Dionne Warwick is one of the most charted female recording artists of all time, with only Aretha Franklin ahead of her. Dionne Warwick has hosted one of television's most popular music variety shows ever, introducing new stars and welcoming old friends, while working and dueting with everyone from country superstar Glen Campbell to the Queen of Rock and Roll Tina Turner. Dionne Warwick led the fight against HIV when others wouldn’t even speak about it, going to the highest points of government to advocate. Dionne Warwick has enjoyed one of the most illustrious careers in entertainment, but she is not resting on her laurels and majestic moments. She continues to have them. She is at another mountainous level of success. The legendary songstress is having one of the most successful runs of her already extraordinary career!
In 2023 alone, Ms. Warwick has been heralded with the prestigious (and many would note long overdue) Kennedy Center Honor, which she will receive, with grand and warranted tribute in December (“It’s quite an honor to be recognized for the body of work that I have been able to give over these 60 years. It says I’ve done a good thing and I’m very, very happy to have been chosen to receive it. And I am looking forward to the evening.”). In April, Warwick had Bowie State University in Maryland rename their Fine and Performing Arts Center to honor the icon as The Dionne Warwick Theater. She was recently, as in July 2023, inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame, along with her longtime collaborator, composer Burt Bachrach, for her vast and voluminous contributions to music. And the year began with her astonishing life and career showcased in the documentary “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” chronicling her remarkably rich journey through entertainment, activism and her groundbreaking legacy in pop, soul and gospel music and her global successes over an unprecedented calling that spans more than 60 years of excellence. “Now, the truth came from me and now you know. You don’t have to think about it. I’m very happy with it. It gave a lot of insight on me and gave people a real look at Dionne Warwick.” And again, this is just 2023. In the past several years, Dionne Warwick’s relevance in and to American culture has been moved to the forefront again and again.
Her introduction to Twitter, through her nieces and nephews and championed by her niece Brittany, became international news when a simple question about why Chance The Rapper felt he needed to tell us he was a rapper soon made her “The Queen of Twitter.” That question caused not only the rap superstar to fawn over and follow her, but an entirely new generation of singers and superstars and even Saturday Night Live, where she made a surprise guest appearance on “The Dionne Warwick Talk Show,” where she has parodied by the hit show, while superstars like Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish laughingly interacted with her comedic doppelganger. Her turn on Twitter became such a cultural phenomenon that an artistic installation spotlighting “Dionne Warwick: Queen of Twitter,” was on exhibit in Newark, NJ during their Newark Arts Festival in The Fall of 2021. By the way, Warwick has since recorded with Chance The Rapper on “Nothing’s Impossible” and they continue to be fond friends.
The legendary performer was also honored at the "Night of 1000 Crowns" Gala, the inaugural benefit honoring “hidden gems” in the BIPOC community. Warwick received the Lifetime Humanitarian award, recognizing her 60-plus years in the arts and philanthropy from two branded apps who paid tribute to her during the evening of elevated elegance, where she was lauded for all her efforts. She offered, “There is a little bit more to me than singing, and I'm thrilled to be able to share that.”
If that were more than enough, several years ago her son Damon showed her a photograph of singer/actress/producer Teyana Taylor and Warwick herself was stunned by the likeness. And so was the world because the idea of Taylor starring as Warwick in a biopic caught fire and grew legs and tweet after post across social media has brought the two together for what many believed would be a film, but Ms. Warwick wants it clarified that it is “not a biopic at all. It’s a series based on not only my music but my career. It has a lot to do with my book and she is doing a lot of research and she knows more about me than I do. I’ve had wonderful conversations with her and she’s very excited to play me in the series. I am really happy with her. She feels like me. It’s going to be quite authentic.”
The authenticity of the astounding career of Dionne Warwick is the stuff of legend and legacy. From 1962, when she released her first solo single “Don’t Make Me Over” (after beginning her earlier career with her family gospel group The Drinkard Singers), her mellifluous voice and iconic sound set the bar in American pop music by earning more than 60 charted hit songs and selling over 100 million records. She has done more than entertain the world; as a humanitarian, she has advocated for global well-being through such efforts as AIDS awareness, The Starlight Foundation, children's hospitals, and music education. Ms. Warwick notably served as U.S. Ambassador of Health, appointed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and in 2002 acted as a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization. In using her music to support her activism, she performed in the all-star charity single, "We Are the World," and in 1984’s "Live Aid. She also made recording history with Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder with, "That's What Friends Are For," a number one hit and the first recording dedicated to raising awareness for AIDS. After teaming with renowned songwriters, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, "Don't Make Me Over" kicked off 18 more consecutive Top 100 singles. "Walk on By," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Message to Michael," "Promises Promises," "A House is Not a Home," "Alfie," and "Say a Little Prayer." After 30 hits, and close to 20 best-selling albums with the team, she received her first Grammy Award, which was in the pop music category–a first for an African American vocalist in the category–in 1968 for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and in a series of trailblazing moments, she became the first African American female artist to appear before the Queen of England at a Royal Command Performance. Her second Grammy followed in 1970 for the best-selling album, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," with Warwick then becoming the first African American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocalist Performance. The 70’s paired her with “Shaft” composer, Black Moses himself Isaac Hayes for a duets album and the spectacular Spinners for their #1 R&B smash “Then Came You," a million-seller in 1974. By 1976, after a label switch to Arista Records, she entered her third decade of hit-making with a Platinum-selling album, "Dionne," produced by Barry Manilow with its back-to-back hits "I'll Never Love This Way Again," and "Déjà vu.". Both recordings earned more Grammy Awards, setting her up as the first female artist to win for the Best Female Pop and Best Female R&B Performance. Having received 13 nominations alongside her five wins, three of her hits “Alfie,” “Don’t Make Me Over,” and “Walk On By,” are now inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
This titan of song and service has also authored her autobiography, "My Life, As I See It" (Simon & Schuster) as well as children’s books, "Say A Little Prayer" and "Little Man." As an entrepreneur, her signature merchandise includes musical greeting cards and an original fragrance line, “Dionne'' which embodies the class and elegance for which she is renowned. And she proudly routinely visits with the students and faculty at The Dionne Warwick Institute, in her hometown in East Orange, NJ to give back and to encourage. Her pride and joy are her two sons, whom she says she has “sensibly spoiled, but proudly guided,” singer/recording artist David Elliott and award-winning music producer Damon Elliott. David’s daughter, vocalist Cheyenne Elliott, has joined her legendary grandmother in both live performance and recording internationally. And Dionne continues to record, “to stay relevant and to stay in people’s ears.” And as she meditates on her masterful odyssey in music, she says simply, “I’m a messenger and I’m carrying messages of love and hope.”
Ms. Warwick kicked off 2022 with a Gospel/Hip Hop single, “Power In the Name”, featuring Krayzie Bone (of Bone, Thugs & Harmony fame) and son/producer/manager Damon Elliott, performing as NomaD. For 2023, a Gospel album is in the works featuring duets with Dolly Parton (“Peace Like A River”), which Parton wanted Warwick to record and Dionne suggested as a duet, and Damon/NomaD (“I Kneel”). And she will finally and fully return to her gospel roots with “SONGS OF INSPIRATION,” her first gospel album. “It’s time. It’s time for passages from the Bible to be heard again. I feel like that’s what’s needed. Let’s get some encouraging words in people’s ears and bodies and minds and souls.”
When asked by her dynamic duplicate during her visit to SNL “Dionne, why are you perfect?” to the audience’s rapturous applause, Ms. Warwick responded tongue-in-cheek, as only she could. “Darling, I’m not perfect. I’m just very, very good.” But when asked what it feels like to be Dionne Warwick today, she humbly said, “I’m being led and guided by the Heavenly Father. I’ve been given a path and I have fortunately not deterred or dottered from that path. As long as I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, I FEAR NOTHING! There is nothing I cannot do.”
For interview inquiries, contact Double XXposure CEO Angelo Ellerbee – (201) 224-6570, angelo@dxxnyc.com