How much is Dionne Warwick worth?
| Net Worth: | $450 thousand |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | December 12, 1940 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.7 m |
About Dionne Warwick
Lee Drinkard and Mancel Warrick welcomed Marie Dionne Warrick, later known as Warwick, into the world in East Orange, New Jersey. Her father was a Pullman porter, caterer, record promoter, and CPA, and her mother served as the Drinkard Singers’ manager. Dionne was given the name of her maternal aunt. She had a brother, Mancel Jr., who died in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21, and a sister, Delia (“Dee Dee”), who passed away in 2008. She has Dutch and Native American ancestry in addition to being the child of two African American parents.
The Drinkard Singers, a family gospel group and RCA recording artists who routinely gave performances throughout the New York metropolitan area, including many members of Warwick’s family. Cissy, Anne, Larry, and Nicky made formed the original Drinkard Jubilairs group, which eventually included Warwick’s grandparents Nicholas and Delia Drinkard and their offspring William, Lee (Warwick’s mother), and Hansom. Dionne Warwick made her television debut when the Drinkard Singers sang on TV Gospel Time.
At the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, Dionne learned to sing gospel music when she was a young child. She occasionally joined the Gospelaires, which also included Judy Clay, Cissy Houston, and Doris “Rikii” Troy. When Doris “Rikii” Troy recorded “Just One Look” in 1963, the Gospelaires provided the background vocals.
Warwick’s voice and star presence caught Burt Bacharach’s attention when he was creating the song with several other songwriters, including lyricist Hal David, while he was working on the backing vocals for the Drifters’ performance of “Mexican Divorce” in 1962.
Warwick was approached by Bacharach whether she would be interested in recording demonstration recordings of his songs in order to pitch the songs to record labels. Bacharach would pay Warwick $12.50 (which would be worth $110 in 2021) every demo recording session.
According to Warwick, Greenberg signed Warwick to Bacharach’s and David’s production company, which in turn signed Warwick to Scepter Records in 1962. Presenting Dionne Warwick, Warwick’s debut Scepter album, was issued in early 1963. It featured the demo versions of “It’s Love That Really Counts” and “Make It Easy on Yourself.”
The song “Don’t Make Me Over,” which Warwick wrote herself after yelling the title at producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David in a fit of rage, was released by Scepter Records in November 1962. Following the success of “Don’t Make Me Over” in 1962, she heeded the call of her management, quit school, and embarked on a tour of France, where the press dubbed her “Paris’ Black Pearl” after Marlene Dietrich had introduced her on stage at the Paris Olympia that year.
Warwick’s fourth song, “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” which was released in November 1963 and peaked at No. 8 in the U.S. pop charts, was also a million seller internationally. Warwick was a mainstay on the American and Canadian charts for the remainder of the 1960s, and the Bacharach/David duo wrote and produced a large portion of her work from 1962 to 1971.
Compared to most American performers, Warwick fared well during the British Invasion. With six chart-topping singles that year, Warwick was crowned the Bestselling Female Vocalist in a Cash Box Magazine poll. In 1969, 1970, and 1971, Cash Box named her the Top Female Vocalist. She came in second to Petula Clark in the 1967 Cash Box poll and second to Aretha Franklin in the 1968 poll. She was crowned the Top Female Vocalist in 1970’s widely regarded Playboy Music Poll. The Hasty Pudding Society at Harvard recognized her Woman of the Year in 1969.
Warwick had more success from the middle of the 1960s through the beginning of the 1970s, when she had a streak of gold-selling albums and Top 20 and Top 10 hit singles. The James Bond movie Thunderball’s 1965 theme song was originally going to be a song by Warwick called “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” but Albert R. Broccoli requested that it also contain the title of the movie.
Warwick wed actor and percussionist William Elliott in 1966; their union ended in divorce in May 1967. They got back together and got remarried. The pair divorced in Los Angeles in December 1975 after separating on May 30, 1975. The court rejected Elliott’s requests for $5,000 when he claimed he was making $500 per month while Warwick was earning $100,000 per month (equal to $504,000 in 2021) and for $2,000 per month (equivalent to $10,100 in 2021) in support until a community property trial. Warwick affirmed “I was the primary earner. Male egos are delicate creatures. When a woman is the main provider, it is difficult. My father was the only individual who ever provided for me financially throughout my entire life. I’ve always looked out for myself.”
Warwick signed a $5 million recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1971, leaving the cozy environment of Scepter Records behind. At the time, it was the highest recording contract ever offered to a female vocalist. For an exact accounting of the royalties owing the duo from their recordings with Warwick and labelmate B.J. Thomas, Bacharach and David sued Scepter Records in 1975. They received over $600,000 in compensation as well as ownership of all Bacharach/David records on the Scepter label. After Warwick left the label to join Warner Bros. Records, the company declared bankruptcy in 1975, and Springboard International Records purchased it the following year.
Bacharach/breakup David’s and their refusal to uphold their contract with Warwick put her in danger of being sued by Warner Bros. Records, so she filed a $5.5 million lawsuit for breach of contract against her ex-partners. The case was resolved out of court in 1979 for $5 million, which also included Bacharach and David’s rights to all Warwick recordings.
Warwick was detained for marijuana possession in 2002 at Miami International Airport. She was accused of having less than five grams of marijuana. The Top 250 Delinquent Taxpayers List, which was released in October 2007, included Warwick. A tax lien was filed on July 24, 1997, noting that Warwick owed $2,665,305.83 in unpaid personal income taxes. The IRS eventually realized that a significant percentage of the tax lien was the result of an accounting error, and in 2009 they cancelled $1.2 million of the tax lien.
On March 21, 2013, Warwick filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Jersey.
She stated obligations that included over $7 million payable to the Internal Revenue Service for the years 1991 to 1999 and more than $3 million in business taxes owed to the state of California as a result of the alleged mishandling of her company dealings. She and her attorney agreed that filing for bankruptcy would be the best line of action after failing to reach an arrangement with tax authorities.
She has sold more than 100 million records globally throughout her career and garnered numerous accolades, including six Grammy Awards. The Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the R&B Music Hall of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame have all recognized Warwick. She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. She has three tracks that have been honored with Grammy Hall of Fame inductions: “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” and “Don’t Make Me Over.” She formerly served as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s goodwill ambassador.
