Marie Dionne Warrick was born on December 12, 1940 and she is still on fire. Marie Warrick is better known as Dionne Warwick who is one of the most celebrated singers of the last 60 years. Her first solo single, “Don’t Make Me Over” was in 1962. She has since gone on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide. She has collaborated with artists such as Stevie Wonder, The Spinners, Elton John, Lionel Richie, Gladys Knight, and Patti LaBelle. In addition to being a successful singer, she was a television host and has done multiple charity works to fight AIDS and also hunger and famine in Africa. Furthermore, Dionne Warwick has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Dionne Warwick has won numerous Pop and R&B awards. Born in Orange, New Jersey, one could say she was born to be a star. Dionne was born into a family of successful singers rooted in gospel music. Her mother was the manager of gospel group The Drinkard Singers. Cissy Houston is her aunt and mother to Whitney Houston, Dee Dee Warwick was her sister, and opera singer Leontyne Price is her cousin. Dionne and her sister formed the group The Gospelaires who sung background for artists including Dinah Washington, Sam Taylor, Maxine Brown, and Ben E. King. She was discovered while singing backup for The Drifters. From the start and before her first solo single, Dionne Warwick knew how to sing and present herself on stage.
Dionne Warwick first hit was “Don’t Make Me Over” in 1962. Since then, she’s had many chart toppers including “Walk On By”, “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” She collaborated with The Spinners with the single “Then Came You” which she did not believe would become a hit. However, it became her first #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her platinum album Dionne was produced by Barry Manilow and contains the hit song “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and the song “Déjà Vu” which written by Isaac Hayes. Dionne’s recordings of songs “Valley of the Dolls” and “Alfie” helped to popularize movie theme songs.
In 1985, Ms. Warwick was a soloist in the charity single “We Are The World” which was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones. The hit generated over $63 million dollars for humanitarian efforts for multiple African countries. That same year she released her version of “That’s What Friends Are For” to benefit American Foundation for AIDS Research. That collaboration with Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight generated over $3 million for AIDS research.
Like many artists, she’s had some hiccups in her career such as the Psychic Friends Network, bankruptcy, an arrest, and lawsuits. However, in addition to singing, she hosted a few television shows. The most notably was Solid Gold. Solid Gold television show was similar to Soul Train except it had choreographed dancers. Like many African-Americans, Dionne left the U.S. for a period of time. She resided in Brazil for twenty years before returning back to the United States to live.
Dionne Warwick has released 40 studio albums not including her live and compilation albums. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the R&B Music Hall of Fame and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame. In addition, she has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Although she is in her 80’s, she is still active. She has released new albums and was on The Masked Singer television show in disguise. Furthermore, she is still performing in concerts around the world. In her spare time, she keeps Oreo cookies in line on Twitter.