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The person, that I have dedicated this report, is Dionne Warwick. She is the silky-smooth singer who remain the best-ever interpreter of sophisticated, stylish Bacharach-David Songs. The main reason, why I selected Dionne Warwick is the fact, that she is the first afro-American who has ever been awarded with a Grammy. Furthermore she became the first black female singer to record a dozen Top 100 singles. Itīs easy to describe her resume, but less to describe the genre or category which she is making her music in. Dionne Warwick is a versatile singer with hits on the pop, R&B and Soulcharts, her abilities reach from slow songs and uptempo numbers to soulfull, romantic Lovesongs.
Marie Dionne Warrick was born in 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey, USA. Her entire family is composing of gospel singers. Her father was a gospel record promoter and her mother leaded a gospel group, called the Drinkard Singers. With just six years she became a member of the choir at the New Hope Baptist church in Newark. "The Gospelaires" that's the name of collaboration she formed with Dee Dee Warrick, her sister and her aunt Cissy Houston (later Whitney Houstenīs mother). The group played the Apollo and sang backup on different records like Ben E. Kings "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand by me". When she graduated from High school in 1955, she got a scholarship to the Hartt College of Music in Hardford, Connecticut, USA. But she decided to continue to sing backup for other artists, like Ben E. Kings "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand by me". So it was bounced to happen, that Dionne was detected by Burt Bacharach, who was attending the workings on a song called "Mexican Divorce", which was, by the way, composed by himself. Fortunately he suggested Dionne to do some demos for him and so takes itīs course. Bacharach and David delivered the demos over to Florence Greenberg, who was very pleased with the singer and so she signed her first record contract at Scepter Records. In 1962 her first single "Donīt make me over" was released and reached the top 20 Pop- and Top 5 R&B charts. Due to a mistake in writing on a cover she became Dionne Warwick, instead of Dionne Warrick. In place of being angry, she rather decided to adopt the name Warwick, but that definetly donīt let her carrier come to harm. Of course, it should not be the only hit single produced by the Warwick-Bacharach-David collaburation which earnt havenly commends. Other top 20/10/5 hits were supposed to follow like the 1964er "Anyone who had heart", "Walk on buy", "Message to Michael", etc. At Age 27, in 1967, Dionne Warwick even published her first Best-of Album, called Dionne Warwickīs Golden Hits. In 1967 Dionne released her first single written not by Bacharach-David, but by Andre and Dory Prey, the Top 5 Hit "Valley of the Dolls". After other hits "Say little Prayer" and "Do you know the way to San Jose". Her musical blessing reached the 68īs, when she won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Female, thus it was a big honor for the black community seeing the first Afro-American,receiving this Award. Just two years later Dionne Warwick got another Grammy Award in the category Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female.
On an advice, Dionne changed her name, when she added "e" to her last name in 1971. In 1975 she kept the name, but it wasnīt really driving her carreer forward but itīs not the only thing, which is responsible for the temporary slump of her carreer. Ultimately itīs probably becaused by the splitting from Burt Bacharach, enforced by her contracual commitment with her new label Warner Bros., so she had to sue her old partners. In 1975 she topped the charts again with her collobaration-partners "The Spinners" and the song "Then came You". She signed a new contract on Arista Records. Her third Grammy for Best Vocal Pop Performance, Female and a fourth for Best Rhythm &Blues Vocal Performance, Female, followed. In the 1980īs her success held on, although it took no excessive dimension like in the former decades. In 1986 she earned her fifth Grammy for Best Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, with the song "Thatīs what friends are made for". With whose proceeds she founded a charity organisation to benefit AIDS. After the late 80īs Dionne did not enjoy much succes. In 1989 she published her last single "Love Power", again with her former collaborater Burt Bacharach. Actually, it wasnīt her last record, she also recorded a rap song with her family. The song concerns the violence of "Gangsta- Rap".Moreover she is working on other intellectual excercises like writing her first book,published in 2003,the autobiographical "My point of View"
Dionne Warwick has never been surrounded by rumors of drugs or bad behaviours, until May, 2002, she was busted in a Miami airport for allegedy carrying eleven joints in a lipstick case but that case was just dropped one month later.
Dionne Warwick, who has been a "Goodwill Ambassador" since 2002, was awarded on the ninth of June mutual with her cousine Whitney Houston, for their Lifetime achievement, namely they received the Womenīs World Award in the category "World Artist Award Lifetime Achievement". The award was handed over by the former soviet president and Nobel Peace Price hander Michail Gorbatschow.
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