Throughout her life, Dionne Warwick has elegantly and powerfully scaled some of the most timeless songs in music.
From her work in the 1960s with lyricist Hal David and composer Burt Bacharach (Don’t Make Me Over, Walk On By, I Say a Little Prayer) to chart-topping tunes with the Spinners in the ’70s (Then Came You) and Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight in the ’80s (That’s What Friends Are For), Warwick’s voice has resounded through the decades with strength and grace.
Now comes her final album. This fall, Warwick, 85, is set to release DWuets, the conclusion to a long recording career and tribute to a tradition of musical collaboration. She performed on the album of duets, penned by songwriting great Diane Warren, with artists including John Legend and Cynthia Erivo.
Warwick, a New Jersey native and longtime South Orange resident, is also retiring from touring. Here, the Grammy-winning music legend and sharp-witted Queen of Twitter talks about her final album, upcoming biopic and plans for her next chapter.
Congratulations on the new album. Your first single came out almost 64 years ago. Then your first album came out in 1963. How does it feel to know that this final album is coming out?
I’m absolutely thrilled about it. It’s the type of album that I feel has everything. Everybody has different genres of music they listen to, and they’re gonna get that within this particular CD. I’m working with some of the most talented people for DWuets, so I’m absolutely thrilled.
If you could talk to 21-year-old Dionne now and tell her about where you’ve gone with your career more than 40 albums later, what would she say?
A big wow. [Laughs] Truly a wow.
I’m wondering why you wanted to make the final album duets as opposed to going solo.
It’s something that everybody has been asking me about—“Why weren’t you doing anything with some of the current recording artists today?” And I gave that some thought, as did my son [Damon Elliott], who produced the CD, and he approached Diane [Warren], and Diane said, “That’d be wonderful, I’d love to work with all these people,” and I think this is what people kind of have now finally expected me to do.
You worked with Diane for the first time on this album, which reflects your shared initials, D.W. Diane wrote all the songs. What was that process like? She’s one of the most prolific songwriters that we have and you’re one of the biggest music legends.
It was wonderful. I’ve known Diane for many, many years, more than we both want to admit to. We’ve never really addressed each other by name, we’ve always addressed each other by our initials simply because we’re both D.W.s. And so when we meet each other, it’s, “Hey, D.W. Hey, D.W.” It was a wonderful experience for me, because I told her, I said, “You know, you’ve never written anything for me to sing.” She said, “I haven’t?” I said, “No, you haven’t.” She said, ‘Well, we’ve got to put a stop to that,’ and here we are.
In the music video for “Where Is Your Heart,” we see you singing alongside John Legend. Do you have any memories of the recording process that stand out, whether from working with John or Cynthia Erivo or any other artist?
They came ready. Everybody came with their A-game, and it was such a wonderful experience for me, knowing first of all that each person that I did a duet with wanted to be there, which is the coup de grâce for me, and that they felt that they had an opportunity to sing with me and I as well with them. I don’t know if there’s a word to describe the experience. It was something I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.
You mentioned working with Damon, your son, who produced this album. What has it been like experiencing life not just as a family, but with him as your producer and manager?
He has grown into what he’s doing now for me, and I am so pleased that he has honed his craft as a producer. He’s a producer that I’d work with any day of my life, as I would with any other producer that has produced any recordings for me. Being my manager, we have a lot of laughs, that’s for sure. But he’s doing an excellent job. I’m so thrilled about that as well. You know, to have your family, someone that you brought into the world, first of all, grow into this wonderful young man and be doing an excellent job, I feel, with what he has decided he wanted to do for me, I can’t praise him enough.
“My grandfather told me many, many, many years ago, ‘Why not be who you are all the time?’ I said, ‘You know, Grandpa, I totally agree with you. I like me, so I don’t want to be anybody else.’”
—Dionne Warwick
You have a history of performing successful duets with other artists, whether it be the Spinners (“Then Came You,” 1974) or Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder (“That’s What Friends Are For,” 1985). Your number 1, chart-topping songs are both collaborations. Can you talk about any of your favorite duets and why you think they work so well?
That’s going to be a very difficult question to answer, because every duet that I’ve done thus far has been with friends. When I speak of Stevie, Stevie I’ve known since he was a baby, which makes me more of Aunt Dionne to him. The wonderful duet with Luther Vandross [“How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye,” 1983] I adore. There have been so many. As you mentioned, the Spinners, which was a joy. It was the first duet I did with a group, which was my pleasure to do. It was a song that was brought to me by [producer] Thom Bell, and it was sort of the end of our tour that I had finished with the Spinners, so there are just too many to kind of say, “This is my favorite.”
You picked Teyana Taylor to play you in the Dionne Warwick biopic that’s coming up. In 2024, she introduced you for your induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, channeling you in your green gown and beehive hairstyle from 1966 when you performed “Walk On By.” Earlier this year, she became an Oscar nominee for the movie One Battle After Another. You recently presented her with an award at Billboard Women in Music and said she had basically become your alter ego. What has it been like seeing her become such a force in film and entertainment?
Well deserved, trust me. This young lady has a work ethic very much like mine. She goes full in and does her homework and perfects it, and then presents it. I am so happy that she is a part of my life, and that she has shown excitement about playing me. And I tell you, she thinks she knows more about me than I know about me. [Laughs]
It’s not just her resemblance to you. You’ve also talked about how both of you speak your minds. You don’t hold back, you give us pure honesty.
You know, I believe, why not be who you are? You can’t be anyone other than yourself. And that’s her. She is so much like me it’s frightening sometimes, that she has no reservations saying what’s in her mind to say…. I am fortunately this very same way. My grandfather told me many, many, many years ago, “Why not be who you are all the time?” I said, “You know, Grandpa, I totally agree with you. I like me, so I don’t want to be anybody else.” And that happens to be her attitude. She is who she is, and will always be. And I adore her for that.
Have you been working on any prep for the film with Teyana, and do you know when it might go into production?
No, I haven’t a clue yet. We’re still at that point where we’re putting everything together.
People are really excited for that project. A few years ago, the documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over took a look at your life and career. Do you know the biopic’s scope?
I’m leaving that up to whoever will be writing the script, whoever will be directing the script. That’s not my forte. I will be on hand, of course, for any details, things that need to be addressed.
You’re a longtime resident of South Orange. In your hometown of East Orange, there’s a school there that bears your name, Dionne Warwick Institute. There’s also a street they named after you, Dionne Warwick Way. You’re this true music legend to the world, and you’re a New Jersey legend here at home. What do you think it is about being from Jersey that helped make you the artist and person that you are?
I used to laugh when people said, “What is it about Jersey?” I said, “I think it’s the water.” [Laughs]
You’ve performed everywhere. Are there things when you’re traveling that you can only get in New Jersey that you miss when you’re away from home, whether it be specific foods or places you go?
Have you ever had a better bagel? I don’t think so. Only in Jersey can you get that kind of a bagel. There’s a bagel shop right up the street from me.
You recently tweeted—or, as you say, twoted—about how people were generating AI images of you at different places, like the World Cup, the hospital. As someone who has been a voice in pop culture for six decades, what do you think about how AI is functioning, and how it might change the music or film industry?
I personally don’t think they have anything other than what they’re doing. People find anything to do when they have nothing else to do.
People have been asking AI to write and create songs based on certain styles. Like, they could try to tell it to write a Hal David and Burt Bacharach song. What do you think about that?
Impossible. Completely. [Laughs]
You’ve reached countless fans across many generations. You have Grammys and lifetime achievement awards. You were honored by the Kennedy Center. “That’s What Friends Are For” raised millions for AIDS research, and you were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. People love you on Twitter [X]. Is there something out there that you haven’t done yet that you’d just really like to do?
I think once I’m kind of finished promoting this particular CD, I’m going to start paying more attention to my interior design company [WG Design Lab, created more than 30 years ago with designer Bruce Garrick]. I don’t think people know that I do that, and it’s now time for them to know so that we can get some work for some people—make their homes, or wherever they want, a beauty.
What do you like about interior design? What does it do for you creatively that music doesn’t?
It has the same qualities as music. It has colors, it has the reach of people’s thoughts, their minds, what they feel that they want, and how can they achieve it, and that’s where we come in. This is how we let them know that you can achieve anything that you want, however you want it. I remember doing a home where this young girl had a vase that her grandmother had given her, and it was the most horrible color green I’ve ever seen in my life, and she insisted this has got to have prominence in the house. Well, we worked around it, and it had prominence, that’s for sure. These are things that we are able to do. We’re able to create for people what happens to be in their minds, and they’re doing exactly what they want. My attitude towards the work for and with people is that they have to live there, I don’t. And that means everything that they want is what they will get.
So I’m sure people will be wondering, can you call up Dionne Warwick and get her to come to your house? How does that work?
That’s exactly how it works.
Amazing. You just got back from performing in Germany. When we spoke a few years ago, you told me that you would keep going and touring as long as you were able—that it’s your passion, what you do, how you get your joy, and how you’re able to engage with people. That’s not something very many people can say at 85 years old. But not many 85-year-olds are on Twitter, either, so you’ve definitely made your own lane. Your tour is called Over and Out—Farewell Tour, but is it really farewell?
It certainly is. Yes, it is. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’m giving, now, the very best that I can give, and I don’t want to leave our industry having people think, oh my, she’s not anywhere near what she was, and I never will be anywhere near what I was, but I will be who I am at this point.
Absolutely. And every time you post on social media, I feel like it’s an event for people. They can’t wait to see your honest responses to everything. Is it still fun for you?
Absolutely. You know, I love being the one that people have an opportunity to laugh with and about, and I have no problems doing it.
“When I first entered Twitter, it was basically to let the youngsters—who were bashing each other and saying some very strange things…—know a grown-up is in their midst.”
—Dionne Warwick
You’ve been such an antidote to the craziness that can sometimes proliferate in social media spaces, where there can be a lot of negativity, a lot of criticism and a lot of angst. I feel like people unite around reading what you’re writing and the videos that you make. It’s always fun for fans to check in on you like that. Do you feel their love?
Absolutely. You know, when I first entered Twitter, it was basically to let the youngsters—who were bashing each other and saying some very strange things to and around each other—I felt that it’s time now that they know a grown-up is in their midst. Always have what you have to say, you can do that. But there’s a way to say it, and once you said it, always end it with a smile. And they got the gist of what I was saying, and it really turned Twitter completely around. I don’t know what’s going on with Twitter at this moment—it’s no longer Twitter, from what I can understand—but at any rate, I feel that they follow me because I am straight-up honest, and I told them that from jump street: You got a grown-up now in your midst. Okay, let’s act like it, and this is the way we do things here. And they followed me, which is wonderful.
Is there anything you’re looking forward to while promoting the album this summer? Will you be reuniting with some of these artists for performances?
Yes, it’d be wonderful…if they’re available to come out and hang with me for a few hours. And I’m certain that if I put the call out like I did for them to record with me, if they’re available, I’m certain that they wouldn’t mind doing that for me. So we’ll have to wait and see.
Working with artists like John Legend and Cynthia Erivo and Teyana Taylor, who have talents in so many different realms—they’re in movies, they’re in music, they’re in theater—what do you think about the capabilities of artists like this? They talk about triple threats. These are, like, quadruple and more threats, because they have hands in many different areas in the business.
I think it’s wonderful. You have to explore every avenue of your talent, and this is what these people are doing. They are letting you know, I can do this, and they do. The beauty of it is that it’s being accepted.
People come to you for wisdom on social media. The artists you were recording with, were you able to give them any wisdom when you were working together?
They’ve all said to me that they’ve learned already from me by watching me and seeing me do what I do, which is wonderful. That means I’ve set a wonderful example for everyone, that I carry myself the way that I would love to see the world carried.
I was just thinking of how much of an influence you must have been for their foundation musically, to see you doing what you do for so long in the public eye, so gracefully, so elegantly, and with such power. So thank you from all of us fans and everybody in New Jersey for putting this album out. I feel like it lets us see you in different ways with all these different artists—what I’ve heard so far, anyway. Can’t wait to hear the rest of it.
Oh, you’re going to love it, trust me. Yes, you are. It’s something for everybody.
