Dionne Warwick
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This year’s edition of the Urban One Honors will see the legendary Dionne Warwick recognized as an honoree along with Chlöe and Frankie Beverly.
On Wednesday (January 3), Urban One announced the list of honorees for their annual Urban One Honors gala. The year’s theme is “Best In Black”. The list is topped off by the iconic singer Dionne Warwick, who will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ms. Warwick was recently an honoree at the Kennedy Center Awards last month. Chlöe will receive the Generation Next Award, and R&B legend Frankie Beverly will receive the Living Legend Award along with the Grammy Award-nominated gospel singer and songwriter Donald Lawrence who will be honored for his Inspirational Impact.
Earmarked as the launch event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of TV One, the ceremony will be recorded at the Coca-Cola Roxy venue in Atlanta, Georgia on January 20. It will feature a strong lineup of performers including Teyana Taylor, Bebe Winans, October London, Damon Little, and Angie Stone as well as a reunion of the R&B Divas cast of Nicci Gilbert, KeKe Wyatt, and Chanté Moore. Grammy Award-winning singer and actress LeToya Luckett makes her return to host the “Backstage Pass” element of the event, which features intimate and exclusive interviews with the honorees, presenters, and performers. More artists are to be announced in the coming weeks.
“As we unveil the lineup for this year’s ‘URBAN ONE HONORS,’ we are delighted to highlight the incredible musical journeys of Dionne Warwick, Chlöe, Frankie Beverly, and Donald Lawrence. Their selection as honorees is a recognition of their profound impact on both music and culture, spanning generations,” Michelle Rice, President of TV One and CLEO TV said a press statement. ” From soulful ballads to timeless contributions and contemporary brilliance, these iconic artists have not only shaped the musical landscape but have also contributed significantly to the cultural fabric of our society. Each honoree represents a unique chapter in the story of music, and we are honored to celebrate their enduring legacies at this year’s Urban One Honors: Best In Black.”
The 2024 Urban One Honors: Best In Black will premiere during Black History Month on Sunday, January 25 on TV One. It will also be simultaneously broadcast on CLEO TV.
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Teyana Taylor already looks like she could be Dionne Warwick‘s daughter, with her high cheekbones and bright smile, but the “Bare Wit Me” singer confirmed she’s taking on the role of the beloved icon in an upcoming biopic.
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“We’re already working on it,” Taylor told Tamron Hall in a clip from their interview shared exclusively with Billboard. “We’re in the building process right now. I always wanted to make sure I could lock in with any person that I would be playing.”
Taylor went on to note that she was inspired by Angela Bassett’s portrayal of Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It and Jamie Foxx’s capturing of Ray Charles in 2004’s Ray. “I miss when movies were like that, when you got to really get to know them and tap in,” she added.
Hall shared that given her passion to get to know Warwick, she’ll soon be eating at the “That’s What Friends Are For” star’s favorite Italian restaurant in New Jersey. “We talk almost every day,” Taylor replied excitedly. “That’s my girl.”
Taylor concluded, “I’ve always been a firm believer and stood on safety. She’s had a wonderful career, and I think right now is about making her feel as safe as possible to tell her story because a lot of these stories get misconstrued or dramatized to an extent. That’s not really where we want to go.”
Watch the clip below, and catch the full interview on Tamron Hall Monday (April 3) on ABC.
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Legendary songstress Dionne Warwick spoke publicly for the first time on the passing of songwriter Burt Bacharach, whom she considered a “family member.”
On Thursday (Feb. 9), the singer released a statement through social media a day after the composer passed away at the age of 94. “Burt’s transition is like losing a family member,” she began. “These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner.”
“On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run-ins, but always found a way to let each other know our family, like roots, were the most important part of our relationship. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, letting them know he is now peacefully resting and I too will miss him.” Warwick would follow up the statement by sharing a photo of the two via her Twitter account.
The Newark, New Jersey native first met Bacharach in 1961 while she was a backup singer in sessions for The Drifters along with her sister, Dee Dee Warwick, and her aunt, Cissy Houston. In his 2013 memoir Anyone Who Had a Heart, he recalled that meeting fondly. “Right from the first time I ever saw Dionne, I thought she had a special kind of grace and elegance that made her stand out,” he wrote. “There was just something in the way she carried herself that caught my eye. To me, Dionne looked like she could be a star.”
The two would collaborate with lyricist Hal Davis to create Warwick’s first single, “Don’t Make Me Over” in August 1962. That would begin an impressive run of 33 hits on the Billboard charts for Warwick which included “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” and “Walk On By.” These along with four other songs would be part of the top 10, making Warwick the biggest woman singer of the rock and roll era.
Bacharach and Warwick would have a falling out in the 1970s after David and Bacharach split, with the singer suing both men for breach of contract. She and Bacharach would reconcile, teaming up to create the hit 1985 single “That’s What Friends Are For,” which won the Grammy Award for Song of The Year – the only win for the composer out of the four times he was nominated.
Unmatched pop music composer Burt Bacharach died at age 94 this week, and his longtime friend and musical collaborator Dionne Warwick shared her thoughts in a heartbreaking statement on Thursday (Feb. 9).
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“Burt’s transition is like losing a family member,” she wrote in the press statement. “These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner. On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run ins, but always found a way to let each other know our family, like roots, were the most important part of our relationship. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, letting them know he is now peacefully resting and I too will miss him.”
Many of Bacharach’s songs, written with lyricist partner Hal David, were popularized by Warwick, whose singing style inspired Bacharach to experiment with new rhythms and harmonies, composing such innovative melodies as “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
According to the Associated Press, Bacharach died on Wednesday (Feb. 8) at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. The musical maestro was the mastermind behind 52 top 40 hits including “Alfie,” “Walk on By,” “Promises, Promises,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “What the World Needs Now is Love” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?.” He had an incredible run in the 1960s and 1970s, making music with a wide range of pop, R&B and soul artists.
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Dionne Warwick is currently best known as a hilarious public figure on Twitter but before that, she dominated the charts dating back to the 1950s and just before the turn of the century. In a new documentary, fans learn that the “Walk On By” star checked Snoop Dogg and his Death Row crew for their language back in the 1990s.
As reported by CNN, a new documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, features clips from some of the many stars and celebrities who’ve encountered the legendary Ms. Warwick along her musical journey, her influential vocal style, and other tidbits. Snoop Dogg appears in the documentary and shared a tale of how Warwick gathered him, Death Row Records president Suge Knight, and others at her home for an early morning discussion.
“We were kind of like scared and shook up,” Snoop Dogg said. “We’re powerful right now, but she’s been powerful forever. Thirty-some years in the game, in the big home with a lot of money and success.”
Snoop says Warwick wasn’t trying to get them to change their creative energy but did warn against the use of derogatory language against women and decrying violence. It was, as expected, a superstar trying to impart wisdom to rising stars in their own right.
“She was checking me at a time when I thought we couldn’t be checked,” Snoop shared. “We were the most gangsta as you could be but that day at Dionne Warwick’s house, I believe we got out-gangstered that day.”
Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over was developed by CNN and premiered on Jan. 1 via the network.
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Photo: Getty
Two legends are coming together for a brand new collaboration.
Dionne Warwick joined Tamron Hall on the latter’s talk show on Tuesday (Jan. 3), where she revealed that she has teamed up with Dolly Parton for a duet. “She sent me a song that she wanted me to record, and I said, ‘Okay, that sounds like a deal,’” Warwick recalled of how the collaboration came to be. “She’s such a sweetheart, I know her. And then she sent me another song, the one that we’re going to be doing as a duet.”
Warwick went on to note that the upcoming song is a gospel song titled “Peace Like a River” that Parton wrote. “I am very excited about this, I really am. I’ve done so many duets over the years, but this one’s gonna be very special,” the singer noted.
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Elsewhere in the interview, Warwick, known among her fans as the unofficial Queen of Twitter, discussed some of her viral tweets. In response to a post from November 2022, in which the “Heartbreaker” singer wrote, “I will be dating Pete Davidson next,” Warwick laughed and said, “Everyone else dating him. Why not me?”
Meanwhile, the singer’s new documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, debuted on CNN on Sunday (Jan. 1), and unveiled the story of her life and career from the days of working with Burt Bacharach and Hal David to the present. Quincy Jones, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Olivia Newton-John and former president Bill Clinton are among the talking heads who offer their perspectives on Warwick’s legacy throughout the film.
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