Marie Dionne Warrick 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 the disco hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” in the mid-70s.
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.