call of her manager ("C'mon, baby, you gotta go"), left school and went on a tour of France
, where critics crowned her "Paris' Black Pearl," having been introduced on stage at Paris Olympia
that year by Marlene Dietrich
. Rhapsodized Jean Monteaux in Arts: "The play of this voice makes you think sometimes of an eel, of a storm, of a cradle, a knot of seaweed, a dagger. It is not a voice so much as an organ. You could write fugues for Warwick's voice."
The two immediate follow-ups to "Don't Make Me Over"—-"This Empty Place" (with "B" Side "Wishin' and Hopin'
" later covered by Dusty Springfield) and "Make The Music Play"-—charted briefly in the top 100. Her fourth single, "Anyone Who Had a Heart," released in December 1963, was Warwick's first top 10 pop hit (#8) in the USA and also an international hit. This was followed by "Walk On By" in April 1964, a major international hit and million seller that solidified her career. For the rest of the 1960s, Warwick was a fixture on the US and Canadian charts, and much of Warwick's output from 1962 to 1971 was written and produced by the Bacharach/David team.
Warwick weathered the British Invasion
better than most American artists. Her UK
hits were most notably "Walk On By" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
?" In the UK, a number of Bacharach-David-Warwick songs were covered by UK singers Cilla Black
, Sandie Shaw
and Dusty Springfield
, most notably Black's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" which went to #1 in the UK. This upset Warwick and she has described feeling insulted when told that in the UK, record company executives wanted her songs recorded by someone else. Warwick even met Cilla Black while on tour in the UK. She recalled what she said to her: "I told her that "You're My World
" would be my next single in the States. I honestly believe that if I'd sneezed on my next record, then Cilla would have sneezed on hers too. There was no imagination in her recording."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030223/ai_n12735134+dionne+cilla&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=52 http://web.archive.org/web/20091027132031/http://geocities.com/lilysavage_uk/radio.html "You're My World"--recorded in no time by Black—was not released as a single by Warwick, but it did appear on a later album, Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
, released in 1968.
Warwick was named the Bestselling Female Vocalist in the Cash Box Magazine
Poll in 1964, with six chart hits in that year. Cash Box also named her the Top Female Vocalist in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In the 1967 Cash Box Poll, she was second to Petula Clark
, and in 1968's poll second to Aretha Franklin
. Playboy
's influential Music Poll of 1970 named her the Top Female Vocalist. In 1969, Harvard's Hasty Pudding Society named her Woman of the Year.
In a May 21, 1965 Time Magazine cover article entitled "The Sound of the Sixties," Dionne Warwick's sound was described as follows:
"Swinging World. Scholarly articles probe the relationship between the Beatles and the nouvelle vague films of Jean-Luc Godard, discuss 'the brio and elegance' of Dionne Warwick's singing style as a 'pleasurable but complex' event to be 'experienced without condescension.' In chic circles, anyone damning rock 'n' roll is labeled not only square but uncultured. For inspirational purposes, such hip artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Andy Warhol
occasionally paint while listening to rock 'n' roll music. Explains Warhol: 'It makes me mindless, and I paint better.' After gallery openings in Manhattan, the black-tie gatherings often adjourn to a discotheque."
The mid 1960s to early 1970s became an even more successful time period for Warwick, who saw a string of Gold selling albums and Top 20 and Top 10 hit singles. "Message to Michael
", a Bacharach-David composition that the duo was certain was a "man's song", became a top 10 hit for Warwick in May 1966. The January 1967 LP Here Where There Is Love was her first RIAA certified Gold Album and featured "Alfie
", and two 1966 hits "Trains and Boats and Planes", and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
". "Alfie" had become a radio hit when disc jockeys across the nation began to play the album cut early in 1967. "Alfie" was released as the "B" side of a Bacharach/David ballad, "The Beginning of Loneliness" in which charted in the Hot 100. Disc jockeys flipped the single and made it a double-sided hit. Bacharach had been contracted to produce "Alfie" for the Michael Caine
film of the same name and wanted Dionne Warwick to sing the tune but the British producers wanted a British subject to cut the tune. Cilla Black
was selected to record the song, and her version peaked at #95 upon its release in the USA. A cover version by Cher
used in the USA prints of the film peaked at #33. In the UK and Australia
, Black's version was a Top 10 hit. In a 1983 concert appearance televised on PBS
, Warwick states she was the 43rd person to record "Alfie", at Bacharach's insistence, who felt Dionne could make it a big hit. Warwick, at first, balked at recording the tune and asked Bacharach "How many more versions of Alfie do you need?" to which Bacharach replied "Just one more, yours." Bacharach took Warwick into the studio with his new arrangement and cut the tune the way he wanted it to be, which she nailed in one take. Warwick's version peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on both the R&B Chart and the AC Charts. Warwick performed the song at the Academy Awards in 1967. Today, "Alfie" is considered a signature song for Warwick.
Later that same year, Warwick earned her first RIAA Gold Single for US sales of over one million units for the single "I Say a Little Prayer
" (from her album The Windows of the World
). When disc jockeys across the nation began to play the track from the album in the fall of 1967 and demanded its release as a single, Florence Greenberg, President of Scepter Records, complied and "I Say a Little Prayer" became Warwick's biggest US hit to that point, reaching #4 on the US and Canadian Charts and # 8 on the R & B Charts. Aretha Franklin
would cover the tune a year later hitting #10 on the hot 100,#3 on the R&B charts as well a turning the song into a million seller as well. The tune was also the first RIAA certified USA million seller for Bacharach-David.
Her follow-up to "I Say a Little Prayer","(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls
", was unusual in several respects. It was not written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it was the "B" side of her "I Say a Little Prayer" single, and it was a song that she almost didn't record. While the film version of Valley of the Dolls
was being made, actress Barbara Parkins
suggested that Warwick be considered to sing the film's theme song, written by songwriting team Andre
and Dory Previn
. The song was to be recorded by Judy Garland
, who was fired from the film. Warwick performed the song, and when the film became a success in the early weeks of 1968, disc jockeys flipped the single and made the single one of the biggest double-sided hits of the rock era and another million seller. At the time, RIAA rules allowed only one side of a double-sided hit single to be certified as Gold, but Scepter awarded Warwick an "in-house award" to recognize "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" as a million selling tune.
Warwick had re-recorded a Pat Williams-arranged version of the theme at A&R Studios in New York because contractual restrictions would not allow the Warwick version from the film to be included in the 20th Century Fox
soundtrack LP. The LP Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
, released in early 1968 and containing the re-recorded version of the movie theme (#2–4 weeks), "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
?" and several new Bacharach-David compositions, hit the #6 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Album Chart and would remain on the chart for over a year. The film soundtrack LP, without Warwick vocals, failed to impress the public, while Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
earned an RIAA Gold certification.
The single "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
?", an international million seller and a Top 10 hit in several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Mexico, was also a double sided hit with the "B" side "Let Me Be Lonely" charting at #79.
More hits followed into 1971 including "Promises, Promises" (#19, 1968); "Who Is Gonna Love Me" (#32, 1968) with "B" side, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
" becoming another double-sided hit; "I'll Never Fall in Love Again
" (#6, 1969); "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
" (#15, 1969); "This Girl's in Love with You
" (#7, 1969); "Make It Easy on Yourself
" (#37, 1970); "Who Is Gonna Love Me" (#33, 1968); "The April Fools" (#37, 1969); "Let Me Go To Him" (#32, 1970); and "Paper Mache" (#43, 1970). Warwick's final Bacharach/David penned single was March 1971's "Who Gets the Guy" and her final "official" Scepter single release was "He's Moving On" backed with "Amanda" both from the soundtrack of the motion picture adaptation of Jacqueline Susann
's The Love Machine
.
Warwick had become the priority act of Scepter Records, according to the website "The Scepter Records Story" and producer/A&R chief, Luther Dixon
in a 2002 A&E Biography of Burt Bacharach, with the release of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" in 1963. Other Scepter LPs certified RIAA Gold include Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits Part 1 released in 1967 and The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold released in 1971. By the end of 1971, Dionne Warwick had sold an estimated thirty-five million singles and albums internationally in less than nine years and more than 16 million singles in the USA alone. Exact figures of Warwick's sales are unknown and probably underestimated, due to Scepter Records apparently lax accounting policies and the company policy of not submitting recordings for RIAA audit. Dionne Warwick became the first Scepter artist to request RIAA audits of her recordings in 1967 with the release of "I Say A Little Prayer."
On Wednesday, September 17, 1969, CBS Television aired Dionne Warwick's first television special entitled "The Dionne Warwick Chevy Special." Dionne's guests were Burt Bacharach, George Kirby
, Glen Campbell
, and Creedence Clearwater Revival
.
In 1971, Dionne Warwick left the family atmosphere of Scepter Records for Warner Bros. Records
, for a $5 million contract, the most lucrative recording contract ever given to a female vocalist up to that time, according to Variety
. Warwick's last LP for Scepter was the aforementioned soundtrack for the motion picture The Love Machine (in which she appeared in an uncredited cameo), released in July 1971. In 1975, Bacharach and David sued Scepter Records for an accurate accounting of royalties due the team from their recordings with Warwick and labelmate B. J. Thomas
. They were awarded almost $600,000 and the rights to all Bacharach/David recordings on the Scepter label. The label, with the defection of Warwick to Warner Bros. Records, filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and was sold to Springboard International Records in 1976.
Following her signing with Warners, with Bacharach and David as writers and producers, Dionne returned to New York City's A&R Studios in late 1971 to begin recording her first album for the new label, the self-titled album Dionne (not to be confused with her later Arista debut album) in January 1972. The album peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100
Album Chart. In 1972, Burt Bacharach and Hal David scored and wrote the tunes for the motion picture Lost Horizon. But the film was panned by the critics, and in the fallout from the film, the songwriting duo decided to terminate their working relationship. The break-up left Dionne devoid of their services as her producers and songwriters. Dionne was contractually obligated to fulfill her contract with Warners without Bacharach and David and she would team with a variety of producers during her tenure with the label.
Faced with the prospect of being sued by Warner Bros. Records due to the breakup of Bacharach/David and their failure to honor their contract with Dionne, she filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against her former partners for breach of contract. The suit was settled out of court in 1979 for $5 million including the rights to all Warwick recordings produced by Bacharach and David.
Warwick, for years an aficionado of psychic phenomena, was advised by famed astrologer Linda Goodman
in 1971 to add a small "e" to her last name, making Warwick "WARWICKe" for good luck and to recognize her married name and her spouse, actor and drummer William "Bill" Elliott. Goodman convinced Warwick that the extra small "e" would add a vibration needed to balance her last name and bring her even more good fortune in her marriage and her professional life. Unfortunately, Goodman proved to be mistaken about this. The extra "e," according to Dionne, "was the worst thing I could have done in retrospect, and in 1975 I finally got rid of that damn 'e' and became 'Dionne Warwick' again."
", recorded as a duet with the Spinners and produced by Thom Bell
. Bell later noted, "Dionne made a (strange) face when we finished [the song]. She didn't like it much, but I knew we had something. So we ripped a dollar in two, signed each half and exchanged them. I told her, 'If it doesn't go number one, I'll send you my half.' When it took off, Dionne sent hers back. There was an apology on it." It was her first US #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
. Other than this success, Warwick's five years on Warner Bros. Records
produced no other major hits. Two notable songs recorded during this period were "His House and Me" and "Once You Hit The Road" (#79 pop, #5 RB, #22 Adult Contemporary) — both of which were produced in 1975 by Thom Bell
.
Warwick recorded five unsuccessful albums with Warners: Dionne
, produced by Bacharach and David; Just Being Myself, produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland;
Then Came You, produced by Jerry Ragovoy
; Track of the Cat, produced by Thom Bell
; and Love at First Sight
, produced by Steve Barri
and Michael Omartian
. The singer's five-year contract with Warners expired in 1977, and with that, Warwick ended her stay at the label.
" in 1979, Dionne was again enjoying top success on the charts. The song was produced by Barry Manilow
. The accompanying album Dionne
was certified Platinum
in the United States for sales exceeding one million units. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard Album Chart and made the Top 10 of the Billboard R & B Albums Chart. Warwick had been personally signed and guided by the label's founder Clive Davis
, who stated to Dionne "You may be ready to give the business up, but the business is not ready to give you up." Dionne's next single release was another major hit for her. "Deja Vu
" was co-written by Isaac Hayes
and hit #1 Adult Contemporary as well as #15 on Billboard's Hot 100. In 1980, Dionne was nominated for the NARAS Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "I'll Never Love This Way Again
" and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for "Déjà Vu". Dionne became the first female artist in the history of the awards to win in both categories the same year. Her second Arista album, 1980's No Night So Long
sold 500,000 US copies and featured the title track which became a major success - hitting #1 Adult Contemporary and #23 on Billboard's Hot 100 - and the album peaked at #23 on the Billboard Albums Chart.
In January 1980, while under contract to Arista Records, Dionne Warwick hosted a two-hour TV special called Solid Gold '79. This was adapted into the weekly one-hour show Solid Gold
, which she hosted throughout 1980 and 1981 and again in 1985-86. Major highlights of each show were the duets she performed with her co-hosts, which often included some of Dionne's hits and her co-hosts' hits intermingled and arranged by Solid Gold musical director, Michael Miller. Another highlight in each show was Dionne's vocal rendition of the Solid Gold Theme, composed by Michael Miller (with lyrics by Dean Pitchford
).
After a brief appearance in the Top Forty in early 1982 with Johnny Mathis
on "Friends In Love" - from the album of the same name - Warwick's next hit later that same year was her full-length collaboration with Barry Gibb
of The Bee Gees for the album Heartbreaker
. The song "Heartbreaker
" became one of Dionne's biggest international hits, returning her to the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 - for the first time since 1979 - as well as #1 Adult Contemporary and #2 in the UK. Internationally, the tune was also a Top 10 hit throughout continental Europe, Australia (#1), Japan, South Africa, Canada, and Asia. The title track was taken from the album of the same name which sold over 3 million copies internationally and earned Dionne an RIAA USA Gold
record award for the album. The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard Album Chart, #13 on the R&B Albums Chart and #3 in the UK. Dionne stated to Wesley Hyatt in his The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits that she was not fond of "Heartbreaker
" but recorded the tune because she trusted The Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit. The project came about when Clive Davis
was attending his aunt's wedding in Orlando, Florida in early 1982 and spoke with Barry Gibb
. Barry mentioned that he had always been a fan of Dionne's and Clive arranged for Dionne and The Bee Gees to discuss a project. Dionne and the brothers Gibb hit it off and the album and the title single were released in October 1982.
In 1983, Dionne released How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
produced by Luther Vandross
. The album's most successful single was the title track, "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
", a Warwick/Vandross duet, which peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100
. It also became a Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary and R&B charts. The album peaked at #57 on the Billboard album chart. Of note was a reunion with the original Shirelles on Warwick's cover of "Will You (Still) Love Me Tomorrow?" The album Finder Of Lost Loves
followed in 1985 and reunited her with both Barry Manilow
and Burt Bacharach
, who was writing with his then current lyricist partner and wife, Carole Bayer Sager
.
In 1985, Warwick contributed her voice to the multi-Grammy Award
winning charity song We Are the World
, along with vocalists like Michael Jackson
, Diana Ross
, and Ray Charles
. The song spent four consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. It was the year's biggest hit - certified four times Platinum in the United States alone.
In 1985, Warwick recorded the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) benefit single "That's What Friends Are For
" alongside Gladys Knight
, Elton John
, and Stevie Wonder
. The single, credited to "Dionne and Friends" was released in October and eventually raised over three million dollars for that cause. The tune was a triple #1 - R&B, Adult Contemporary, and four weeks at the summit on the Billboard Hot 100
in early 1986 - selling close to two million 45s in the United States alone. In 1988, the Washington Post wrote: So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. "You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony," Warwick remembers. "I am tired of hurting and it does hurt." The single won the performers the NARAS Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager. It also was ranked by Billboard magazine as the most popular song of 1986. With this single Warwick also released her most successful album of the 1980s, titled Friends
, which reached #12 on Billboard's album chart.
In 1987 Dionne scored another hit with "Love Power", her eighth career #1 Adult Contemporary hit that went to #5 R&B and #12 on Billboard's Hot 100. "Love Power", a duet with Jeffrey Osborne
, was another written by Burt Bacharach
and Carole Bayer Sager
, and featured in Warwick's album Reservations for Two
. The album's title song, a duet with Kashif
, was also a chart hit. Other artists featured on the album included Smokey Robinson
and the late June Pointer
.
s for the Psychic Friends Network
which featured psychic Linda Georgian. The 900 number psychic
service was active from 1991 to 1998. According to press statements throughout the 1990s, the program was the most successful infomercial for several years and Warwick earned in excess of three million dollars per year as spokesperson for the network. In 1998, Inphomation, the corporation owning the network, filed for bankruptcy and Warwick ended her association with the organization. Warwick's longtime friend and tour manager Henry Carr acknowledged in a 2002 Biography Channel interview that "when Dionne was going through an airport and a child recognized her as 'that psychic lady on TV' Dionne was crushed and said she had worked too hard as an entertainer to become known as 'the psychic lady'."
Warwick's most publicized album during this period was 1993's "Friends Can Be Lovers
", which was produced in part by Ian Devaney and Lisa Stansfield
. Featured on the album was "Sunny Weather Lover", which was the first song that Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
had written together for Warwick since 1972. It was Warwick's lead single in the United States
, and was heavily promoted by Arista
, but failed to chart. A follow-up "Where My Lips Have Been" peaked at #95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. 1994 marked the end of Warwick's contract with Arista Records.
In 1990 Dionne recorded a song "It's All Over" with former member of Modern Talking
Dieter Bohlen
(Blue System
). The single peaked at #60 (#33 airplay) on the german pop charts and it appears on Blue System's album "Deja Vu
".
In 1993, Forrest Sawyer
, host of the ABC News/Entertainment program "Day One", alleged financial improprieties by the Warwick Foundation, founded in 1989 to benefit AIDS patients, particularly Dionne Warwick's charity concert performances organized to benefit the organization. ABC alleged the Foundation was operating at a near 90% administrative cost. ABC also alleged that Warwick flew first class and was accommodated at first class hotels for charity concerts and events in which she participated for the Foundation. Warwick, who had no executive, administrative or management role in the organization, challenged ABC to investigate the foundation further and alleged that the ABC report was racially motivated. An Internal Revenue Service investigation of the Warwick Foundation found no wrongdoing or criminal activity on the part of the Board of Directors or Warwick and its status as a non-profit charity was upheld. ABC maintained the report to be factually correct but the item has not been repeated since the original air date. The Foundation was later dissolved.
On 16 October 2002, Dionne Warwick was nominated Goodwill Ambassador
of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO).
In 2004, Dionne Warwick's first Christmas album was released. The CD, entitled "My Favorite Time of the Year" featured jazzy interpretations of many holiday classics. In 2007, Rhino Records re-released the CD with new cover art.
In 2005, Dionne Warwick was honored by Oprah Winfrey
at her Legends Ball.
Warwick appeared on the May 24, 2006, fifth-season finale of American Idol
. Millions of U.S. viewers watched Warwick sing a medley of "Walk On By" and "That's What Friends Are For
", with longtime collaborator Burt Bacharach
accompanying her on the piano.
In 2006, Warwick signed with Concord Records
after a fifteen-year tenure at Arista which had ended in 1994. Her first and only release for the label was My Friends and Me, a duets album containing reworkings of her old hits, very similar in fashion to her 1998 CD "Dionne Sings Dionne" . Among her singing partners were Gloria Estefan
, Olivia Newton-John
, Wynonna Judd
and Reba McEntire
. The album peaked at #66 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart. The album was produced by her son, Damon Elliott
. A followup album featuring Warwick's old hits as duets with male vocalists was planned but the project was cancelled. The relationship with Concord concluded with the release of My Friends and Me.
A compilation CD of her greatest hits and love songs "The Love Collection" entered the UK pop charts at number 27 on February 16, 2008.
Dionne Warwick's second gospel album, "Why We Sing", was released on February 26, 2008 in the UK and on April 1, 2008 in the USA. The album features guest spots by her sister Dee Dee Warwick
and BeBe Winans
.
On October 18, 2008, Warwick's sister Dee Dee Warwick
died in a nursing home in Essex County, New Jersey. She had been in failing health for several months which lead up to her death. Warwick was with her sister Dee Dee when she died.
On November 24, 2008 Dionne was the star performer on "Divas II" a UK ITV1 special. The show also featured Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Sugababes, Pink, Gabriella Climi and Anastacia.
In 2008 Dionne began recording an album of songs from the Sammy Cahn and Jack Wolf songbooks. The finished recording, entitled "Only Trust Your Heart," will be released in the US by MPCA Records distributed by SonyRed, on March 15, 2011.
On October 20, 2009, Starlight Children's Foundation and New Gold Music Ltd. released a song that Dionne recorded about 10 years prior called "Starlight." The song was written by Dean Pitchford, prolific writer of "Fame" and creator of "Footloose," and Bill Goldstein, whose versatile career includes the original music for NBC's "Fame" TV series. Dionne, Dean and Bill are donating 100% of their royalties to Starlight Children's Foundation as a way to raise money to support Starlight's mission to help seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities.
“When Bill and Dean brought this song to me, I instantly felt connected to its message of shining a little light into the lives of people who need it most,” said Warwick. “I admire the work of Starlight Children’s Foundation and know that if the
song brings hope to even just one sick child, we have succeeded.”
In March 2011, Warwick appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice 4
. Dionne's charity was The Hunger Project. She was fired during the fourth task of the season.
Dionne Warwick married actor and drummer William Elliott
(CBS's Bridget Loves Bernie
-1972–73) in 1966; they divorced in May 1967. They reconciled and were remarried in Milan, Italy, in August 1967, according to Time
. Warwick has stated in many interviews that "It was a case of can't do with, can't do without, so I married him again." On January 18, 1969, while living in East Orange, New Jersey, Warwick gave birth to her first son, David Elliott. In 1973, her second son Damon Elliott
was born. On May 30, 1975, the couple separated and Warwick was granted a divorce in December 1975 in Los Angeles. The court denied Elliott's request for $2000 a month in support pending a community property trial and for $5000, when Elliott insisted he was making $500 a month in comparison to Warwick making $100,000 a month. Dionne stated in "Don't Make Me Over: Dionne Warwick", a 2002 Biography Channel interview, "I was the breadwinner. The male ego is a fragile thing. It's hard when the woman is the breadwinner. All my life, the only man who ever took care of me financially was my father. I have always taken care of myself."
Warwick has been connected romantically with Philadelphia Eagles great Timmy Brown, French singer-songwriter Sacha Distel
, actor Philip Michael Thomas
(Miami Vice
), Seagram heir and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
, and Las Vegas restaurateur and actor Gianni Russo
(The Godfather
).
Warwick made the Top 250 Delinquent Taxpayers List published in October 2007. California Revenue & Taxation Code Section 19195 directs the Franchise Tax Board to publish an annual list of the top 250 taxpayers with liened state income tax delinquencies greater than $100,000 in an effort to collect money from those taxpayers, some of whom have been delinquent since 1987. Dionne Warwick is listed with a tax delinquency of $2,665,305.83 in personal income tax and a tax lien was filed July 24, 1997. As of 2010, Warwick is still delinquent although now owes $2,185,901.08. Her publicist stated that she is actively paying off the debt.
On May 8, 2010, she received an honorary Doctor of Arts from Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois
.
Warwick now lives in Brazil, a country she first visited in the early 1960s. She has become so entranced by Brazil that she has studied Portuguese. She divides her time between Rio de Janeiro
and Sao Paulo
. In April 2010, in an interview on talk-show Programa do Jô
, she said Brazil is the place she intends to spend the rest of her life after she retires.
In 1993, her older son David a former Los Angeles police officer, co-wrote with Terry Steele the Warwick – Whitney Houston duet "Love Will Find a Way", featured on her album, Friends Can Be Lovers. Since 2002, he has toured with and performed duets with his mother periodically, and had his acting debut in the film "Ali" as the singer Sam Cooke. David is a singer-songwriter (Luther Vandross
' "Here and Now
" among others) .
Her second son Damon Elliott is also a noted music producer (Mýa
, Pink
, Keyshia Cole
) and arranged and produced his mother's 2006 Concord release My Friends and Me.
American Music Awards
Billboard Music Awards
RIAA
People's Choice Awards
NAACP Image Awards
ASCAP Awards
Rhythm & Blues Foundation
Women's World Awards
Trumpet Awards
NARM
Best Seller Awards
Cash Box Magazine
As an actress
Documentary film appearances
Compilations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
, and a United States Ambassador of Health.
Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era (1955–1999), based on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. According to Billboard Magazine, Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
as the most charted female vocalist with 56 singles making the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
between 1962 and 1998.
Early life and career
Warwick was born Marie Dionne Warrick to parents Mancel (1911–1977), who began his career as a Pullman porter and subsequently became a chef, a gospel record promoter for Chess RecordsChess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
and later a Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
; and Lee Drinkard Warrick (1920–2005), manager of The Drinkard Singers
The Drinkard Singers
The Drinkard Singers were an American gospel singing group, most successful in the late 1950s and important in the careers of singers Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick, and Judy Clay.-Musical career:...
, the renowned family gospel group and RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
recording artists, in East Orange, New Jersey
East Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...
. Warwick had a sister Delia "Dee Dee" and a brother, Mancel Jr., who was killed in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21. She has African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, Brazilian and Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
ancestry.
Dionne's career as a singer was almost inevitable considering her family background. Dionne's mother, aunts and uncles were members of a renowned group known as the Drinkard Singers that frequently performed throughout the New York metropolitan area. The Drinkard family originated in Blakley, Georgia and migrated to Newark, New Jersey in the late 20's. The family was composed of Nitcholas "Nitch" Drinkard, and Delia Drinkard, Warwick's grandparents, and their children: William, Lee (Warwick's mother), Marie "Rebbie" (Warwick's namesake), Hansom, Anne, Larry, Nicky, and Emily "Cissy" (who is the mother of Warwick's cousin, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
). Dionne's paternal grandfather Elzae Warrick was the preacher at St. Luke's AME, the church attended by the Drinkard family. Lee Drinkard and the preacher's son, Mancel, were later married, and Dionne became the Drinkard family's first grandchild on December 12, 1940. The original Drinkard Singers (known as the Drinkard Jubilairs) consisted of Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nicky. Marie instructed the group and they were managed by Lee. As they became more successful, Lee and Marie also began performing with the group, and they were augmented by Judy Guoins, later known as pop/R&B singer Judy Clay, whom Lee had unofficially adopted. The Drinkards became so well known that even Elvis Presley expressed an interest in having them join his touring entourage. Dionne began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She performed her first gospel solo at the age of six and frequently joined The Drinkard Singers. Her first televised performances were in the mid-and late 1950s with the Drinkard Singers on local television stations in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Warwick grew up in a racially mixed middle-class neighborhood. She stated in an interview on The Biography Channel
The Biography Channel
The Biography Channel is an American digital cable television channel owned by A&E and based on the television series of the same name. A version of the channel also airs on ONO and Telefónica in Spain and on Sky Digital and cable television in the United Kingdom, a version of the channel also...
in 2002 that the neighborhood in East Orange "was literally the United Nations of neighborhoods. We had every nationality, every creed, every religion right there on our street." Warwick was untouched by the harsher aspects of racial intolerance and discrimination until her early professional career, when she began touring nationally.
Warwick graduated from East Orange High School in 1958 and was awarded a Scholarship in Music Education to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
(a school from which she earned her Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
of Music Education in 1973).
Also, in 1958, Warwick, Myrna Utley, Carol Slade, and Warwick's sister Delia, who by this time had begun to be known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick, niece of Cissy Houston and cousin of Whitney Houston....
, formed their own group, which they called called "The Gospelaires." Their first performance together was at the world famous Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, where they won the weekly amateur contest. Various other singers joined The Gospelaires from time to time, including Judy Clay
Judy Clay
Judy Clay was an American soul and gospel singer, who achieved greatest success as a member of two recording duos in the 1960s.-Life:...
, Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
, and Doris Troy
Doris Troy
Doris Troy was an American R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".She was born as Doris Higginson in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir...
, whose chart selection "Just One Look," when she recorded it in 1963, featured backing vocals from the Gospelaires. After various personnel changes (Dionne and Doris left the group after achieving solo success) The Gospelaires eventually became the recording group the Sweet Inspirations, which had minor chart success but were much sought-after as studio background singers. The Gospelaires and later the Sweet Inspirations performed on dozens and dozens of records cut in New York City for artist such as Garnet Mims, the Drifters, Jerry Butler, and later Dionne's recordings, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley.
Warwick recalled, in her 2002 A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
Biography, that "a man came running frantically backstage at The Apollo and said he needed background singers for a session for Sam 'The Man' Taylor and old big-mouth here spoke up and said 'We'll do it!' and we left and did the session. I wish I remembered the gentleman's name because he was responsible for the beginning of my professional career."
The backstage encounter led to the group being asked to sing background sessions at recording studios in New York. Soon, the group was in demand in New York music circles for their background work for such artists as The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
, Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson is an R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961...
, Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
, Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, and Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
among many others.
Warwick remembered, in her A&E Biography, that after school, they would catch a bus from East Orange to the Port Authority Terminal, and then subway to recording studios in Manhattan, perform their background gigs and be back at home in East Orange in time to do their school homework. The background vocal work would continue while Warwick pursued her studies at Hartt.
While she was performing background on The Drifters's recording of "Mexican Divorce," Warwick's voice and star presence were noticed by the song's composer, Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, a Brill Building
Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
songwriter who was writing songs with many other songwriters, including lyricist Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
. According to a July 14, 1967, article on Warwick from Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Bacharach stated, "She has a tremendous strong side and a delicacy when singing softly—like miniature ships in bottles." Musically, she was "no play-safe girl. What emotion I could get away with!" And what complexity, compared with the usual run of pop songs.
During the session, Bacharach asked Warwick if she would be interested in recording demonstration recordings of his compositions to be used to pitch the tunes to record labels. One such demo, "It's Love That Really Counts"--destined to be recorded by Scepter-signed act The Shirelles
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
--caught the attention of Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
President Florence Greenberg
Florence Greenberg
Florence Greenberg was an American record label owner, music executive and a record producer.- Life and career :...
. Greenberg, according to Current Biography
Current Biography
Current Biography is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of The Bronx, New York, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. Current Biography contains profiles of people in the news and includes politicians, athletes, businessmen, and...
1969 Yearbook, told Bacharach, "Forget the song, get the girl!"
Warwick was signed to Bacharach's and David's production company, according to Warwick, which in turn was signed to Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
in 1962 by Greenberg. The partnership would provide Bacharach with the freedom to produce Warwick without the control of recording company executives and company A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
men. Warwick's musical ability and education would also allow Bacharach to compose more challenging tunes. The demo version of "It's Love That Really Counts," along with her original demo of "Make It Easy on Yourself," would surface on Dionne's debut Scepter album, titled Presenting Dionne Warwick, which was released early in 1963.
Early stardom
Don't Make Me Over (song)
"Don't Make Me Over" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which marked the recording debut of Dionne Warwick in 1962.-Dionne Warwick version:...
", the title (according to the A&E Biography of Dionne Warwick) supplied by Warwick herself when she snapped the phrase at producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David in anger. Warwick found "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
"—-a song on which she had recorded the original demo and had wanted to be her first single release—-had been given to another artist, Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
. From the phrase, Bacharach and David created their first top 40 pop hit (#21) and a top 5 US R&B hit. Warrick's name was misspelled on the single's label, and she began using the new spelling (i.e., "Warwick") both professionally and personally. According to the July 14, 1967 Time magazine article, after "Don't Make Me Over" hit in 1962, she answered the call of her manager ("C'mon, baby, you gotta go"), left school and went on a tour of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where critics crowned her "Paris' Black Pearl," having been introduced on stage at Paris Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
that year by Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
. Rhapsodized Jean Monteaux in Arts: "The play of this voice makes you think sometimes of an eel, of a storm, of a cradle, a knot of seaweed, a dagger. It is not a voice so much as an organ. You could write fugues for Warwick's voice."
The two immediate follow-ups to "Don't Make Me Over"—-"This Empty Place" (with "B" Side "Wishin' and Hopin'
Wishin' and Hopin'
"Wishin' and Hopin" is a song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach which was a Top Ten hit for Dusty Springfield in 1964.The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick and was the B-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut...
" later covered by Dusty Springfield) and "Make The Music Play"-—charted briefly in the top 100. Her fourth single, "Anyone Who Had a Heart," released in December 1963, was Warwick's first top 10 pop hit (#8) in the USA and also an international hit. This was followed by "Walk On By" in April 1964, a major international hit and million seller that solidified her career. For the rest of the 1960s, Warwick was a fixture on the US and Canadian charts, and much of Warwick's output from 1962 to 1971 was written and produced by the Bacharach/David team.
Warwick weathered the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
better than most American artists. Her UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
hits were most notably "Walk On By" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
Do You Know the Way to San Jose
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a popular song written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David . Introduced on the 1968 RIAA Certified Gold album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" was issued as the follow-up single to the double-sided hit "...
?" In the UK, a number of Bacharach-David-Warwick songs were covered by UK singers Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
, Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
and Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, most notably Black's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" which went to #1 in the UK. This upset Warwick and she has described feeling insulted when told that in the UK, record company executives wanted her songs recorded by someone else. Warwick even met Cilla Black while on tour in the UK. She recalled what she said to her: "I told her that "You're My World
You're My World
"You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il Mio Mondo" by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian-language version with Gino Paoli. Rendered with English lyrics by Carl Sigman as "You're My World",the song has reached No...
" would be my next single in the States. I honestly believe that if I'd sneezed on my next record, then Cilla would have sneezed on hers too. There was no imagination in her recording."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030223/ai_n12735134+dionne+cilla&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=52 http://web.archive.org/web/20091027132031/http://geocities.com/lilysavage_uk/radio.html "You're My World"--recorded in no time by Black—was not released as a single by Warwick, but it did appear on a later album, Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls -- Dionne Warwick's twelfth album for the Scepter label -- was recorded during the summer and fall of 1967 and was released early the next year. It was recorded at A&R Sound Studios in New York and was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The LP was...
, released in 1968.
Warwick was named the Bestselling Female Vocalist in the Cash Box Magazine
Cash Box magazine
Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...
Poll in 1964, with six chart hits in that year. Cash Box also named her the Top Female Vocalist in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In the 1967 Cash Box Poll, she was second to Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, and in 1968's poll second to Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
's influential Music Poll of 1970 named her the Top Female Vocalist. In 1969, Harvard's Hasty Pudding Society named her Woman of the Year.
In a May 21, 1965 Time Magazine cover article entitled "The Sound of the Sixties," Dionne Warwick's sound was described as follows:
"Swinging World. Scholarly articles probe the relationship between the Beatles and the nouvelle vague films of Jean-Luc Godard, discuss 'the brio and elegance' of Dionne Warwick's singing style as a 'pleasurable but complex' event to be 'experienced without condescension.' In chic circles, anyone damning rock 'n' roll is labeled not only square but uncultured. For inspirational purposes, such hip artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
occasionally paint while listening to rock 'n' roll music. Explains Warhol: 'It makes me mindless, and I paint better.' After gallery openings in Manhattan, the black-tie gatherings often adjourn to a discotheque."
The mid-1960s to early 1970s
Message to Michael
"Message to Michael" is a 1966 Top Ten hit by Dionne Warwick, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song's lyrics are addressed to a bluebird by a woman in Kentucky whose sweetheart is vainly pursuing musical stardom in New Orleans; the woman asks the bluebird to take a message to Michael,...
", a Bacharach-David composition that the duo was certain was a "man's song", became a top 10 hit for Warwick in May 1966. The January 1967 LP Here Where There Is Love was her first RIAA certified Gold Album and featured "Alfie
Alfie (song)
"Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 most successfully recorded by Cher, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick.-Background:...
", and two 1966 hits "Trains and Boats and Planes", and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting...
". "Alfie" had become a radio hit when disc jockeys across the nation began to play the album cut early in 1967. "Alfie" was released as the "B" side of a Bacharach/David ballad, "The Beginning of Loneliness" in which charted in the Hot 100. Disc jockeys flipped the single and made it a double-sided hit. Bacharach had been contracted to produce "Alfie" for the Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
film of the same name and wanted Dionne Warwick to sing the tune but the British producers wanted a British subject to cut the tune. Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
was selected to record the song, and her version peaked at #95 upon its release in the USA. A cover version by Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
used in the USA prints of the film peaked at #33. In the UK and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Black's version was a Top 10 hit. In a 1983 concert appearance televised on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, Warwick states she was the 43rd person to record "Alfie", at Bacharach's insistence, who felt Dionne could make it a big hit. Warwick, at first, balked at recording the tune and asked Bacharach "How many more versions of Alfie do you need?" to which Bacharach replied "Just one more, yours." Bacharach took Warwick into the studio with his new arrangement and cut the tune the way he wanted it to be, which she nailed in one take. Warwick's version peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on both the R&B Chart and the AC Charts. Warwick performed the song at the Academy Awards in 1967. Today, "Alfie" is considered a signature song for Warwick.
Later that same year, Warwick earned her first RIAA Gold Single for US sales of over one million units for the single "I Say a Little Prayer
I Say a Little Prayer
"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.-Background:...
" (from her album The Windows of the World
The Windows of the World
The Windows Of The World is the title of the eighth studio album by Dionne Warwick released August 1967 when the title cut was in the Top 40....
). When disc jockeys across the nation began to play the track from the album in the fall of 1967 and demanded its release as a single, Florence Greenberg, President of Scepter Records, complied and "I Say a Little Prayer" became Warwick's biggest US hit to that point, reaching #4 on the US and Canadian Charts and # 8 on the R & B Charts. Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
would cover the tune a year later hitting #10 on the hot 100,#3 on the R&B charts as well a turning the song into a million seller as well. The tune was also the first RIAA certified USA million seller for Bacharach-David.
Her follow-up to "I Say a Little Prayer","(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls
(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls
" Valley of the Dolls" is a 1967 song by André and Dory Previn, composed for the film version of the Jacqueline Susann novel Valley of the Dolls, and recorded by Dionne Warwick....
", was unusual in several respects. It was not written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it was the "B" side of her "I Say a Little Prayer" single, and it was a song that she almost didn't record. While the film version of Valley of the Dolls
Valley of the Dolls
Valley of the Dolls is a novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann, published in 1966. The "dolls" within the title is a slang term for downers, barbiturates used as sleep aids....
was being made, actress Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins is a Canadian television and film actress.-Early life and rise to stardom:Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and...
suggested that Warwick be considered to sing the film's theme song, written by songwriting team Andre
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
and Dory Previn
Dory Previn
Dory Previn, née Dorothy Veronica Langan , is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist for motion picture songs, and with her first husband André Previn received several Academy Award nominations...
. The song was to be recorded by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, who was fired from the film. Warwick performed the song, and when the film became a success in the early weeks of 1968, disc jockeys flipped the single and made the single one of the biggest double-sided hits of the rock era and another million seller. At the time, RIAA rules allowed only one side of a double-sided hit single to be certified as Gold, but Scepter awarded Warwick an "in-house award" to recognize "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" as a million selling tune.
Warwick had re-recorded a Pat Williams-arranged version of the theme at A&R Studios in New York because contractual restrictions would not allow the Warwick version from the film to be included in the 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
soundtrack LP. The LP Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls -- Dionne Warwick's twelfth album for the Scepter label -- was recorded during the summer and fall of 1967 and was released early the next year. It was recorded at A&R Sound Studios in New York and was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The LP was...
, released in early 1968 and containing the re-recorded version of the movie theme (#2–4 weeks), "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
Do You Know the Way to San Jose
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a popular song written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David . Introduced on the 1968 RIAA Certified Gold album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" was issued as the follow-up single to the double-sided hit "...
?" and several new Bacharach-David compositions, hit the #6 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Album Chart and would remain on the chart for over a year. The film soundtrack LP, without Warwick vocals, failed to impress the public, while Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls -- Dionne Warwick's twelfth album for the Scepter label -- was recorded during the summer and fall of 1967 and was released early the next year. It was recorded at A&R Sound Studios in New York and was produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The LP was...
earned an RIAA Gold certification.
The single "Do You Know the Way to San Jose
Do You Know the Way to San Jose
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a popular song written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David . Introduced on the 1968 RIAA Certified Gold album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" was issued as the follow-up single to the double-sided hit "...
?", an international million seller and a Top 10 hit in several countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Mexico, was also a double sided hit with the "B" side "Let Me Be Lonely" charting at #79.
More hits followed into 1971 including "Promises, Promises" (#19, 1968); "Who Is Gonna Love Me" (#32, 1968) with "B" side, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
" Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written in the 1960s by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-First charting versions:...
" becoming another double-sided hit; "I'll Never Fall in Love Again
I'll Never Fall in Love Again
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards...
" (#6, 1969); "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television...
" (#15, 1969); "This Girl's in Love with You
This Guy's in Love with You
"This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.The recording's origin occurs, as...
" (#7, 1969); "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
" (#37, 1970); "Who Is Gonna Love Me" (#33, 1968); "The April Fools" (#37, 1969); "Let Me Go To Him" (#32, 1970); and "Paper Mache" (#43, 1970). Warwick's final Bacharach/David penned single was March 1971's "Who Gets the Guy" and her final "official" Scepter single release was "He's Moving On" backed with "Amanda" both from the soundtrack of the motion picture adaptation of Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
's The Love Machine
The Love Machine (film)
The Love Machine is a 1971 film adaptation of the Jacqueline Susann novel The Love Machine. Written by Samuel A. Taylor and directed by Jack Haley, Jr., it starred John Phillip Law, Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, Jackie Cooper, and David Hemmings.-Plot:...
.
Warwick had become the priority act of Scepter Records, according to the website "The Scepter Records Story" and producer/A&R chief, Luther Dixon
Luther Dixon
Luther Dixon was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 60s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, B.B. King, Dusty Springfield, and others...
in a 2002 A&E Biography of Burt Bacharach, with the release of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" in 1963. Other Scepter LPs certified RIAA Gold include Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits Part 1 released in 1967 and The Dionne Warwicke Story: A Decade of Gold released in 1971. By the end of 1971, Dionne Warwick had sold an estimated thirty-five million singles and albums internationally in less than nine years and more than 16 million singles in the USA alone. Exact figures of Warwick's sales are unknown and probably underestimated, due to Scepter Records apparently lax accounting policies and the company policy of not submitting recordings for RIAA audit. Dionne Warwick became the first Scepter artist to request RIAA audits of her recordings in 1967 with the release of "I Say A Little Prayer."
George Kirby
George Kirby was an American comedian, singer, and actor from Chicago, Illinois.Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-show format and preferred to hire local singers, dancers, and comedians...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, and Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
.
In 1971, Dionne Warwick left the family atmosphere of Scepter Records for Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, for a $5 million contract, the most lucrative recording contract ever given to a female vocalist up to that time, according to Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
. Warwick's last LP for Scepter was the aforementioned soundtrack for the motion picture The Love Machine (in which she appeared in an uncredited cameo), released in July 1971. In 1975, Bacharach and David sued Scepter Records for an accurate accounting of royalties due the team from their recordings with Warwick and labelmate B. J. Thomas
B. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
. They were awarded almost $600,000 and the rights to all Bacharach/David recordings on the Scepter label. The label, with the defection of Warwick to Warner Bros. Records, filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and was sold to Springboard International Records in 1976.
Following her signing with Warners, with Bacharach and David as writers and producers, Dionne returned to New York City's A&R Studios in late 1971 to begin recording her first album for the new label, the self-titled album Dionne (not to be confused with her later Arista debut album) in January 1972. The album peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
Album Chart. In 1972, Burt Bacharach and Hal David scored and wrote the tunes for the motion picture Lost Horizon. But the film was panned by the critics, and in the fallout from the film, the songwriting duo decided to terminate their working relationship. The break-up left Dionne devoid of their services as her producers and songwriters. Dionne was contractually obligated to fulfill her contract with Warners without Bacharach and David and she would team with a variety of producers during her tenure with the label.
Faced with the prospect of being sued by Warner Bros. Records due to the breakup of Bacharach/David and their failure to honor their contract with Dionne, she filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against her former partners for breach of contract. The suit was settled out of court in 1979 for $5 million including the rights to all Warwick recordings produced by Bacharach and David.
Warwick, for years an aficionado of psychic phenomena, was advised by famed astrologer Linda Goodman
Linda Goodman
Mary Alice Kemery popularly known as Linda Goodman was a New York Times bestselling American astrologer and poet.-Early life and background:...
in 1971 to add a small "e" to her last name, making Warwick "WARWICKe" for good luck and to recognize her married name and her spouse, actor and drummer William "Bill" Elliott. Goodman convinced Warwick that the extra small "e" would add a vibration needed to balance her last name and bring her even more good fortune in her marriage and her professional life. Unfortunately, Goodman proved to be mistaken about this. The extra "e," according to Dionne, "was the worst thing I could have done in retrospect, and in 1975 I finally got rid of that damn 'e' and became 'Dionne Warwick' again."
The Warner era (1972–1978)
Without the guidance and songwriting that Bacharach/David had provided, Warwick's career stalled in the 1970s. There were no big hits during the decade aside from 1974's "Then Came YouThen Came You (song)
"Then Came You" is a 1974 Grammy-nominated hit for American soul singer Dionne Warwick and American R&B group The Spinners, and credited to Dionne Warwicke and Spinners . The track was written by Sherman Marshall and Phillip T...
", recorded as a duet with the Spinners and produced by Thom Bell
Thom Bell
Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...
. Bell later noted, "Dionne made a (strange) face when we finished [the song]. She didn't like it much, but I knew we had something. So we ripped a dollar in two, signed each half and exchanged them. I told her, 'If it doesn't go number one, I'll send you my half.' When it took off, Dionne sent hers back. There was an apology on it." It was her first US #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Other than this success, Warwick's five years on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
produced no other major hits. Two notable songs recorded during this period were "His House and Me" and "Once You Hit The Road" (#79 pop, #5 RB, #22 Adult Contemporary) — both of which were produced in 1975 by Thom Bell
Thom Bell
Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...
.
Warwick recorded five unsuccessful albums with Warners: Dionne
Dionne (album)
Dionne, Dionne Warwick's debut album for the Arista label, was released in 1979. It was recorded during the summer of 1979 and was released that fall. The LP was originally issued as number AB-4230 in the Arista Catalog...
, produced by Bacharach and David; Just Being Myself, produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland;
Then Came You, produced by Jerry Ragovoy
Jerry Ragovoy
Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...
; Track of the Cat, produced by Thom Bell
Thom Bell
Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...
; and Love at First Sight
Love at First Sight (album)
Love at First Sight is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, released on the Milestone label in 1980, featuring performances by Rollins with George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Al Foster and Bill Summers.-Reception:...
, produced by Steve Barri
Steve Barri
Steve Barri is an American songwriter and record producer.Early in his career Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He frequently collaborated with P.F. Sloan, and the partners were responsible for the success of The Grass Roots and contributed largely to the band's first album...
and Michael Omartian
Michael Omartian
Michael Omartian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and music producer. He has been a participant in over 350,000,000 albums and CD’s sold worldwide, as a producer, arranger, artist or musician, during a career that has spanned over 38 years...
. The singer's five-year contract with Warners expired in 1977, and with that, Warwick ended her stay at the label.
The 80s: Move to Arista
With the move to Arista Records and the release of her RIAA certified million seller "I'll Never Love This Way AgainI'll Never Love This Way Again
"I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a 1979 hit recorded by American soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was composed by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings and produced by Arista labelmate Barry Manilow....
" in 1979, Dionne was again enjoying top success on the charts. The song was produced by Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
. The accompanying album Dionne
Dionne (album)
Dionne, Dionne Warwick's debut album for the Arista label, was released in 1979. It was recorded during the summer of 1979 and was released that fall. The LP was originally issued as number AB-4230 in the Arista Catalog...
was certified Platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
in the United States for sales exceeding one million units. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard Album Chart and made the Top 10 of the Billboard R & B Albums Chart. Warwick had been personally signed and guided by the label's founder Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, who stated to Dionne "You may be ready to give the business up, but the business is not ready to give you up." Dionne's next single release was another major hit for her. "Deja Vu
Deja Vu (Dionne Warwick song)
"Déjà Vu" is a 1979 ballad song written by Isaac Hayes and Adrienne Anderson and recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1979. It was the second single released from her Arista debut album, Dionne...
" was co-written by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
and hit #1 Adult Contemporary as well as #15 on Billboard's Hot 100. In 1980, Dionne was nominated for the NARAS Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "I'll Never Love This Way Again
I'll Never Love This Way Again
"I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a 1979 hit recorded by American soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was composed by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings and produced by Arista labelmate Barry Manilow....
" and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for "Déjà Vu". Dionne became the first female artist in the history of the awards to win in both categories the same year. Her second Arista album, 1980's No Night So Long
No Night So Long
No Night So Long, Dionne Warwick's second album for the Arista label, was released in 1980. The LP was originally issued as number AL 9526 in the Arista Catalog...
sold 500,000 US copies and featured the title track which became a major success - hitting #1 Adult Contemporary and #23 on Billboard's Hot 100 - and the album peaked at #23 on the Billboard Albums Chart.
Solid Gold (TV series)
Solid Gold is an American syndicated music television series that debuted on September 13, 1980. Like many other shows of its genre, such as American Bandstand, Solid Gold featured musical performances and various other elements such as music videos...
, which she hosted throughout 1980 and 1981 and again in 1985-86. Major highlights of each show were the duets she performed with her co-hosts, which often included some of Dionne's hits and her co-hosts' hits intermingled and arranged by Solid Gold musical director, Michael Miller. Another highlight in each show was Dionne's vocal rendition of the Solid Gold Theme, composed by Michael Miller (with lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Dean Pitchford
Dean Pitchford is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, seven Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards.-Early life:Pitchford was born in...
).
After a brief appearance in the Top Forty in early 1982 with Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
on "Friends In Love" - from the album of the same name - Warwick's next hit later that same year was her full-length collaboration with Barry Gibb
Barry Gibb
Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
of The Bee Gees for the album Heartbreaker
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick album)
Heartbreaker is an album by Dionne Warwick, her fourth for the Arista label. It was released in 1982 and features the hit single "Heartbreaker", penned by the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb produced the album with Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten. The album was certified gold in the United States for sales...
. The song "Heartbreaker
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song)
"Heartbreaker" is a 1982 single released by American pop and soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was written by The Bee Gees' Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, with Barry Gibb's distinctive backing vocal being heard on the chorus...
" became one of Dionne's biggest international hits, returning her to the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 - for the first time since 1979 - as well as #1 Adult Contemporary and #2 in the UK. Internationally, the tune was also a Top 10 hit throughout continental Europe, Australia (#1), Japan, South Africa, Canada, and Asia. The title track was taken from the album of the same name which sold over 3 million copies internationally and earned Dionne an RIAA USA Gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
record award for the album. The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard Album Chart, #13 on the R&B Albums Chart and #3 in the UK. Dionne stated to Wesley Hyatt in his The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits that she was not fond of "Heartbreaker
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song)
"Heartbreaker" is a 1982 single released by American pop and soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was written by The Bee Gees' Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, with Barry Gibb's distinctive backing vocal being heard on the chorus...
" but recorded the tune because she trusted The Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit. The project came about when Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
was attending his aunt's wedding in Orlando, Florida in early 1982 and spoke with Barry Gibb
Barry Gibb
Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
. Barry mentioned that he had always been a fan of Dionne's and Clive arranged for Dionne and The Bee Gees to discuss a project. Dionne and the brothers Gibb hit it off and the album and the title single were released in October 1982.
In 1983, Dionne released How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
How Many Times Must We Say Goodbye is an album by Dionne Warwick released in 1983. It was produced by R&B mainstay Luther Vandross and included the hit title track which was a duet with Vandross. Also the title track was featured on Vandross's own Busy Body album...
produced by Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
. The album's most successful single was the title track, "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
How Many Times Must We Say Goodbye is an album by Dionne Warwick released in 1983. It was produced by R&B mainstay Luther Vandross and included the hit title track which was a duet with Vandross. Also the title track was featured on Vandross's own Busy Body album...
", a Warwick/Vandross duet, which peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. It also became a Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary and R&B charts. The album peaked at #57 on the Billboard album chart. Of note was a reunion with the original Shirelles on Warwick's cover of "Will You (Still) Love Me Tomorrow?" The album Finder Of Lost Loves
Finder of Lost Loves (album)
Finder of Lost Loves is an adult contemporary album by Dionne Warwick that found her reunited with Burt Bacharach for the first time in over a decade .-Track listing:#"No One in the World"#"Without Your Love"#"Run to Me"...
followed in 1985 and reunited her with both Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, who was writing with his then current lyricist partner and wife, Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, songwriter, singer, and painter.-Introduction:Born in New York City, Sager graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts and speech...
.
In 1985, Warwick contributed her voice to the multi-Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning charity song We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
, along with vocalists like Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
. The song spent four consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. It was the year's biggest hit - certified four times Platinum in the United States alone.
That's What Friends Are For
"That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.-Dionne Warwick cover:...
" alongside Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
. The single, credited to "Dionne and Friends" was released in October and eventually raised over three million dollars for that cause. The tune was a triple #1 - R&B, Adult Contemporary, and four weeks at the summit on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in early 1986 - selling close to two million 45s in the United States alone. In 1988, the Washington Post wrote: So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. "You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony," Warwick remembers. "I am tired of hurting and it does hurt." The single won the performers the NARAS Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager. It also was ranked by Billboard magazine as the most popular song of 1986. With this single Warwick also released her most successful album of the 1980s, titled Friends
Friends (Dionne Warwick album)
Friends is an album by Dionne Warwick, her seventh for the Arista label, produced by Clive Davis. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 album chart in March 1, 1986. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 28th Grammy Awards....
, which reached #12 on Billboard's album chart.
In 1987 Dionne scored another hit with "Love Power", her eighth career #1 Adult Contemporary hit that went to #5 R&B and #12 on Billboard's Hot 100. "Love Power", a duet with Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:...
, was another written by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, songwriter, singer, and painter.-Introduction:Born in New York City, Sager graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts and speech...
, and featured in Warwick's album Reservations for Two
Reservations for Two
Reservations for Two is an album by Dionne Warwick, her eighth for the Arista label, produced by Clive Davis. It was released in 1987 and features the hit duet Love Power , produced and arranged by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager...
. The album's title song, a duet with Kashif
Kashif (musician)
Kashif Saleem is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer.-Career:Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group...
, was also a chart hit. Other artists featured on the album included Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
and the late June Pointer
June Pointer
June Antoinette Pointer Whitmore was an American Pop/R&B singer and was a founding member/and lead vocalist of the vocal group The Pointer Sisters.-Early life and career:...
.
1990s to present
During the 1990s, Warwick hosted infomercialInfomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s for the Psychic Friends Network
Psychic Friends Network
The Psychic Friends Network was a telephone psychic service operating in the United States in the 1990s. The company's infomercials were aired frequently on late night television.-History:...
which featured psychic Linda Georgian. The 900 number psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
service was active from 1991 to 1998. According to press statements throughout the 1990s, the program was the most successful infomercial for several years and Warwick earned in excess of three million dollars per year as spokesperson for the network. In 1998, Inphomation, the corporation owning the network, filed for bankruptcy and Warwick ended her association with the organization. Warwick's longtime friend and tour manager Henry Carr acknowledged in a 2002 Biography Channel interview that "when Dionne was going through an airport and a child recognized her as 'that psychic lady on TV' Dionne was crushed and said she had worked too hard as an entertainer to become known as 'the psychic lady'."
Friends Can Be Lovers
Friends Can Be Lovers was Dionne Warwick's second and most successful album of the 1990s. The album is a sophisticated, smooth, album of sensual, romantic, sentimental love songs with lush, soulful production...
", which was produced in part by Ian Devaney and Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
. Featured on the album was "Sunny Weather Lover", which was the first song that Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
had written together for Warwick since 1972. It was Warwick's lead single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was heavily promoted by Arista
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, but failed to chart. A follow-up "Where My Lips Have Been" peaked at #95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. 1994 marked the end of Warwick's contract with Arista Records.
In 1990 Dionne recorded a song "It's All Over" with former member of Modern Talking
Modern Talking
Modern Talking was a German dance pop duo consisting of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen. Their music has often been classified as Europop. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the top 5 in many countries...
Dieter Bohlen
Dieter Bohlen
Dieter Günter Bohlen is a German songwriter, singer, musician, producer, entertainer, TV personality, and writer. Bohlen is best known for being part of popular pop-duo Modern Talking during 1984–1987 and 1998–2003.-Biography:Bohlen took his Abitur in Oldenburg...
(Blue System
Blue System
Blue System was a German pop group that was founded by Dieter Bohlen in 1987 after the break-up of Modern Talking.The group consisted of Dieter Bohlen , and hired backstage musicians Rolf Köhler , Michael Scholz , Detlef Wiedeke and other background and/or front female voices unknown to the...
). The single peaked at #60 (#33 airplay) on the german pop charts and it appears on Blue System's album "Deja Vu
Déjà Vu (Blue System album)
Déjà Vu is the sixth album of Blue System. Was published in 1991 by BMG Ariola and produced by Dieter Bohlen. The album contains 10 new tracks.- Track listing :- Personnel :*Rolf Köhler – vocals, bass, drums...
".
In 1993, Forrest Sawyer
Forrest Sawyer
Forrest Sawyer is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with ABC News, where he frequently anchored ABC World News Tonight and Nightline and reported for all ABC News broadcasts...
, host of the ABC News/Entertainment program "Day One", alleged financial improprieties by the Warwick Foundation, founded in 1989 to benefit AIDS patients, particularly Dionne Warwick's charity concert performances organized to benefit the organization. ABC alleged the Foundation was operating at a near 90% administrative cost. ABC also alleged that Warwick flew first class and was accommodated at first class hotels for charity concerts and events in which she participated for the Foundation. Warwick, who had no executive, administrative or management role in the organization, challenged ABC to investigate the foundation further and alleged that the ABC report was racially motivated. An Internal Revenue Service investigation of the Warwick Foundation found no wrongdoing or criminal activity on the part of the Board of Directors or Warwick and its status as a non-profit charity was upheld. ABC maintained the report to be factually correct but the item has not been repeated since the original air date. The Foundation was later dissolved.
On 16 October 2002, Dionne Warwick was nominated Goodwill Ambassador
FAO Goodwill Ambassador
The FAO Goodwill Ambassadors Programme was initiated in 1999. The main purpose of the programme is to increase public awareness and to disseminate information on issues related to food security, hunger and poverty in the world...
of the Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
of the United Nations (FAO).
In 2004, Dionne Warwick's first Christmas album was released. The CD, entitled "My Favorite Time of the Year" featured jazzy interpretations of many holiday classics. In 2007, Rhino Records re-released the CD with new cover art.
In 2005, Dionne Warwick was honored by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
at her Legends Ball.
Warwick appeared on the May 24, 2006, fifth-season finale of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. Millions of U.S. viewers watched Warwick sing a medley of "Walk On By" and "That's What Friends Are For
That's What Friends Are For
"That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.-Dionne Warwick cover:...
", with longtime collaborator Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
accompanying her on the piano.
In 2006, Warwick signed with Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
after a fifteen-year tenure at Arista which had ended in 1994. Her first and only release for the label was My Friends and Me, a duets album containing reworkings of her old hits, very similar in fashion to her 1998 CD "Dionne Sings Dionne" . Among her singing partners were Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
, Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
, Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Ellen Judd is an American country music singer. Her solo albums and singles are all credited to the singular name Wynonna. Wynonna first rose to fame in the 1980s alongside her mother, Naomi, in the country music duo The Judds...
and Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
. The album peaked at #66 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart. The album was produced by her son, Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott , commonly known as Dame, is an American producer, writer, composer, recording artist and entrepreneur. His production genre’s include pop, hip hop, rock, R&B, gospel, and more recently, country....
. A followup album featuring Warwick's old hits as duets with male vocalists was planned but the project was cancelled. The relationship with Concord concluded with the release of My Friends and Me.
A compilation CD of her greatest hits and love songs "The Love Collection" entered the UK pop charts at number 27 on February 16, 2008.
Dionne Warwick's second gospel album, "Why We Sing", was released on February 26, 2008 in the UK and on April 1, 2008 in the USA. The album features guest spots by her sister Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick, niece of Cissy Houston and cousin of Whitney Houston....
and BeBe Winans
BeBe Winans
Benjamin "BeBe" Winans is a gospel and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists.-The PTL Club:...
.
On October 18, 2008, Warwick's sister Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick
Dee Dee Warwick was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick, niece of Cissy Houston and cousin of Whitney Houston....
died in a nursing home in Essex County, New Jersey. She had been in failing health for several months which lead up to her death. Warwick was with her sister Dee Dee when she died.
On November 24, 2008 Dionne was the star performer on "Divas II" a UK ITV1 special. The show also featured Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Sugababes, Pink, Gabriella Climi and Anastacia.
In 2008 Dionne began recording an album of songs from the Sammy Cahn and Jack Wolf songbooks. The finished recording, entitled "Only Trust Your Heart," will be released in the US by MPCA Records distributed by SonyRed, on March 15, 2011.
On October 20, 2009, Starlight Children's Foundation and New Gold Music Ltd. released a song that Dionne recorded about 10 years prior called "Starlight." The song was written by Dean Pitchford, prolific writer of "Fame" and creator of "Footloose," and Bill Goldstein, whose versatile career includes the original music for NBC's "Fame" TV series. Dionne, Dean and Bill are donating 100% of their royalties to Starlight Children's Foundation as a way to raise money to support Starlight's mission to help seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities.
“When Bill and Dean brought this song to me, I instantly felt connected to its message of shining a little light into the lives of people who need it most,” said Warwick. “I admire the work of Starlight Children’s Foundation and know that if the
song brings hope to even just one sick child, we have succeeded.”
In March 2011, Warwick appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice 4
The Apprentice (U.S. season 11)
The Celebrity Apprentice 4 is the eleventh installment of the United States version of the reality television series, The Apprentice. On May 16, 2010, NBC announced that the show would be returning to its Celebrity Apprentice format after returning to its regular version for the tenth season of...
. Dionne's charity was The Hunger Project. She was fired during the fourth task of the season.
Personal life
William Elliott
William Elliott may refer to:*William Henry Elliott , British general*William Elliott , lieutenant in the Royal Navy and marine painter*William Elliott , English engraver...
(CBS's Bridget Loves Bernie
Bridget Loves Bernie
Bridget Loves Bernie is an American television comedy program created by Bernard Slade, the creator of the 1970–74 ABC sitcom, The Partridge Family, based loosely on the premise of the 1920s’ Broadway play and 1940s’ radio show Abie's Irish Rose...
-1972–73) in 1966; they divorced in May 1967. They reconciled and were remarried in Milan, Italy, in August 1967, according to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
. Warwick has stated in many interviews that "It was a case of can't do with, can't do without, so I married him again." On January 18, 1969, while living in East Orange, New Jersey, Warwick gave birth to her first son, David Elliott. In 1973, her second son Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott
Damon Elliott , commonly known as Dame, is an American producer, writer, composer, recording artist and entrepreneur. His production genre’s include pop, hip hop, rock, R&B, gospel, and more recently, country....
was born. On May 30, 1975, the couple separated and Warwick was granted a divorce in December 1975 in Los Angeles. The court denied Elliott's request for $2000 a month in support pending a community property trial and for $5000, when Elliott insisted he was making $500 a month in comparison to Warwick making $100,000 a month. Dionne stated in "Don't Make Me Over: Dionne Warwick", a 2002 Biography Channel interview, "I was the breadwinner. The male ego is a fragile thing. It's hard when the woman is the breadwinner. All my life, the only man who ever took care of me financially was my father. I have always taken care of myself."
Warwick has been connected romantically with Philadelphia Eagles great Timmy Brown, French singer-songwriter Sacha Distel
Sacha Distel
Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
, actor Philip Michael Thomas
Philip Michael Thomas
Philip Michael Thomas is an American actor. Thomas's most famous role is that of detective Ricardo Tubbs on the hit 1980s TV series Miami Vice. His first notable roles were in Coonskin and opposite Irene Cara in the 1976 film Sparkle...
(Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
), Seagram heir and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
Edgar Miles Bronfman, Jr. , is the Chairman of Warner Music Group. He previously served as CEO of the company from 2004 to 2011. In May, 2011, the sale of WMG was announced; Bronfman would continued as CEO in the transaction. In August 2011, he became Chairman of the company as Stephen Cooper...
, and Las Vegas restaurateur and actor Gianni Russo
Gianni Russo
Louis Giovanni "Gianni" Russo is an American actor, singer and alleged possible member of organized crime, or Cosa Nostra....
(The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
).
Warwick made the Top 250 Delinquent Taxpayers List published in October 2007. California Revenue & Taxation Code Section 19195 directs the Franchise Tax Board to publish an annual list of the top 250 taxpayers with liened state income tax delinquencies greater than $100,000 in an effort to collect money from those taxpayers, some of whom have been delinquent since 1987. Dionne Warwick is listed with a tax delinquency of $2,665,305.83 in personal income tax and a tax lien was filed July 24, 1997. As of 2010, Warwick is still delinquent although now owes $2,185,901.08. Her publicist stated that she is actively paying off the debt.
On May 8, 2010, she received an honorary Doctor of Arts from Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois
Lincoln, Illinois
Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. It is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. First settled in the 1830s, Lincoln is home to three colleges and two prisons. The three...
.
Warwick now lives in Brazil, a country she first visited in the early 1960s. She has become so entranced by Brazil that she has studied Portuguese. She divides her time between Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. In April 2010, in an interview on talk-show Programa do Jô
Programa do Jô
Programa do Jô is a late-night talk show broadcast by Rede Globo in Brazil.The program is hosted by Brazilian comedian, author and musician Jô Soares, and follows the format of American talk shows such as Late Show with David Letterman. It began its life as Jô Soares Onze e Meia in 1988 on the SBT...
, she said Brazil is the place she intends to spend the rest of her life after she retires.
In 1993, her older son David a former Los Angeles police officer, co-wrote with Terry Steele the Warwick – Whitney Houston duet "Love Will Find a Way", featured on her album, Friends Can Be Lovers. Since 2002, he has toured with and performed duets with his mother periodically, and had his acting debut in the film "Ali" as the singer Sam Cooke. David is a singer-songwriter (Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
' "Here and Now
Here and Now (Luther Vandross song)
"Here and Now" is a 1989 single by Luther Vandross Written by: David L. Elliott, Terry Steele. The single was from the CD The Best of Luther Vandross... The Best of Love. "Here and Now" became his fifth single to hit number one on the Hot Black Singles chart and his first single to chart in the...
" among others) .
Her second son Damon Elliott is also a noted music producer (Mýa
Mya
-A person:* Bo Mya , Chief Commander of the Karen National Union* Mýa , American R&B singer-songwriter and actress** Mýa , a 1998 album by Mýa-A code:* Burmese language, ISO 639-3 code is mya* Moruya Airport's IATA code...
, Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
, Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Myeshia Cole Gibson born October 15, 1981) is an American singer–songwriter and actress. She gained nationwide acclaim when her 2005 debut album, The Way It Is went platinum. Her sophomore album Just Like You went into production shortly after that and was released in September 2007...
) and arranged and produced his mother's 2006 Concord release My Friends and Me.
Famous relations
- Warwick's sister Dee Dee WarwickDee Dee WarwickDee Dee Warwick was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick, niece of Cissy Houston and cousin of Whitney Houston....
also had a successful singing career, scoring several notable R&B hits, notably "I'm Gonna Make You Love MeI'm Gonna Make You Love Me"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations for the Motown label...
" and "Oh No Not My BabyOh No Not My Baby"Oh No Not My Baby" is the name of a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song's lyrics describe how friends and family repeatedly warn the singer about a partner's infidelities, but the singer refuses to believe them...
". Dee Dee died in 2008, at age 63, in a nursing home in Essex County, New Jersey, after a long series of illnesses and well documented narcotic addictions.
- Warwick's cousin is singer Whitney HoustonWhitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, and her aunt is Gospel-trained vocalist Cissy HoustonCissy HoustonEmily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
, Whitney's mother. In her 2010 autobiography, "My Life, as I See It," Warwick notes that opera diva, Leontyne PriceLeontyne PriceMary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
, is also a maternal cousin.
Discography
| Year | Song | U.S. Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
U.S. AC | CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | "Don't Make Me Over Don't Make Me Over (song) "Don't Make Me Over" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which marked the recording debut of Dionne Warwick in 1962.-Dionne Warwick version:... " |
21 | 5 | — | 38 | — |
| 1963 | "Anyone Who Had a Heart" | 8 | — | 2 | 11 | 42 |
| 1964 | "Walk On By"/"Any Old Time of Day" | 6 | — | 7 | 14 | 8 |
| "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)"/"A House Is Not a Home A House Is Not a Home (song) "A House Is Not a Home" is a 1964 song recorded by American singer Dionne Warwick. Written by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the song was a modest hit in the U.S. for Warwick, peaking at #71 on the pop singles chart as the B-side of the top 40 single, "You'll Never Get to Heaven "... " |
34 | — | — | 15 | 20 | |
| "Reach Out for Me Reach Out for Me "Reach Out for Me" is a 1964 single by Dionne Warwick, a song originally recorded by Lou Johnson. Her single, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is a track from the album Make Way for Dionne Warwick. It was a number twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to number one on the Cash Box... " |
20 | — | — | 12 | 23 | |
| 1965 | "Are You There (With Another Girl)" | 39 | 35 | — | 13 | — |
| 1966 | "Message to Michael Message to Michael "Message to Michael" is a 1966 Top Ten hit by Dionne Warwick, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song's lyrics are addressed to a bluebird by a woman in Kentucky whose sweetheart is vainly pursuing musical stardom in New Orleans; the woman asks the bluebird to take a message to Michael,... " |
8 | 5 | 12 | 6 | — |
| "Trains and Boats and Planes" | 22 | 49 | 37 | 18 | — | |
| "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting... " |
26 | 20 | — | 36 | — | |
| 1967 | "Alfie Alfie (song) "Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 most successfully recorded by Cher, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick.-Background:... "/"The Beginning of Loneliness" |
15 | 5 | — | 10 | — |
| "The Windows of the World The Windows of the World (song) "The Windows of the World" is the title of a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was a hit single for Dionne Warwick in 1967.... " |
32 | 27 | 32 | 20 | — | |
| "I Say a Little Prayer I Say a Little Prayer "I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.-Background:... " (A-side) |
4 | 8 | — | 4 | — | |
| 1968 | "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls " Valley of the Dolls" is a 1967 song by André and Dory Previn, composed for the film version of the Jacqueline Susann novel Valley of the Dolls, and recorded by Dionne Warwick.... " (B-side) |
2 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 28 |
| "Do You Know the Way to San Jose Do You Know the Way to San Jose "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a popular song written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David . Introduced on the 1968 RIAA Certified Gold album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" was issued as the follow-up single to the double-sided hit "... ?"/"Let Me Be Lonely" |
10 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |
| "Who Is Gonna Love Me?"/"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me " Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written in the 1960s by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-First charting versions:... " |
33 | 43 | 4 | 19 | — | |
| "Promises, Promises" | 19 | 47 | 7 | 8 | — | |
| 1969 | "This Girl's in Love with You This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.The recording's origin occurs, as... " |
7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | — |
| "The April Fools" | 37 | 33 | 8 | 32 | — | |
| "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1964 song by The Righteous Brothers which became a number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom the following year. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. ranked the song as having had more radio and television... " |
16 | 13 | 10 | 12 | — | |
| "I'll Never Fall in Love Again I'll Never Fall in Love Again "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards... " |
6 | 17 | 1 | 3 | — | |
| 1970 | "Let Me Go to Him" | 32 | 45 | 5 | 30 | — |
| "Make It Easy on Yourself Make It Easy On Yourself "Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:... " |
37 | 26 | 2 | 24 | — | |
| 1974 | "Then Came You Then Came You (song) "Then Came You" is a 1974 Grammy-nominated hit for American soul singer Dionne Warwick and American R&B group The Spinners, and credited to Dionne Warwicke and Spinners . The track was written by Sherman Marshall and Phillip T... " (with The Spinners) |
1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 29 |
| 1979 | "I'll Never Love This Way Again I'll Never Love This Way Again "I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a 1979 hit recorded by American soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was composed by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings and produced by Arista labelmate Barry Manilow.... " |
5 | 18 | 5 | 6 | 62 |
| "Déjà Vu Deja Vu (Dionne Warwick song) "Déjà Vu" is a 1979 ballad song written by Isaac Hayes and Adrienne Anderson and recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1979. It was the second single released from her Arista debut album, Dionne... " |
15 | 25 | 1 | 34 | — | |
| 1980 | "After You" | 65 | 33 | 10 | — | — |
| "No Night So Long" | 23 | 19 | 1 | — | — | |
| "Easy Love" | 62 | — | 12 | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Some Changes Are for Good" | 65 | 43 | 23 | — | — |
| 1982 | "Friends in Love" (with Johnny Mathis Johnny Mathis John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts... ) |
38 | 22 | 5 | — | — |
| "For You" | — | — | 14 | — | — | |
| "Heartbreaker Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song) "Heartbreaker" is a 1982 single released by American pop and soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was written by The Bee Gees' Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, with Barry Gibb's distinctive backing vocal being heard on the chorus... " |
10 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 2 | |
| 1983 | "Take the Short Way Home" | 41 | 43 | 5 | — | — |
| "All the Love in the World All the Love in the World "All the Love in the World" was a 1982 single by Dionne Warwick. The song was written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, and was featured on Warwick's hit album Heartbreaker, produced by Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson, and Albhy Galuten.... " |
101 | — | 16 | — | 10 | |
| "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" (with Luther Vandross Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times... ) |
27 | 7 | 4 | — | 99 | |
| 1984 | "Got a Date" | — | 45 | — | — | — |
| "Finder of Lost Loves" (with Glenn Jones Glenn Jones Glenn Jones, , is an American R&B/soul singer.-Career:He started his career as a gospel singer and has since, managed a successful move into the R&B field. He got his start in R&B in 1980 when Norman Connors featured Jones on a track on his album, Take It To The Limit... ) |
— | 47 | 12 | — | — | |
| 1985 | "Run to Me" (with Barry Manilow Barry Manilow Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."... ) |
— | — | 12 | — | 86 |
| "That's What Friends Are For That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.-Dionne Warwick cover:... " (Dionne & Friends: Elton John Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor... , Gladys Knight Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author... and Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist... ) |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| 1986 | "Whisper in the Dark" | 72 | — | 7 | — | — |
| 1987 | "Love Power" (with Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:... ) |
12 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 63 |
| "Reservations for Two" (with Kashif Kashif (musician) Kashif Saleem is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer.-Career:Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group... ) |
62 | — | 7 | — | — | |
| 1988 | "Another Chance to Love" (with Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Howard Hewett is an American R&B and gospel singer and former lead vocalist of the R&B group Shalamar.Raised in Akron, Ohio, Hewett moved to Los Angeles. He would eventually meet Soul Train dancer and future first wife Rainey Riley-Cunningham, then a secretary of the show's creator and original... ) |
— | — | 24 | — | — |
| 1989 | "Take Good Care of You and Me" (with Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:... ) |
— | — | 25 | — | — |
| 1991 | "It's All Over It's All Over It's All Over is the second single from Déjà Vu, the sixth album by Blue System. The song is a duet by Dieter Bohlen with the American singer Dionne Warwick. It was released en 1991 by Hanseatic M.V., and distributed by BMG... " (with Blue System Blue System Blue System was a German pop group that was founded by Dieter Bohlen in 1987 after the break-up of Modern Talking.The group consisted of Dieter Bohlen , and hired backstage musicians Rolf Köhler , Michael Scholz , Detlef Wiedeke and other background and/or front female voices unknown to the... ) |
— | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (with TheHipHopNationUnited) | 87 | — | — | — | — |
Awards and Honors
Grammy Awards| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance-Female: "Walk on By Walk on By "Walk On By" is a song composed by Burt Bacharach, with lyrics by Hal David. The song was originally recorded by, and a hit for, Dionne Warwick... " |
Nominated |
| 1968 | Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance-Female: "Alfie Alfie (song) "Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 most successfully recorded by Cher, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick.-Background:... " |
Nominated |
| 1969 | Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance-Female: "Do You Know the Way to San Jose Do You Know the Way to San Jose "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a popular song written for Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach and Hal David . Introduced on the 1968 RIAA Certified Gold album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" was issued as the follow-up single to the double-sided hit "... ?" |
Won |
| 1970 | Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance-Female: "This Girl's in Love with You This Girl's in Love with You This Girl's In Love With You is a 1970 album by Aretha Franklin. It reached Billboards Top 20 and was reissued on compact disc through Rhino Records in the 1990s.... " |
Nominated |
| 1971 | Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance-Female: "I'll Never Fall in Love Again I'll Never Fall in Love Again "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards... " |
Won |
| 1974 | Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals: "Then Came You" (with The Spinners) | Nominated |
| 1980 | Best R&B Vocal Performance-Female: "Déjà Vu" | Won |
| Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female: "I'll Never Love This Way Again I'll Never Love This Way Again "I'll Never Love This Way Again" is a 1979 hit recorded by American soul singer Dionne Warwick. The song was composed by Richard Kerr and Will Jennings and produced by Arista labelmate Barry Manilow.... " |
Won | |
| 1986 | Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: "That's What Friends Are For That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.-Dionne Warwick cover:... " |
Won |
| Record of the Year: "That's What Friends Are For" | Nominated | |
| Album of the Year: Friends Friends (Dionne Warwick album) Friends is an album by Dionne Warwick, her seventh for the Arista label, produced by Clive Davis. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 album chart in March 1, 1986. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 28th Grammy Awards.... |
Nominated | |
| Hall of Fame Award: "Don't Make Me Over" | Honoree | |
| Hall of Fame Award: "Walk on By" | ||
| Hall of Fame Award: "Alfie" |
American Music Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Special Recognition Award: "That's What Friends Are For" | Honoree |
Billboard Music Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | #1 Single of the Year: "That's What Friends Are For" | Honoree |
RIAA
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Songs of the Century: "Walk on By" | Honoree |
| 1985 | Songs of the Centuray: "That's What Friends Are For" |
People's Choice Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Favorite Female Singer | Won |
NAACP Image Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Entertainer of the Year | Honoree |
ASCAP Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Honoree |
| 2002 | Heroes Award |
Rhythm & Blues Foundation
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Honoree |
Women's World Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Honoree |
Trumpet Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Trumpet Living Legend Award | Honoree |
NARM
National Association of Recording Merchandisers
The National Association of Recording Merchandisers is a United States not-for-profit trade association based in Marlton, New Jersey that serves music retailing businesses in lobbying and trade promotion...
Best Seller Awards
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | #1 Pop Vocalist Female (Won six-consecutive years from 1966 to 1971) |
Won |
| 1966 | ||
| 1967 | ||
| 1968 | ||
| 1969 | ||
| 1970 | ||
| 1971 |
Cash Box Magazine
| Year | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Cash Box Magazine (Best Sellers) |
#1 Female Vocalist | Won |
| 1966 | #1 R&B Female Vocalist | ||
| #2 Pop Female Vocalist | |||
| 1967 | #2 Pop, #2 R&B | ||
| 1968 | |||
| 1969 | #1 Female Vocalist - Albums and Singles | ||
| 1970 | |||
| 1971 | |||
| 1969 | Radio's Most Programmed Female Vocalist | ||
| 1970 | |||
| 1971 |
- National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame - Hitmaker Award-2001
- Woman of the Year-1969 Harvard Hasty Pudding Society
- Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Nominee-Slaves-1969
- Playboy Magazine Music Poll-Top Female Vocalist-1971;Playboy's All-Star Band for 1971-Female Vocals
- National Association of Television and Radio Announcers-#1 R&B Vocalist-1971
- Memphis Music Awards-Outstanding Female Vocalist-1971
- WINNER-1980 Tokyo Intl POP Music Festival for her performance of "FEELING OLD FEELINGS" from her Arista debut album "DionneDionne (album)Dionne, Dionne Warwick's debut album for the Arista label, was released in 1979. It was recorded during the summer of 1979 and was released that fall. The LP was originally issued as number AB-4230 in the Arista Catalog...
" produced by Barry Manilow. The song was awarded Song of the Year (the equivalent of the Japanese Grammy) - Mayors Award and Key to the City-San Jose, California-1968
- ACE Award Nominee for "Sisters in the Name of Love" - Dionne Warwick (HBO-1987)
- United States Ambassador of Health - Appointed by Ronald Reagan-1987
- Kleenex American Hero Award-1987
- American Society of Young Musicians - Luminary Award-1997
- National Music Foundation - Cultural Impact Award-1998
- United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-appointed 2002
- NABFEME Shero Award (The National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment)-2006
- The Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival-Lifetime Career Achievement Award-2006
- Miami Dade Life Time Achievement Award-2007 and Dionne Warwick Day-May 25
- Starlight Foundation - Humanitarian of the Year Award
- Bella Rackoff Women in Film - Humanitarian Award
- Lincoln Elementary School in East Orange, NJ, honored her by renaming it to the Dionne Warwick Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship
Filmography
Concerts- 2005: Prime Concerts: In Concert with Edmonton Symphony
- 2007: Dionne Warwick - Live
- 2008: Live in Cabaret July 18, 1975
As an actress
- 1969: Slaves
- 1988: Rent-A-CopRent-A-CopRent-a-Cop is a 1987 action / comedy / crime film starring Burt Reynolds and Liza Minnelli. Reynolds plays a disgraced police officer, now working as a security guard, who falls in love with Minnelli, who plays a prostitute....
- 1998: The Bold and the BeautifulThe Bold and the BeautifulThe Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....
(1 episode) - 1999: Johnny BravoJohnny BravoJohnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The series stars a muscular beefcake young man named Johnny Bravo who dons a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis Presley-like voice and has a forward, woman-chasing personality...
- 2000: Walker, Texas RangerWalker, Texas RangerWalker, Texas Ranger is an American television action crime drama series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis, and starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division. The show aired on CBS in the spring of 1993, with the first season consisting of three pilot episodes. Eight full...
(Season 8, Episode "Faith")
Documentary film appearances
- 1977: The Day the Music Died
- 2002: The Making and Meaning of We Are Family
- 2001: The Teens Who Stole Popular Music A & E Films
- 2001: Don't Make Me Over: The Dionne Warwick Story A & E Films
Compilations
- 2002: A Tribute to Burt Bacharach & Hal David
- 2005: The 5th Dimension Travelling Sunshine Show
- 2005: Straight from the Heart Live, Vol. 1
- 2006: Flashbacks: Soul Sensations
- 2006: Flashbacks: Pop Parade
- 2008: Lost Concerts Series: Uptown Divas
External links
- Dionne's official website
- [ Dionne's AllMusic Guide page]
- VH1 Site
- Rolling Stone Site
- Billboard Chart History (since 1983)
- The Scepter Records Story
- New York Times obituary (11/4/1995) of Florence Greenberg, founder of Scepter Records