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Dionne Warwick is a legendary African American singer in the United States. Even though she has a very successful singing career, she also makes a living as an actress and TV-show host. During her career she was signed under many music labels including Scepter, Warner Bros, Arista, Concord and Rhino.
Warwick was born into a musical family in New Jersey. She is the daughter of Lee Drinkard, manager of The Drinkard Singers and Mancel Warrick, a chef and gospel promoter. The extensive musical background of her family certainly led to a successful career in music. Warwick also has a very interesting ancestry, including African American, Native American, Brazilian and Dutch.
Dionne Warwick became famous in November 1962, when she released her first solo single “Don’t Make Me Over”, although “Make It Easy on Yourself” was supposed to be her first hit. The original demo was given to another artist, Jerry Butler. Her name was also misspelled on her first single, changing her name from Warrick to Warwick. She kept the name professionally and personally.
Warwick married actor William Elliot in 1966, but the marriage did not seem to last for long. The couple divorced in May 1967, only to reconcile and remarry in August that same year. Dionne Warwick stated the following about the marriage, “It was a case of can’t do with, can’t do without, so I married him again”. She gave birth to two songs David Elliot and Damon Elliot. A few years later, the marriage stranded again on May 30, 1975 and their divorce was finalized in December of that same year.
Even though Warwick has made millions due to her singing and acting career, she filed for bankruptcy on March 21, 2013. She claimed that she owed nearly 7 million dollars to the Internal Revenue Service and more than 3 million dollars to the state of California, leaving her future uncertain.