Marie Dionne Warwick is a former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in addition to being an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Among the top 40 most successful US hitmakers between 1955 and 1999, Warwick’s career charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop singles chart.
She was the number two female vocalist to ever appear on the charts throughout the rock era (1955-1999). With 80 singles (solo and collectively) in the Hot 100, R&B, and adult contemporary genres between 1962 and 1998, she is also one of the most successful vocalists of all time.
She’s won a slew of awards, including six Grammys, and her records have been purchased more than 100 million times around the world. Warwick has been recognized by numerous halls of fame, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the R&B Music Hall of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame.
Dionne Warwick Biography
On December 12, 1940, in Orange, New Jersey to parents Mancel Warrick and Lee Drinkard, their daughter Marie Dionne Warwick was born. Her ancestry includes several musicians. Her mother’s job was to manage the Drinkard Sisters, a famous gospel-singing trio. The Drinkard Sisters included many of Warrick’s ancestors.
Her dad worked as a CPA, a caterer for the railroad, and a record promoter. Sister Delia and brother Mancel Jr. were Dionne’s family members. She was a Girl Scout when she was a kid. At the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, Dionne got her to start singing gospel.
After finishing high school in East Orange, New Jersey in 1959, she headed to West Hartford, Connecticut to study music at Hartt. Meeting Burt Bacharach at a studio, he recruited her to record demos of songs he co-wrote with Hal David. Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, is Dionne’s paternal aunt.
Dionne Warwick’s Net Worth
Net Worth: | $500 Thousand |
Date of Birth: | Dec 12, 1940 (81 years old) |
Place of Birth: | East Orange |
Gender: | Female |
Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.702 m) |
Profession: | Singer, Actor, Television presenter, Film Score Composer, Television producer |
Nationality: | United States of America |
As of January 2022, it is projected that Dionne Warwick has a net worth of $500,000 USD. Throughout her successful singing career, she has saved no money. The signing of Warwick to Warner Bros. Records for $5 million in 1971 made her the highest-paid female recording artist at the time.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has nominated Dionne for induction in 2021. Dionne’s wealth has fluctuated over the years; at its peak, it was over $10 million. Dionne’s money issues have been intermittent during the past few years.
She claimed to the court that she had less than $25,000 in assets and over $10 million in debt when she filed for personal bankruptcy in 2013. Among Warwick’s most well-known songs are “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
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Money Issues
Dionne Warwick said in March 2013 that she was bankrupt and owed almost $10 million in back taxes. According to the bankruptcy paperwork, Dionne had only $25,000 in assets and $10.2 million in liabilities. The same form revealed that her monthly income was $20,000 and her expenses were $21,000.
Warwick was included in the Top 250 Delinquent Taxpayers list in October 2007. She owed more than $2.7 million in back taxes. As a result of an accounting order, the IRS discovered a sizable portion of Warwick’s tax liability. In 2009, the IRS released a tax lien of $1.2 million.
Career
While singing backup for the Drifters on their hit “Mexican Divorce,” Burt Bacharach was immediately taken by Dionne’s voice and star quality. It was in 1962 that Florence Greenberg, president of Scepter Records, signed Warwick to the label after hearing demos from the singer/collaboration songwriters with Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s production company.
Scepter Records published her debut solo album, “Don’t Make Me Over,” in November 1962. Dionne’s name was misspelled on the single’s label, thus she started going by the alternative spelling (i.e., “Warwick”) instead. Following “The Empty Place,” she released “Wishing and Hopin,” which became one of her most recognizable songs.
“Anyone Who Had a Heart” was Warwick’s first single to reach the top 10. Her single “Walk On By,” released in April 1964, was an instant worldwide hit. From the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, Warwick released a series of songs, the most well-known of which being “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
Included on the album are the tracks “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” “Message to Michael,” “Alfie,” “Trains and Boats and Planes,” and “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself.” The single “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” reached the top 10 in many countries. This includes the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan, and Mexico.
Singles such as “Who Is Gonna Love Me,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” and “Promises, Promises” followed. “I can’t believe how much this girl loves you,” You no longer have “that loving feeling,” the narrator continues. Never again will I fall in love, the narrator declares.
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Put yourself first, ” You may find songs like “Let Me Go to Him” and “Paper Mache” on the CD. Warwick secured the record industry’s then-largest contract with Warner Bros. Records for $5 million in 1971. There were no top-charting songs in the first half of the 1970s, and only one in the second half of the decade (“Then Came You” in 1974).
Warwick released five albums for Warner before switching to Arista in 1979 and beginning another successful run of hit singles and albums that lasted well into the late 1980s. These included “I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” “How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye,” and the 1985 AmFAR benefit single “That’s What Friends Are For” with Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder.
Personal Life
Dionne married actor William David Elliott in 1966, but they later divorced in May 1967. They had a second wedding in Milan, Italy, in August of 1967. In January of 1969, they welcomed their first child, David. In 1973, they had Damon, their second son. Dionne and Bill’s separation occurred in December 1975.
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Warwick was arrested in 2002 at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana. She was arrested on suspicion of transporting 11 marijuana cigarettes in a lipstick case. She was charged with having less than five grams of marijuana on her person.