The legendary Ms. Dionne Warwick checked in on the Hip Hop United platform with Briana to discuss being a foundational factor in the entertainment industry, some of her latest stage appearances, and continuing to blossom as a creatress with interior design. Although a humble woman, she has a bodacious career, standing tall as the most charted female vocalist alive. Under her belt is nearly three and a half scores worth of singles on the Billboard top charts and over 100 million sales globally. Ms. Warwick has been active in the industry since 1963 and has even dropped two albums in 2019, totaling five studio albums released since 2010. Additional recent ventures include wrapping up a Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace in March, being awarded by the Recording Academy with the lifetime achievement Special Merit Award/“GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends” in May, and even guest starring on Fox’s the Masked Singer in February. “The fortunate, or unfortunate thing about my voice is it’s so distinctive. Obscuring it would have been impossible, I don’t know how to do that,” she told The Guardian about her vocals regarding participating on The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer Photo with Nick Cannon
Early Life
Originally from a tight-knit community in Brick City (Newark, NJ), young Dionne’s talent was cultivated in New Hope Baptist Church Choir and was naturally refined by her family of performers–ranging from aunts and uncles known as the Drinkard Singers to late sister Dee Dee Warwick and her late, great, legendary cousin Whitney Houston. Coming from a wholesome household, she was raised with discipline to carry herself as a successful and respectable young woman. In 1959, she graduated high school and went further to study music education at The University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music in CT. During this time, her career bloomed while doing features for stars such as Dinah Washington, Chuck Jackson, and Ben E King, which allowed for her to remain financially secure while pursuing her degree.
Winning Season
Moreover, doing a background session for Sam Taylor catapulted Warwick’s career to start making her permanent mark in the music world. In her biography, she recounted, “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.” She and her family were soon in high demand throughout New York City. She became the apple of many moguls’s eyes, including the composers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She began recording demo records with the dynamic duo and was almost immediately pitched by Scepter Records’ president, Florence Greenberg–who fell in love with her vocals, extreme range, and distinct sound. Ms. Warwick’s career gained momentum and hasn’t slowed. In 1962, the young star graced Billboard’s Top 40 List, landing at #21, with the single “Don’t Make Me Over.” Later that year she went on sabbatical from college to pursue her music career in France. She has since been regarded as “Paris’ Black Pearl,” as infamously introduced by Marlene Dietrich. Within five years, she secured her first RIAA certified Gold album, Here Where There Is Love. In under a decade in the industry, she sold approximately 35 million singles and albums globally. By 1979, she secured her second RIAA certification with self-titled album Dionne going Platinum with over a million sales and peaking at #12 on the Billboard top album chart. Her #1 hit with Isaac Hayes, “Deja Vu,” also graced the charts at #1 in 1980. By 1987, she was up to her eighth #1 hit with “Love Power” and continued to claim the music game as a quiet storm.
Humanitarianism
In the early 1990s, the strong vocalist transitioned to TV and film, securing over $3 million as the network spokesperson for the most successful infomercial in its era. In the mid-1990s, Ms. Warwick’s attention turned to addressing the AIDS epidemic, where she spearheaded a charity and organized benefit concerts. As a result, she was nominated to be the American Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2002. She continued to release studio albums, make appearances on mainstream shows, collaborate with noteworthy artists, and host charitable events for various communities in need of advocacy. A great deal of her time was valuably spent in Brazil, where she had been frequenting for the past 20 some odd years. The region served as her sacred space where she was able to ground herself and connect with the divine. She was spiritually aligned with Brazil’s value systems, which heavily includes holding God first and family directly after–especially with the chaotic social climate across the world. After experiencing segregation at one of her concerts in the 1960s, she feels that we have not made much progress as a unified people, especially after nearly half of a century passed. Although she returned to New Jersey to be closer to her family, she plans to return to live once she retires; however, showbiz doesn’t show any indications of letting the living legend depart anytime soon.
Just a Few Accolades to Underscore how Ms. Warwick is a LIVING LEGEND
- First female artist in Recording Academy history to win in both pop and R&B in the same year (potentially the first Black woman to secure a pop Grammy, which is a genre created for white artists to thrive)
- First Aftican-American woman to perform for Queen Elizabeth II
- Highest paid recording contract for a female artist at Warner Bros. Records (earning $5 million)
- First African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious Grammy award for Best Contemporary Female Vocalist Performance
Exclusive Interview with Hip Hop United
Some of Dionne Warwick’s Interior Design Projects:
Follow Ms. Dionne Warwick’s Social Media Handles:
Twitter: _DionneWarwick
Instagram: @therealdionnew
YouTube/VEVO: https://www.youtube.com/c/DionneWarwickOfficial/about
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DionneWarwick
Website: https://www.officialdionnewarwick.com/
Interior Design Website: www.wgdesignlabs.com
