Singer Marie Dionne Warwick was born 82 years ago in New Jersey, USA, is divorced and has 2 sons. She is also an actress and TV host.
When she was a kid, Dionne sang gospel in a local church and continued her passion for music at college as a teenager. She later joined, as a backing vocal, the ‘Drinkard Singers’, a gospel group which also included several members of her family. They mainly performed in New York city but also appeared in a TV show, which was Dionne’s first experience on the media. The group also collaborated with other famous artists like Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, amongst others.
During one of the band’s performances, Dionne was noticed by a renowned songwriter, who offered her to record some material. This led to the release of ‘Don’t make me Over’, her first solo single in 1962. Real stardom arrived the following year with the Top 10 US hit ‘Anyone who had a Heart’ and likewise the year after with the global big hit ‘Walk on By’. A string of hits continued until the mid 70s but then stopped for a while and resumed in the late 70s after a change of her recording company. During the 80s, Dionne had some more successful hits like ‘How many times can we say Goodbye’, Heartbreaker’ and ‘That’s what Friends are For’.
To date, Warwick recorded 40 albums and 95 singles and her records sold over a million copies globally. She also received numerous awards including 6 Grammy, 1 American Music and 1 Billboard Music as well as several other honours.
Apart from music, Dionne starred in various documentary movies and TV programmes. She also wrote an autobiography.