Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick (/diˈɒn ˈwɔːrwɪk/ dee-ON WOR-wik;[1] born Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. She is one of the most successful female artists in the history of popular music.
Dionne Warwick
- Singer
- actress
- television host
1955–present
2, including Damon
Dee Dee Warwick (sister)
Cissy Houston (maternal aunt)
Whitney Houston
(maternal first cousin)
Gary Garland
(maternal second cousin)
Bobbi Kristina Brown (maternal first cousin once removed)
Leontyne Price
(maternal first cousin once removed)
- Vocals
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on Billboard's Hot 100 pop singles chart. She is the second-most charted female vocalist during the rock era (1955–1999). She is also one of the most-charted vocalists of all time, with 56 of her singles making the Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998 (12 of them Top Ten), and 80 singles in total – either solo or collaboratively – making the Hot 100, R&B, or adult contemporary charts.[2][3] Warwick ranks number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100's "Greatest Artists of all time".
During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame. In 2019, Warwick won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Three of her songs ("Walk On By", "Alfie", and "Don't Make Me Over") have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. She is a former Goodwill Ambassador for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
Early life[edit]
Marie Dionne Warrick, later Warwick, was born in East Orange, New Jersey, to Lee Drinkard and Mancel Warrick. Her mother was manager of the Drinkard Singers, and her father was a Pullman porter, chef, record promoter, and CPA. Dionne was named after her aunt on her mother's side.[4] She had a sister, Delia ("Dee Dee"), who died in 2008, and a brother, Mancel Jr., who was killed in an accident in 1968 at age 21. Her parents were both African American, and she also has Native American and Dutch ancestry.[5]
Warwick was raised in East Orange, New Jersey, and was a Girl Scout for a time. She began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. After finishing East Orange High School in 1959, Warwick pursued her passion at the Hartt College of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut.[6][7] She landed some work with her group singing backing vocals for recording sessions in New York City. During one session, Warwick met Burt Bacharach, who hired her to record demos featuring songs written by him and lyricist Hal David. She later landed her own record deal.[8]
Voice and artistry[edit]
Warwick is a contralto,[56][57][58][59] particularly known for her signature musicality and "husky" singing voice.[60][61][62][63] The New Yorker theatre critic Hilton Als reported that, early in her singing career, Warwick's wide vocal range "allowed her both to sing contralto low notes and to soar as a soprano".[57] According to Mike Joyce of The Washington Post, some performances on Warwick's album Dionne Warwick Sings Cole Porter (1990) capture her warmth "and emphasize her subtle phrasing".[58] In a separate review published in 1982, Joyce noted that Warwick's "magical" voice still manages to be "opaque, elusive, elegant" simultaneously, even when performing what he described as some of her most banal material in her discography.[64] Reviewing a concert in 1983, The New York Times music critic Stephen Holden observed that Warwick's voice had deepened "into a near-baritone at its bottom end", resulting in "an ever-more fascinating vocal personality".[62] Similarly, in 2006, Sarah Dempster of The Guardian observed that Warwick's voice "has deepened with age, lending a splendidly full-bodied finish to everything".[65]
Music critics have described Warwick as the muse of songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David's,[65][66][67][68] a term Bacharach himself has used to refer to the singer.[69] Bacharach confirmed that they considered Warwick their "main artist", to whom they allowed first priority on new songs.[69] MTV contributor Carol Cooper said Warwick's interpretation of their songs "established Warwick as the eloquent voice of wounded feminine pride", crediting her with making their material "even more unique and compelling".[70] According to Michael Musto of The Village Voice, the singer's voice proved to be "the perfect venue for Bacharach-David hits", writing, "Dionne could do sultry, pained, wispy, and regretful, all with sophisticated phrasings that made her a vocal emblem for the '60s heartbeat".[71] The singer claims she did not find their material difficult to sing because they had been written specifically for her voice.[72] Cooper identified their partnership as a precedent to the collaborations between R&B singer Toni Braxton, and songwriters Babyface and Diane Warren.[70]
Musically, The New York Times music critic Stephen Holden and The Guardian's Ian Gittins described Warwick as a pop soul singer.[62][67] However, AllMusic biographer William Ruhlmann found the singer particularly difficult to categorize as a vocalist, writing, "Although Warwick 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, yet she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is".[73] Similar, AllMusic reviewer believes Warwick combines elements of jazz, R&B, and gospel, which ultimately result in a "pure pop singer".[74] The Washington Informer senior editor D. Kevin McNeir reported that Warwick's delivery and stage presence are often described as "scintillating, soothing, sensual and soulful".[75] A writer for the South Bend Tribune observed that Warwick is usually described as a "sophisticated" singer, while noting that this term "doesn't place her in a specific musical category".[76] A writer for The Guardian described Warwick as "one of the greatest pop singers of all time",[77] while Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times named her "that one-of-a-kind instrument that defined pop sophistication in the mid-1960s".[78]
In recent years, Warwick has become known for sharing candid, straightforward opinions about various topics on the social media platform Twitter,[79][80][81] being nicknamed the "Queen of Twitter" by several media publications.[82][83][77]