Marie Dionne Warwick was born in East Orange, NJ in 1940 and had a string of 60s and 70s hits that propelled her to the upper stratosphere of the music industry. Here are a few fun facts about Dionne you may not have known…
Dionne’s aunts and uncles were The Drinkard Singers, a popular gospel group that heavily influenced Dionne in her early days.
The late Whitney Houston was her cousin, and she’s related to Thelma Houston who had a disco hit with “Don’t Leave Me This Way.”
Composers Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote many of the million-selling songs that defined Dionne, including “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Walk on Bye,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Dionne has won many awards including a Grammy as a solo artist and for her collaboration for the ‘We Are the World” charity song in 1985.
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Photo credit: Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com