Dionne Warwick has had a spectacular career that spans decades and generations. She isn’t just quietly sitting back and reflecting upon her past glory days, though. Warwick has been busy recording, performing, and showing up on television occasionally. Her website lists her upcoming shows in California at the end of November and in Hawaii at the beginning of December. In 2019, she began a months-long Las Vegas residency singing at Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesar’s Palace.
The producer, actress, and singer earned the moniker “Princess of Pop” for good reason. Her songs appeared on the Billboard chart a jaw-dropping 80 times between 1962 and 1998. Her enduring popularity and longevity in the industry are remarkable. Tunes she made famous like “Make It Easy On Yourself,” “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” “Heartbreaker,” “Say A Little Prayer,” and “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” are all unforgettable classics that will be forever linked with her. Warwick is still extremely active and vibrant. Here’s more about what she has been up to lately.
Her Later Musical Career
Warwick hasn’t seemed to curtail her schedule one bit. She’s traveling, performing, and bringing her exuberance to projects she finds meaningful and that give a boost to worthy charitable endeavors.
Warwick performed at a benefit co-chaired by Barack Obama and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel for the Center on Halsted in Chicago in 2017. That organization serves the LGBTQ community and was marking its tenth anniversary.
Being involved with an event like that is just like her, said Dave Wooley, Warwick’s business partner, to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.“That’s what her spirit and her energy is all about, bringing people together as one. She was doing it way back in the ’60s. And she’s [now] the Twitter queen. She has been relevant through each decade. She never became an oldie-but-goodie act.”
Warwick has also been back in the studio recording. She released two albums in 2019: She’s Back (May), which was produced by her son, Damon Elliott, and a Christmas album, Dionne Warwick & the Voices of Christmas (October).
She joined two legends, Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight, for their Verzuz battle and lent her voice to theirs on a spirited rendition of “That’s What Friends Are For.”
Warwick also teamed with Chance the Rapper a year ago on a duet titled “Nothing’s Impossible,” a collaboration that supported Hunger: Not Impossible, which helps youngsters and their families improve their nutrition by accessing prepaid meals from area restaurants, and SocialWorks, an organization Chance launched to assist young people via community involvement, arts and education.
Her Most Recent Television And Film Appearances
Warwick had a cameo in the Kevin Sorbo-directed Christian film, Let There Be Light (2017) and appeared as “Mouse” on season 3 of The Masked Singer in 2020.
What Happened To The Psychic Friends Network?
Gen Xers may recall Warwick’s infomercials for the Psychic Friends Network, which was founded in 1991 and declared bankruptcy in 1998. It was originally a telephone-based service that switched to online in 2012. Two years later, their name was changed to the Peer to Peer Network. Although it’s a publicly-traded entity, information about it is scarce.
Warwick was prominently associated with them in the 1990s. How did she really feel about the Psychic Friends Network and their services? Was she a die-hard adherent?
Her answers to questions like that provide a lot of insight into why she became their official spokesperson. The Psychic Friends Network certainly was bringing in big bucks—reportedly $125 million a year—at the height of its popularity, which must have been stoked by Warwick’s infomercials that echoed the format and décor of a typical daytime talk program.
On one of them, Warwick said, “I think that anyone watching this show can benefit from speaking to a psychic.”
When interviewed about her involvement with the Psychic Friends Network years later in 2020, however, Warwick seemed to distance herself from it. She indicated that she did it more as a source of much-needed income rather than from a strong personal philosophy about the value of psychic readings.
She said, “It was during a period of time when I was not recording. You know, it kept the lights on in my house and food on my table. It was an earning power. I earned money that I normally would have earned if I was on the road. It’s very simple.”
When questioned about whether she is a believer in psychics, Warwick reportedly said, “No more than anybody else is.”
Her Most Recent Awards
Warwick has garnered just about every major accolade the entertainment industry has to offer. She is still collecting honors for her unique talent and career. In 2016, Warwick was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, in 2019, she was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2021, she was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time.
Her Twitter Account Is On Fire
Warwick seems to love Twitter. She has over 600,000 followers. Earlier this year, BuzzFeed dubbed her “president of Twitter.” She particularly likes good-naturedly joshing with other celebrities on the platform. For example, Warwick teased The Weeknd about the spelling of his handle.
He quipped back, “I just got roasted by Dionne Warwick and I feel honored! You just made my day.”
Warwick’s tweets have proven to be so memorably heartfelt or humorous that the Newark Arts Festival created a show based on them called Dionne Warwick: Queen of Twitter. It has run at the Hahne & Co. building in Newark, New Jersey—Warwick’s home state.
She Has Remained Healthy Into Her 80s
People may wonder if Warwick follows a special regimen of diet and exercise to remain fit. She pretty much does what she wants in both areas. She explained to Parade in March 2022, “I don’t have things I call healthy habits. I go to the doctor when she calls. I eat what I want to eat. I haven’t changed my diet, and while I don’t ‘exercise,’ I suppose I get a workout on stage every night. Most of all, I keep a positive attitude and don’t allow stress into my life—it works for me.”
Warwick is buoyed by the network of friends she has and she stays in touch with them. She was hospitalized in 2015 after a fall in the shower. Warwick reportedly underwent ankle surgery but she seems to be okay now.
Dionne Warwick is a real dynamo whose energy, both physical and creative, has not flagged despite being in her 80s. Slowing down anytime soon is simply not in the cards for her. She told Oprah Daily in 2021, “As long as I am able to give the very best that I can possibly give [when I perform] and feel satisfied that it is the very best that I’m giving, that’s how long I’ll be doing this. When I feel that I’m faltering, that’s when Dionne will hang up her ballet slippers and say adieu.”
Warwick is still going full-tilt in her 80s, using her talent and reputation to delight audiences. She aims to make a difference on behalf of the causes she cares about whenever she can.
