There’s no one better than Dionne Warwick, celebrating her 80th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dionne!
Dionne’s sultry voice and delicious presentation came to us in the 1960s with hit after hit by Hal David and Burt Bacharach including “Walk on By,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and dozens more. Through the 1970s she stayed on the charts, starting with her Spinners hit, “Then Came You,” that showed her voice just aged like fine wine.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Dionne was one of Clive Davis’s original hits on Arista Records with songs like “Deja Vu,” “I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” and my favorite, the Bee Gees-written, “Heartbreaker.” It was Dionne who put together “That’s What Friends Are For” with Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John, a humongous hit and an them for the war on AIDS.
She comes from a musical dynasty, too. Dionne’s mother and Cissy Houston were sisters, and Whitney Houston was her cousin. Dionne’s sister, Dee Dee Warwick, was a knockout singer who had plenty of R&B hits and was beloved.
Now Dionne is a Twitter sensation. She’s jumped in with the help of her niece and she’s a welcome presence on social media. She doesn’t hold back, either. Dionne tells it like it is!
So happy birthday, Dionne! We’re so glad no one “made you over.” You’re an original, an independent force!
