Dionne Warwick - "Heartbreaker" (1982)

Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.

Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era (1955--1999), based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. According to Billboard Magazine, Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin as the most charted female vocalist with 56 singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.

Warwick was born Marie Dionne Warrick to parents Mancel (1911--1987), who began his career as a Pullman porter and subsequently became a chef, a gospel record promoter for Chess Records and later a Certified Public Accountant; and Lee Drinkard Warrick (1911--2005), manager of The Drinkard Singers, the renowned family gospel group and RCA recording artists, in East Orange, New Jersey. Warwick had a sister Delia "Dee Dee" and a brother, Mancel Jr., who was killed in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21. She has African American, Native American, Brazilian and Dutch ancestry.

Dionne's career as a singer was almost inevitable considering her family background. Dionne's mother, aunts and uncles were members of a renowned group known as the Drinkard Singers that frequently performed throughout the New York metropolitan area. The Drinkard family originated in Blakley, Georgia and migrated to Newark, New Jersey in the late 20's. The family was composed of Nitcholas "Nitch" Drinkard, and Delia Drinkard, Warwick's grandparents, and their children: William, Lee (Warwick's mother), Marie "Rebbie" (Warwick's namesake), Hansom, Anne, Larry, Nicky, and Emily "Cissy" (who is the mother of Warwick's cousin, Whitney Houston). Dionne's paternal grandfather Elzae Warrick was the preacher at St. Luke's AME, the church attended by the Drinkard family. Lee Drinkard and the preacher's son, Mancel, were later married, and Dionne became the Drinkard family's first grandchild on December 12, 1940. The original Drinkard Singers (known as the Drinkard Jubilairs) consisted of Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nicky. Marie instructed the group and they were managed by Lee. As they became more successful, Lee and Marie also began performing with the group, and they were augmented by Judy Guoins, later known as pop/R&B singer Judy Clay, whom Lee had unofficially adopted. The Drinkards became so well known that even Elvis Presley expressed an interest in having them join his touring entourage. Dionne began singing gospel as a child at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She performed her first gospel solo at the age of six and frequently joined The Drinkard Singers. Her first televised performances were in the mid-and late 1950s with the Drinkard Singers on local television stations in New Jersey and New York City. Warwick grew up in a racially mixed middle-class neighborhood. She stated in an interview on The Biography Channel in 2002 that the neighborhood in East Orange "was literally the United Nations of neighborhoods. We had every nationality, every creed, every religion right there on our street." Warwick was untouched by the harsher aspects of racial intolerance and discrimination until her early professional career, when she began touring nationally.

Warwick graduated from East Orange High School in 1958 and was awarded a Scholarship in Music Education to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut (a school from which she earned her Doctorate of Music Education in 1973).

Also, in 1958, Warwick, Myrna Utley, Carol Slade, and Warwick's sister Delia, who by this time had begun to be known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick, formed their own group, which they called called "The Gospelaires." Their first performance together was at the world famous Apollo Theater, where they won the weekly amateur contest. Warwick remembered, in her A&E Biography, that after school, they would catch a bus from East Orange to the Port Authority Terminal, and then subway to recording studios in Manhattan, perform their background gigs and be back at home in East Orange in time to do their school homework. The background vocal work would continue while Warwick pursued her studies at Hartt.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Warwick

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• Heartbreaker
• 1982
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[TheBacmaster]

@2009Denisem Thank you and happy to have you onboard!

Joe

[BritishSnail]

This one's not about Jesus.

[5julia10]

So beautiful video and I like much this song,wonderful!!Julia

[Aprilsunshine77]

Wow!!!! I have this in my music collection. Loved it. Thanks for the post. Added to my faves.

[anitashelby]

Absolutely Beautiful ~~~~ Thankyou Dear Joe....Anita..:)

[flipside1545]

i thought i left a comment on this joe...oh well...thanks for another great one buddy!!

[flipside1545]

fantastic joe...keep up the great work buddy!!