‘Do not mess with me’: Why Dionne Warwick has always been the pop queen

Ahead of her final tour of Australia, the legendary Dionne Warwick is enjoying her Very Online Era as the Queen of social media.

What the world needs now … is more Dionne Warwick.

The formidable 83-year-old singer has been proclaimed the Queen of Twitter, a Certified Brat and to her great surprise, is about to become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, as she enjoys her Very Online Era.

As she preps her One Last Time tour of Australia in January, the legendary master interpreter of songs is loving the latest generational refresh of her fanbase courtesy of her straight-talking on social media.

Warwick sees the skillset behind her new-found online fame as being the same as her innate ability to entertain an audience as a performer and master interpreter of songs.

Dionne Warwick toured in Australia in 2018 including a scene-stealing appearance at the Melbourne Cup Birdcage. Picture: Supplied

“I remember playing the nightclub shows (in Australia) and being able to look right directly into someone’s face and sing directly to them … and how they would react to you singling them out. That was fun,” she says.

“I think I agree with you that it’s the same on Twitter.”

Some of Warwick’s zingers have included “singling out” Leonardo DiCaprio for some dating advice after reading about his “25-year rule.”

“His loss. You don’t know what you’re missing,” she posted last year.

If that young man has Taylor’s scarf he should return it.

— Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) November 15, 2021

Warwick’s unfiltered humorous hot takes online are matched by decades of social justice advocacy.

She schooled Snoop Dogg and other rappers on respecting woman by demanding they ditch “bitch” in their lyrics and has been at the forefront of fundraising for AIDS research funding.

Warwick’s social and political clout cannot be underestimated.

She reportedly persuaded Bill Clinton to run for the US Presidency after hearing him speak of his work as the Arkansas governor and forced a reluctant Ronald Reagan to say “AIDS” publicly after he had dodged acknowledging the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the late 80s.

Dionne Warwick was a global advocate for HIV/Aids awareness and painted “Bill and Ben” in Sydney for a campaign in 2004. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Warwick has been speaking truth to power since her early years, famously telling management of the Savoy Hotel she would not take the stage unless they allowed The Beatles to enter the establishment.

The soul and r&b queen had been touring the UK with the Fab Four – attempting to sing over the wall of screams as jelly beans rained down at her feet – and had invited them to see her perform at the posh London hotel.

“I ran into the guys and they said ‘We’re gonna come and see ya’,” she recalls, perfecting the Liverpudlian accent.

“So I made a reservation for them and they showed up, looking like the Beatles, and the maitre D did not want to let them in.

“I had to let them know that if they weren’t allowed to come into the room, I guess I’m not either, so what are you going to do? And they were seated.

“Absolutely not, do not mess with me.”

The legendary singer will tour Australia for the final time in January 2025. Picture: Supplied

Warwick had steely mentors who gave her the confidence to stand her ground against music industry gatekeepers or sexist men.

She divorced her musician husband William Elliott twice; the first time the year after their 1966 wedding and the second time in 1975 because “the male ego is a fragile thing. It’s hard when the woman is the breadwinner.”

“I was taught very carefully by my mentors, Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and Marlene Dietrich, these women put their arms around me and taught me how I was supposed to look and to act; they helped groom me into becoming who I am,” she says.

“I made it my business to go to see them perform, and the gentlemen who helped mentor me as well, and I learned by their experience.

“But I have always been who I am; I was taught from the cradle, by my mum and my dad, to be who you are.”

Warwick and hitmaker Burt Bacharach worked together for decades. Picture: Getty

Warwick’s career got off to a flying start in the 1960s when she was discovered by Brill building songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She enjoyed hit after hit with their compositions – and later those Bacharach wrote with his wife Carole Bayer-Sager.

Anyone Who Had A Heart, Walk On By, Message to Michael, Alfie, Say a Little Prayer, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again … it’s an enviable catalogue of classics.

That’s What Friends Are For, with Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, became a No. 1 hit and the first charity single for AIDS research and prevention. A live performance with her cousin Whitney Houston at a 1990 benefit concert is regularly shared on social media as the ultimate fan version.

Warwick now performs the song as a celebration of Houston and other cherished family and friends who she has lost over the years. Her aunt Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother, died at 91 this week.

“I sing it knowing the song has done what it was supposed to do for one thing but also it’s gone beyond that. I’ve had people tell me they’ve sung it at their graduation, the birth of their grandbaby, their wedding, so it’s taken on another (life) altogether,” she said.

Warwick has had fun discovering the next generation of artists, via her grandchildren, who can try but aren’t likely to claim her chart records as one of the greatest female hitmakers of all time.

She takes advice from her new-found fans on social media about what songs to add to her playlists but she won’t be adding any to her setlist; she simply has too many songs to get through.

“I don’t really listen to that much of what’s happening in music today by these babies, I listen to my peers, the music I grew up and I love and have made friendships with. I’m on the outside mostly, but my grandbabies keep me current.”

Dionne Warwick’s One Last Time Tour opens at Perth’s Riverside Theatre on January 11 and finishes at the Canberra Theatre on January 19. For all tour dates and tickets, frontiertouring.com

Originally published as ‘Do not mess with me’: Why Dionne Warwick has always been the pop queen