83 Facts About Dionne Warwick

Marie Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress, and television host.

Dionne Warwick is the second-most charted female vocalist during the rock era.

Dionne Warwick is a former Goodwill Ambassador for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

Marie Dionne Warrick, later Warwick, was born to Arthur Lee Drinkard and Mancel Warrick.

Dionne Warwick's mother was manager of the Drinkard Singers, and her father was a Pullman porter, chef, record promoter, and CPA.

Dionne Warwick was named after her aunt on her mother's side.

Dionne Warwick had a sister, Delia, who died in 2008, and a brother, Mancel Jr.

Dionne Warwick's parents were both African-American, and she has Native American and Dutch ancestry.

Dionne Warwick was raised in East Orange, New Jersey, and was a Girl Scout for a time.

Dionne Warwick began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Dionne Warwick landed some work with her group singing backing vocals for recording sessions in New York City.

Many members of Dionne Warwick's family were members of the Drinkard Singers, a family gospel group and RCA recording artists who frequently performed throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Dionne Warwick was signed to Bacharach's and David's production company, according to Dionne Warwick, which in turn was signed to Scepter Records in 1962 by Greenberg.

The demo version of "It's Love That Really Counts", along with her original demo of "Make It Easy on Yourself", would surface on Warwick's debut Scepter album, Presenting Dionne Warwick, which was released in early 1963.

In November 1962, Scepter Records released her first solo single, "Don't Make Me Over", the title of which Dionne Warwick supplied herself when she snapped the phrase at producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David in anger.

Dionne Warwick weathered the British Invasion better than most American artists.

Dionne Warwick was named the Bestselling Female Vocalist in the Cash Box Magazine poll in 1964, with six chart hits in that year.

In Times cover article of May 21,1965, entitled "Rock 'n' Roll: The Sound of the Sixties", Dionne Warwick's sound was described as:.

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.

The Ultimate Edition DVD of Thunderball has the Dionne Warwick song playing over the titles on one of the commentary track extras, and the song was released on the 30th anniversary CD of Bond songs.

The mid-1960s to early 1970s were a more successful time period for Dionne Warwick, who saw a string of gold-selling albums and Top 20 and Top 10 hit singles.

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.

Later that same year, Dionne Warwick earned her first RIAA certified Gold single for US sales of over one million units for the single "I Say a Little Prayer".

Dionne 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.

Dionne Warwick had become the priority act of Scepter Records with the release of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" in 1963.

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".

Dionne Warwick's guests were Burt Bacharach, George Kirby, Glen Campbell, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

In 1970, Dionne Warwick formed her own label, Sonday Records, of which she was president.

In 1971, Dionne Warwick left the family atmosphere of Scepter Records for Warner Bros.

Dionne Warwick 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.

Dionne Warwick's dry spell on the American charts ended with her signing to Arista Records in 1979, where she began a second highly successful run of hit records and albums well into the late 1980s.

The accompanying album, Dionne Warwick, was certified Platinum in the United States for sales exceeding one million units.

Dionne Warwick became the first female artist in the history of the awards to win in both categories the same year.

In January 1980, while under contract to Arista Records, Dionne Warwick hosted a two-hour TV special called Solid Gold '79.

Dionne Warwick later stated to Wesley Hyatt in his Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits that she was not initially fond of "Heartbreaker" but recorded the song because she trusted the Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit.

In 1983, Dionne Warwick released How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, produced by Luther Vandross.

In 1985, Dionne 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.

Dionne Warwick knows what I'm going to do before I do it, and the same with me.

Dionne Warwick recorded "That's What Friends Are For" as a benefit single for the American Foundation for AIDS Research alongside Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder in 1985.

In 1987, Dionne Warwick won the Special Recognition Award at the American Music Awards for "That's What Friends Are For".

In 1998, Inphomation, the corporation owning the network, filed for bankruptcy and Dionne Warwick ended her association with the organization.

Dionne 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.

In 1990, Dionne Warwick recorded the song "It's All Over" with former member of Modern Talking Dieter Bohlen.

Dionne Warwick alleged that the ABC report was racially motivated and threatened to sue ABC News for defamation, although a suit was never filed.

On October 16,2002, Dionne Warwick was nominated to be Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

In 2005, Dionne Warwick was honored by Oprah Winfrey at her Legends Ball.

Dionne Warwick appeared on the May 24,2006, fifth-season finale of American Idol.

Dionne Warwick sang 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, Dionne Warwick signed with Concord Records after a 15-year tenure at Arista, which had ended in 1994.

Dionne Warwick had been in failing health for several months.

On November 24,2008, Dionne Warwick was the star performer on Divas II, a UK ITV1 special show that featured Rihanna, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes, Pink, Gabriella Climi and Anastacia.

In 2008, Dionne Warwick began recording an album of songs from the Sammy Cahn and Jack Wolf songbooks.

In March 2011, Dionne Warwick appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice 4.

Dionne Warwick was dismissed from her "apprenticeship" to Donald Trump during the fourth task of the season.

In February 2012, Dionne Warwick performed "Walk On By" on The Jonathan Ross Show.

Dionne Warwick received the Goldene Kamera Musical Lifetime Achievement Award in Germany, and performed "That's What Friends Are For" at the ceremony.

On May 28,2012, Dionne Warwick headlined the World Hunger Day concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Dionne Warwick sang "One World One Song", specially written for the Hunger Project by Tony Hatch and Tim Holder and was joined by Joe McElderry, the London Community Gospel Choir and a choir from Woodbridge School, Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Dionne Warwick was eliminated in the fifth round, but came back during the first part of the season three finale to sing "What the World Needs Now is Love" with the finalists Night Angel, Frog and Turtle as a tribute to the healthcare workers working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dionne Warwick made a guest appearance during Gladys Knight's and Patti Labelle's Verzuz battle.

On February 10,2021, Dionne Warwick was nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time.

On December 3,2021, Dionne Warwick was honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

Warwick appears in a documentary revolving around her life and career, Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021.

On November 26,2021, Dionne Warwick released the single "Nothing's Impossible" a duet featuring Chance the Rapper.

In December 2023, Dionne Warwick participated in the fifth series of The Masked Singer UK as "Weather".

Dionne Warwick was eliminated and unmasked on the first episode.

In 2024, Dionne Warwick was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical excellence category.

Dionne Warwick competed on episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.

Dionne Warwick is a contralto, particularly known for her signature musicality and "husky" singing voice.

Similarly, in 2006, Sarah Dempster of The Guardian observed that Dionne Warwick's voice "has deepened with age, lending a splendidly full-bodied finish to everything".

In recent years, Dionne Warwick has become known for sharing candid, straightforward opinions about various topics on the social media platform Twitter, being nicknamed the "Queen of Twitter" by several media publications.

In 1966, Dionne Warwick married actor and drummer William Elliott; they divorced in May 1967.

On May 30,1975, the couple separated and Dionne Warwick was granted a divorce in December 1975 in Los Angeles.

The court denied Elliott's request for $2,000 a month in support pending a community property trial, and for $5,000, when he insisted he was making $500 a month in comparison to Dionne Warwick making $100,000 a month.

In 2002, Dionne Warwick was arrested at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana.

Dionne Warwick was charged with possessing marijuana totaling less than five grams.

In 2009 Dionne Warwick had a $2.2 million federal tax lien filed against her.

Dionne Warwick's second son, Damon Elliott, is a music producer, who has worked with Mya, Pink, Christina Aguilera and Keyshia Cole.

Dionne Warwick arranged and produced his mother's 2006 Concord release My Friends and Me.

Dionne Warwick received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination in the Traditional Pop Category for her 2013 album release, Now.

On January 24,2015, Dionne Warwick was hospitalized after a fall in the shower at her home.

Dionne Warwick declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Jersey on March 21,2013.

On Friday, October 11,2024, Dionne Warwick was honored by the City of East Orange, NJ with a street renaming ceremony.