Music >> Artists >> Pop
Birth Name:
Marie Dionne Warrick

Born:
December 12, 1940 in East Orange, NJ

Genre:
Pop

Years Active:
'60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s






Dionne Warwick

Biography

It is easier to define Dionne Warwick by what she isn't rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe her musical approach and the music she sings, but she is not a singer of standards such as Lena Horne or Nancy Wilson. What is she, then? She is a pop singer of a sort that perhaps could only have emerged out of the Brill Building environment of post-Elvis Presley, pre-Beatles urban pop in the early '60s. That's when she hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who wrote their unusually complicated songs for her aching yet detached alto voice. Warwick is inescapably associated with those songs, even though she managed to build a career after leaving Bacharach and David that drew upon their style for other memorable recordings, and she remains a unique figure in popular music. . It is easier to define Dionne Warwick by what she isn't rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe her musical approach and the music she sings, but she is not a singer of standards such as Lena Horne or Nancy Wilson. What is she, then? She is a pop singer of a sort that perhaps could only have emerged out of the Brill Building environment of post-Elvis Presley, pre-Beatles urban pop in the early '60s. That's when she hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who wrote their unusually complicated songs for her aching yet detached alto voice. Warwick is inescapably associated with those songs, even though she managed to build a career after leaving Bacharach and David that drew upon their style for other memorable recordings, and she remains a unique figure in popular music.

Marie Dionne Warrick was born into a gospel music family. Her father was a gospel record promoter for Chess Records and her mother managed the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group consisting of her relatives. She first raised her voice in song at age six at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, and soon after was a member of the choir. As a teenager, she formed a singing group called the Gospelaires with her sister Dee Dee and her aunt Cissy Houston (later the mother of the late Whitney Houston). After graduating from high school in 1959, she earned a music scholarship to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, but she also spent time with her group recording background vocals on sessions in New York. The Gospelaires are said to be present on such well-known recordings as Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand by Me." They were at a Drifters session working on a song called "Mexican Divorce" composed by Burt Bacharach when Bacharach, attending the session, suggested Warrick might do some demos for him. She did, singing songs he had written with lyricist Hal David. Bacharach and David pitched one of the songs to Florence Greenberg, head of the small independent Scepter Records label, and Greenberg liked the demo singer enough to sign her as a recording artist. Bacharach and David wrote and produced her first single, "Don't Make Me Over," in 1962. When the record was released, the performer credit contained a typo; it read "Dionne Warwick" instead of "Dionne Warrick," and she kept the new name. (Her sister Dee Dee eventually became Dee Dee Warwick as well.)

"Don't Make Me Over" peaked in the Top 20 of the pop charts in early 1963, also reaching the Top Five of the R&B charts. Warwick's subsequent singles were not as successful, but in early 1964, she reached the pop and R&B Top Ten and the Top Five of the easy listening charts with "Anyone Who Had a Heart," which was also her first record to reach the charts in the U.K. (There, such singers as Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield sometimes would cover her records before her own versions had a chance to become hits.) "Walk on By" followed it into the Top Ten of the pop, easy listening, and U.K. charts in the spring of 1964, and it hit number one on the R&B charts. By then, the Beatles had arrived on the American scene, followed by the British Invasion, and for a while, pop artists like Warwick took a beating on the charts. Nevertheless, the singer continued to place singles and LPs in the rankings over the next couple of years, and in the spring of 1966 she returned to the Top Ten of the pop charts and the Top Five of the R&B charts with "Message to Michael." Other, more modest hits followed, including the most successful U.S. recording of the title song from the movie Alfie, which reached the R&B Top Five and the pop Top 20 in the spring of 1967. That summer, Warwick topped the R&B LP charts with her gold-selling Here Where There Is Love album, and by the fall Scepter had amassed enough chart singles to issue Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits, Pt. 1, her first album to reach the pop Top Ten.

Curiously, Warwick's career reached a new level with a single not written by Bacharach and David, although they produced it. It was "(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls," written by André and Dory Previn and issued at the end of 1967. The record reached the Top Five of the pop, R&B, and easy listening charts. Its B-side, Bacharach and David's "I Say a Little Prayer," reached the Top Five of the pop and R&B charts, helping the single become a gold record, and the Valley of the Dolls LP also made the Top Five of the pop and R&B charts and went gold. With that, Warwick was on a roll. Her next single, "Do You Know the Way to San José," reached the pop Top Ten and the R&B and easy listening Top Five in the spring of 1968 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Female. In the winter of 1969, her version of "This Guy's in Love with You," retitled "This Girl's in Love with You," made the pop and R&B Top Ten and the easy listening Top Five and in early 1970, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from Bacharach and David's score for the Broadway musical Promises, Promises, made the pop Top Ten and topped the easy listening charts, bringing her another Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female.

In 1971, Warwick added an "e" to the end of her name on the advice of a numerologist, retaining the new spelling until 1975. She also left Scepter Records and signed a deal with the major label Warner Bros. that included Bacharach and David as her writer and producer. The team produced the 1972 album Dionne, which was a modest seller, but then Bacharach and David split up in the wake of the critical and commercial failure of their work on a musical remake of the film Lost Horizon in 1973. Due to her contractual commitment, Warwick was forced to sue her old partners. A settlement was reached, but they would not work together again for many years and Warwick's career suffered.

Warwick bounced back with "Then Came You," a song she recorded with the Spinners, which topped the pop and R&B charts and reached the Top Five of the easy listening charts in October 1974, going gold in the process. It proved to be a one-off success, but Warwick (now without the "e") signed to Arista Records in 1979 and returned to the Top Five of the pop adult contemporary (formerly easy listening) charts with "I'll Never Love This Way Again," produced by labelmate Barry Manilow and featured on her first platinum-selling album, another LP simply titled Dionne. "Deja Vu," also from the album, was a Top 20 pop and number one adult contemporary hit. "I'll Never Love This Way Again" won Warwick her third Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female; "Deja Vu" won her her fourth for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Female.

Warwick topped the adult contemporary charts in 1980 with "No Night So Long," but her next across-the-board hit did not come until she hooked up with the Bee Gees for her 1982 album Heartbreaker. Barry Gibb produced the gold-selling LP and the three Gibb brothers wrote the title song, which made the pop Top Ten and topped the adult contemporary charts. In 1985, Warwick was reconciled with Bacharach and she organized a charity recording of his and Carole Bayer Sager's song "That's What Friends Are For" to combat AIDS, featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder, in addition to herself. The record topped the pop, R&B, and adult contemporary charts in the winter of 1985-1986, the album Friends on which it was included went gold, and the song earned Warwick her fifth Grammy, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In 1987, Warwick topped the adult contemporary charts and reached the Top Five of the R&B charts with "Love Power," a duet with Jeffrey Osborne that was another Bacharach/Sager composition.

Warwick enjoyed less commercial success after the late '80s. She parted ways with Arista Records after her 1995 album Aquarela do Brazil. In 1998 she issued Dionne Sings Dionne, an album consisting largely of re-recordings of her hits, on River North Records. Her first collection of holiday standards, My Favorite Time of the Year, was released in 2004 on EMI. Two years later she landed on the Concord label with My Friends & Me, a collection of duets that revisited her classic recordings with Cyndi Lauper, Kelis, Reba McEntire, and Wynonna Judd among her guests. Why We Sing, her first gospel album in nearly 40 years, landed on the Rhino label in 2008, and in 2011 she would star in Donald Trump's The Celebrity Apprentice 4, a reality television competition series that pitted her against fellow contestants like David Cassidy, Lil Jon, and Meat Loaf. Now, a new album of Bacharach and David material, arrived in 2012 on the H&I Music label and marked her 50th anniversary as a recording artist. Feels So Good, an album of duets with artists such as Alicia Keys, Ziggy Marley, and Stevie Wonder, was expected in May 2014.

Top Albums

Dionne Warwick Sings Dionne, Dionne Warwick
1. Dionne Warwi..
The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits, Dionne Warwick
2. The Dionne W..
Golden Legends: Dionne Warwick Live, Dionne Warwick
3. Golden Legen..
The Definitive Collection (Remastered), Dionne Warwick
4. The Definiti..
The Woman in Red (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture), Dionne Warwick
5. The Woman in..
My Friends & Me, Dionne Warwick
6. My Friends &..
Platinum & Gold Collection, Dionne Warwick
7. Platinum &am..
Love Songs, Dionne Warwick
8. Love Songs
Dionne Warwick Live, Dionne Warwick
9. Dionne Warwi..
Make Way for Dionne Warwick, Dionne Warwick
10. Make Way for..
Dionne Warwick's Greatest Motion Picture Hits, Dionne Warwick
11. Dionne Warwi..
The Valley of the Dolls, Dionne Warwick
12. The Valley o..
Very Dionne, Dionne Warwick
13. Very Dionne
Promises, Promises, Dionne Warwick
14. Promises, Pr..
Rhino Hi-Five - Dionne Warwick - EP, Dionne Warwick
15. Rhino Hi-Fiv..
Now: A Celebratory 50th Anniversary Album, Dionne Warwick
16. Now: A Celeb..
Only Trust Your Heart, Dionne Warwick
17. Only Trust Y..
Dionne Warwick: Greatest Hits 1979-1990, Dionne Warwick
18. Dionne Warwi..
Soulful, Dionne Warwick
19. Soulful
Feels So Good, Dionne Warwick
20. Feels So Goo..

Top Songs

NameAlbumTimePrice
1.
I Say a Little PrayerDionne Warwick Collection: ..3:08$1.29
2.
That's What Friends Are For (Wit..Love Songs4:15$1.29
3.
That's What Friends Are ForPlatinum & Gold Collect..4:15$1.29
4.
Walk On ByMake Way for Dionne Warwick2:58$1.29
5.
Then Came YouVery Best of the Spinners4:01$1.29
6.
Do You Know the Way to San JoseDionne Warwick Collection: ..2:59$1.29
7.
I'll Never Fall In Love AgainDionne Warwick Collection: ..2:54$1.29
8.
I'll Never Love This Way Again (..Platinum & Gold Collect..3:27$0.99
9.
Deja VuLove Songs5:07$0.99
10.
Heartbreaker (Remastered)Platinum & Gold Collect..4:17$0.99
11.
Theme from "Valley of the Dolls&..Dionne Warwick Collection: ..3:38$1.29
12.
AlfieDionne Warwick Collection: ..2:47$1.29
13.
House Is Not a HomeDionne Warwick Collection: ..3:08$0.99
14.
Walk On By (Live)Dionne Warwick Collection: ..2:54$1.29
15.
Anyone Who Had a HeartDionne Warwick Collection: ..3:04$1.29
16.
What the World Needs Now Is LoveHere Where There Is Love3:09$1.29
17.
Don't Make Me OverDionne Warwick Collection: ..2:48$1.29
18.
Then Came YouThen Came You4:00$0.99
19.
Promises, PromisesDionne Warwick Collection: ..3:02$0.99
20.
That's What Friends Are ForDefinitive Collection (Rema..4:15$1.29
21.
HeartbreakerDefinitive Collection (Rema..4:15$0.99
22.
I Say a Little Prayer for YouGolden Legends: Dionne Warw..5:21$0.99
23.
This Girl's In Love With YouPromises, Promises4:22$0.99
24.
Wishin' and Hopin'Make Way for Dionne Warwick2:58$0.99
25.
I'll Never Love This Way AgainDefinitive Collection (Rema..3:28$0.99

Top Music Videos

Superwoman, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight & Patti LaBelle
1. Superwoman
I Say a Little Prayer (Ed Sullivan Show Live 1968), Dionne Warwick
2. I Say a Littl...
This Girl's In Love With You (Ed Sullivan Show/Stereo/Live/1969), Dionne Warwick
3. This Girl's I...
Promises, Promises (Ed Sullivan Show Live 1968), Dionne Warwick
4. Promises, Pro...
That's What Friends Are For, Dionne Warwick
5. That's What F...
Classic's Medley, Dionne Warwick
6. Classic's Med...
How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, Luther Vandross & Dionne Warwick
7. How Many Time...
I'll Never Love This Way Again, Dionne Warwick
8. I'll Never Lo...
Walk On By, Dionne Warwick
9. Walk On By
Alfie, Dionne Warwick
10. Alfie
Heartbreaker, Dionne Warwick
11. Heartbreaker
I Say A Little Prayer / Love Song, Dionne Warwick
12. I Say A Littl...
Medley: The Way I Want To Touch You / Have You Ever Been Mellow / Love Will Keep Us Together / Sing / This Will Be / Get Down Tonight, Dionne Warwick
13. Medley: The W...
Promises, Promises, Dionne Warwick
14. Promises, Pro...
Don't Make Me Over, Dionne Warwick
15. Don't Make Me...
I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Dionne Warwick
16. I'll Never Fa...
Do You Know The Way To San Jose?, Dionne Warwick
17. Do You Know T...
Thank Heaven For Little Girls, Dionne Warwick
18. Thank Heaven ...
Anyone Who Had A Heart, Dionne Warwick
19. Anyone Who Ha...
A House Is Not A Home, Dionne Warwick
20. A House Is No...


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