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Dione Warwick

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Marie Dionne Warrick was born on December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey. Her mother managed the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group consisting of her relatives, and her father was a gospel record promoter for Chess Records. By the age of six she sang at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark and was soon accepted as a member of the choir. She also sang with members of her family and after graduating from high school she was granted a scholarship to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford. After graduating from the University she started her solo career. On her first single “Don’t Make Me Over” (1963) her name was misspelled (Warwick) and she soon adopted the misspelling. In 1964 Warwick released her second single “Anyone Who Had a Heart”, it was then followed by “Walk on By” which was a big hit that launched her career. By that time the Beatles were very popular in the US and the British Invasion was all over, nevertheless she was able to continue entering the rankings. She was able to make it in the Top Ten of the pop charts and the Top Five of the R&B charts in 1966 with "Message to Michael".

In 1967 Warwick’s album Here Where There Is Love turned into a big hit reaching the top of R&B charts and becoming gold. Warwick’s next hit, which was not written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was "(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls". Her single "Do You Know the Way to San José," reached the pop Top Ten and the R&B and easy listening Top Five and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance in 1968. Some more hits and Grammy Awards followed in the end of the 60’s. In 1974 she released the hit "Then Came You" with the Spinners. Her Album Dionne in 1979 was awarded Platinum status. She was able to continue scoring some hits during the 80’s. In the 90’s her career took a major downturn with no major singles.




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