Dionne Warwick
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Dionne started as a back-up singer. She was with the group The Gospelaires, doing back-up to many of the popular groups at that time. She was finally signed in as a solo performer when she was spotted by producer Burt Bacharach in one of her back-up stints with the Drifters. Her first contract was with Scepter Records in 1962 with Burt Bacharach and Hal David as producers.
Dionne Warwick was born Marie Dionne Warrick on December 12, 1940. Her official surname became Warwick when her surname was misspelled in her hit single Don’t Make Me Over.
Warwick’s voice is not of the ordinary – it is versatile. Anyone Who Had a Heart (1963) was her first top ten pop hit in the U.S.A. She remained listed in the US and Canadian charts until the end of the 60’s. Most of her songs then were produced by Bacharach and David.
Her single I Say a Little Prayer earned her the award RIAA Gold Single for US sales in 1967. Among her many other hits in the late 60’s included (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls, Do You Know The Way To San Jose which earned her a Grammy Award, (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling and at the start of the 70’s, the album I’ll Never Fall In Love Again won for her the second Grammy Award.
Dionne moved from Scepter Records to Warner Brothers Records in 1971, following a case filed by Bacharach and David against Scepter. The transfer to Warner eventually ended up with Bacharach and David breaking up, leaving Dionne helpless. Her career slowed down, but she had to finish her contract with Warner Records. She filed a $5.5 million dollar lawsuit against the two and she was awarded $5 million plus the rights to all her recordings produced by her former partners.
There was a time in 1971 when Dionne changed the spelling of her surname by adding an “E”, making it “Warwicke” as advised by a psychic for good luck. However, she finally got rid of the “e” in 1975 and used “Warwick” officially again.
Her years with Warner Brothers Records from 1972-1978 gave her only one big hit – Then Came You produced by Thom Bell, recorded in duet with The Spinners.
The 1980’s marked Dionne’s move to Arista Records, this time with the label’s founder Clive Davis. Her career accelerated again as the release of her single I’ll Never Love This Way Again in 1979 enjoyed success in the charts, followed up by another hit Deja Vu. This song earned her the NARAS Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female and Best R&B Performance by a Female for Déjà Dionne started as a back-up singer. She was with the group “The Gospelaires”, doing back-up to many of the popular groups at that time. She was finally signed in as a solo performer when she was spotted by producer Burt Bacharach in one of her back-up stints with the “Drifters”. Her first contract was with Scepter Records in 1962 with Burt Bacharach and Hal David as producers.
Dionne Warwick was born Marie Dionne Warrick on December 12, 1940. Her official surname became “Warwick” when her surname was misspelled in her hit single “Don’t Make Me Over”.
Warwick’s voice is not of the ordinary – it is versatile. “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (1963) was her first top ten pop hit in the U.S.A. She remained listed in the US and Canadian charts until the end of the 60’s. Most of her songs then were produced by Bacharach and David.
Her single “I Say a Little Prayer” earned her the award RIAA Gold Single for US sales in 1967. Among her many other hits in the late 60’s included “(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls”, “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” which earned her a Grammy Award, “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me”. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and at the start of the 70’s, the album “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” won for her the second Grammy Award.
Dionne moved from Scepter Records to Warner Brothers Records in 1971, following a case filed by Bacharach and David against Scepter. The transfer to Warner eventually ended up with Bacharach and David breaking up, leaving Dionne helpless. Her career slowed down, but she had to finish her contract with Warner Records. She filed a $5.5 million dollar lawsuit against the two and she was awarded $5 million plus the rights to all her recordings produced by her former partners.
There was a time in 1971 when Dionne changed the spelling of her surname by adding an “E”, making it “Warwicke” as advised by a psychic for good luck. However, she finally got rid of the “e” in 1975 and used “Warwick” officially again.
Her years with Warner Brothers Records from 1972-1978 gave her only one big hit – “Then Came You” produced by Thom Bell, recorded in duet with The Spinners.
The 1980’s marked Dionne’s move to Arista Records, this time with the label’s founder Clive Davis. Her career accelerated again as the release of her single “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” in 1979 enjoyed success in the charts, followed up by another hit “Deja Vu”. This song earned her the NARAS Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female and Best R&B Performance by a Female for “Déjà Vu”.
While still with Arista, her album Heartbreaker (1982) earned her another RIAA Gold Album. She did the song with Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, and it captured the hearts of the international market
She stayed with Arista until early 90s. During this period, she did some charitable acts like contributing her voice to the song We Are The World, a charity song which earned multi-Grammy award. She also did That’s What Friends Are For for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. However, her career slowed down again in the 1990s. Despite promotions made by Arista, most of her works failed to chart.
My Favorite Time of The Year, a collection of Christmas songs, was released in 2004. That was Dionne’s first Christmas album. In 2006, she also signed a contract with Concord Records.
In January 2008, Dionne is set to release her new gospel album Why We Sing featuring Dee Dee Warwick, her sister, and Bebe Winans.
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