Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick was born in East Orange, New Jersey in
December 1941 (she is Whitney Houston's cousin) and after
going to music school and working as a session singer, was given
the song Don't Make Me Over by Burt Bacharach and Hal
David in 1962.
The song was a US hit which Warwick then followed with many
other Bacharach/David compositions.
She cracked the Top 10 in 1964 with Anyone Who Had A Heart
and Walk On By and continued her run with such classics
as I Say A Little Prayer and Do You Know The Way To
San Jose?
After consulting astrologist Linda Goodman, she added an "e" to the end of her surname in 1971, believing it
would bring her luck.
Initially it worked - following an
eight-year run of hits for Scepter, she joined Warners in a deal
rumoured to be worth three million dollars.
Then her luck ran out
and the hits dried up.
Her first Warners LP, 1972s Dionne, though helmed
again by Bacharach and David (who shortly afterwards parted
company) bombed big time.
 Warwick's divorce from Bacharach-David was followed in 1975 by
a real divorce from her husband of twelve years, actor Bill
Elliot. In 1975 she got rid of the additional "e".
Warwick was just beginning to recover from her wrecked marriage
when her father died unexpectedly in 1977.
The following day her
mother suffered an incapacitating stroke (she later recovered
almost totally).
The family tragedy coincided with the nadir of Warwick's
recording career. Having put out five Warner's albums, she left
the label.
Finally she began discussions with Arista
president Clive Davis, who signed her and teamed her up - very
successfully - with Barry Manilow for her next album.
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