Ladies and gentlemen, Dionne Warwick. Do you mind if i sing . If you see me walking down the street Dionne Warwick, one of the great female singers of all time. Walk on by i heard Dionne Warwicks voice, and i never heard a voice like that before. And youre never going hear a voice like that again. Dont make me over dionnes music is generation. They just dont do it like that anymore. When dionne opens her mouth, did i dont know it was dionne . Of course you did. Her voice was like water in the desert. She quenches thirst. She was always so elegant, in her dress, in her demeanor, in her delivery. Always the picture of elegance. Whats it all about dionnes voice has this beautiful melancholy tone that just touches your heart. I could actually feel what she was feeling. I feel dionne was an Ideal Partner for burton howl, a magical combination. The way she brought their songs to life, it was an amazing thing to watch. Crossover to all markets. Dionne was the first African American woman to win a grammy in the pop category. I mean, thats a huge, huge thing. Is Dionne Warwick a legend . Wasnt open to that many black women. The people i was privileged to be in the same room with, not many of my peers at that opportunity. Many people thought she was sellout. Is she trying to be white . All of that dionne had to carry. What do you get when you fall in love this is the way i was represented when i first wempbt to europe. They didnt know if i was black, if i was white. I was going into uncharted territory. Never thought id feel this way you cannot separate the voice from the heart. Dionnes music inspired people to see and look forward to the best part of themselves. She was not just an artist. She was one of the first genuine Aids Activists in the United States. Dionne was a hero of mine. And for a lot of people, she was really the first person in the Music Business to speak up about it. I know ill never love this way again when we look at the great singers of all time, the creme de la creme, dionne is right at that top level. She paved the way for artists like ourselves. Great artist. I sing music. And from that evolved whatever this is i am. I come from a middle class working family. We lived in newark, new jersey. And then moved to east orange, new jersey, where i spent all of my growing years. Lived in a wonderful neighborhood in east orange. Every race, color, creed, religion lived on that block. A we were virtually the united nations. My mom worked at an electrical factory. My dad was a pullman porter. I had an opportunity to travel with him a lot, which was wonderful. My grandfather was minister, and so i grew up in church. You have given me something this evening that i have been missing, truly missing. And its only because ive got to keep my lights on. Gospel will never be that far away from what im doing. Thats what i was brought up singing, will always sing, and its just an inmate part of me. And what did i see they were coming after me sweet chariot my very first performance, i was six years old. We had just finished sunday school. Jesus loves me this i know my grandfather said, dionne, come to the pulpit. He had arranged five or six heavy books for me to stand on. He says, i want you to sing for me. I said, you want me to do what . Sing . Said, i want you to sing Jesus Loves Me. So i closed my eyes as tight as i could get them, and i started to sing Jesus Loves Me. Yes Jesus Loves Me and then i started hearing things coming from the congregation. All right, sing it. Ah. And i opened up both my eyes and i just let it go then. I started really getting into it. And i finally finished it. It was my very first day in standing ovation. Yes dionne, she really knew what she wanted to do way back then. So she came to live with us in her teens. She grew up in our house. When my mom passed, i went to live with my sister, which was dionnes mom. I always considered her more of a big sister than an aunt. And of course i was the boss. Thats what she thought. I said the lord lord take it blessed, blessed blessed is the name of the lord i think dionne learned how to sing because we always had a group. You know, the drinkard singers was before all of it. They were the First Gospel Group to record. With rc victor. Whenever they sang, it was like the whole neighborhood would come out and sit on their porches to listen to them. And of course id open my mouth and try to outsing them all. Which was impossible to do. Gospel music is Something Different because it comes from way down in here. And usually troubles and tribulations that weve been through. My daughter was raised in gospel church. I am Whitney Houston. Dionne is my first cousin, and very proud of that. I just heard gospel all in my family. You know, wed have christmas dinner. Then wed sing. Wed have thanksgiving dinner. Then wed all sing. Legacy in my family, music. Pure and simple. Music. The Apollo Theater gave me my first taste of being on stage, an actual theatrical stage performing. In 1934, a lot of black entertainers were being discovered on the stage of the apollo. So, they start presenting the harlem amateur hour radio show, renamed Amateur Night at the apollo. Tradition. Its folklore. Its the grandaddy of black show business. Ive always loved soul singers. I always loved black music. I grew up playing in a band. I grew up loving it. I talked with some of the greatest entertainers around the woshl world, and everybody wants to experience the Apollo Theater. Any day now i will hear you say Burt Bacharach wrote any day now for chuck jackson, which is one of my favorite records of all time. Any day now when i came to the apollo, i thought i was pretty good as a performer. But i was just standing up singing, and the people were not liking it. So, the next show, i went on, i started throwing the mic and falling to my knees. The people were standing and cheering, and there were women screaming. And they just came in to me. And when they backed off, i was almost naked. Thats when i knew, theres something in this. Ooh baby baby i remember the first time i walked into the Apollo Theater, and the whole wall on both sides was a mural of all these artists who had played at the Apollo Theater. Ella fitzgerald, sarah vaughn, billy eckstein, sammy davis, harry belafonte, the orioles, the moon glows, the spaniels, the drifters, jackie wilson, sam cooke, all these people on this wall. And i said to the miracles, i hope one day we can make this wall. Ooh baby baby the first time we played the apollo, we were terrible. We were so terrible, until the guy called barry, told him he wanted his money back. He wasnt even paying us no money. We didnt have money to give the hotel, you know what im saying, but he wanted that back. But it was a lesson. Theyve seen everybody. So, when you go there, you better be ready. You better bring it. On Amateur Night at the apollo, the audience judged you. If they like you, they applaud you. If they dont like you, this guy chases you off the stage. Amateur night at the apollo is crazy bait. Youve got to go up there. Everybodys jeering, yelling, screaming. You think sandman is going to come out and yank you off. Its hard to get your confidence up. Its scary. Its frightening. You know what can and has happened. And ive seen it happen. Theres a saying that says, if you can make it at the apollo, you can make it anywhere. And that is the truth. Go ahead. Go research how many people won Amateur Night. Amateur night launched the careers of many incredible women. Ella fitzgerald was the first. Then followed by sarah vaughn. Then a young lady from harlem by the name of Billie Holiday. Then in 1957, this Incredible Young Lady came and performed on Amateur Night, and her name was miss Dionne Warwick. One by one baby he was born, born, born he was born in Bethlehem Our Gospel Group decided were going sing a song that was recorded by the imperials in philadelphia. The imperials happened to be on that particular show. Born, born Born In Bethlehem so, we got on stage. The imperials were standing there watching. We used to laugh about how scared she was. She said she was hitting notes she didnt even realize. And when we came off, he said, we you did a wonderful job on that song. Are you kidding me . We loved it. And when they announced the winner, we were winner, which was a wonderful thing. The young man at one of the shows we were attending, hes a vocal group, did Background Work on a recording. Big mouth. Said, oh, yeah, we know how to do that. I said do you use that . Whats the background for . Said, i dont know. Were gone find out, i guess. And as it turned out, we went to Savoy Records in new jersey, and we did the hruzas and the yay yay yays, and that was the beginning of our background careers. While i was in high school, i would travel to new york and do demos. And while i was in college even, i arranged my classes so that i could come in and do those. Made a very, very good living, helped to put me through college. Dionne warwick did what she needed to do to strengthen her professional life. Learning the skills that you need to be a great musician, to get a bachelors degree, to get a masters degree. She changed the notion that African Americans cant study, they cant sing that way. The fact that she can read music, write music, play music, sight read music, which is no easy feat, by the way, takes years and years and continual practice. It allows you, i think, a flexibility and a freedom, just really never be held back. When i met dionne, we were going to record Mexican Divorce with the drifters. Wanted to have a girl group in the background. And these four ladies came in. They were pretty awesome. I mean, the way they sounded, you couldnt tell who was the best singer. Dionne stood out. She sort of looked like, could be a star. They approached me and ask if i would be interested in Doing Demonstration Records as long as they would be writing with sal david and new song writing partners. I said, yeah, i guess, as long as it doesnt interfere with my education because my mother would kill you, and me too. Dionne came in to sing for hal and myself, and we signed her right away. Florence greenberg said, i cant believe that voice i just heard. It was heavenly. Thank god for my daddy who negotiated my contract. And let florence know were going take care of my baby. cecily whats up, einstein . einstein my network has gone kaput cecily oh, you tried to save a buck on it . einstein i got what i paid for. Not so smart. cecily nah, youre still a genius. 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Supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health. Ensure with twentyfive vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. Just look around. This digital age were living in, its pretty unbelievable. Problem is, not everyones fully living in it. Nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. Home internet shouldnt be a luxury. Everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. So lets go. The digital age is waiting. I did a Demonstration Record of a song called make it easy on yourself. And it was agreed between david baccarat, david and myself that that would be my very first record. Calvin carter was a r at dj records. He called and he said to me, you know that song make it easy on yourself, want to do it with jerry butler. Basically, run the date, book the musicians. That was a big opportunity for me. Well, i was on my way from Hartford Down to new york to do a session for them. And out of the radio came jerry butler singing make it easy on yourself. Make it easy on yourself make it easy on yourself and that didnt sit too well with me. So, when i got to new york, i let him know, you dont do that to me. One thing i want you to both understand is theres something you can never do to dionne is try to make her over. So, dont even think it. They put pen to paper. Dont make me over now that you know how i adore you a lot of companies thought burt and hal asceptor were loses when they released dont make over. They said it couldnt happen. A format Radio Station wouldnt touch it because it wasnt something brandnew, and they werent playing new music. When i played dont make me over, the phones lit up. I knew from that moment, Dionne Warwick would become a star. I was coming home one day listening to a pop station, and it came on. And i said, oh, my god, they did it. I met dionne when i was 13. I remember hearing dont make me over. And i said, you know, theres a new song out by Dionne Warwick, incredible. Burt bacharach and hal david, great. But dionne was the glove that fitted them perfectly. She was the one. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, i draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny. And i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever. My very first tour was, we did the south when it was not popular to be black and go to the south. It opened my eyes. It surprised me because i had never encountered anything of that nature. If the black restaurants are closed, we dont have any place to eat. Wed been shot at for wanting to go to the toilet, you know . Or you get to the place, and there are toilets there. One says men. One says women. And around back somewhere, says colored. If youre colored, theres no gender. All the color people go to the same one. We have absolutely no intention of integrating in the south those areas that have been segregated for at least 100 years. They didnt want us even staying overnight in certain towns. We would go in, ease in, do our show, and ease out. I toured with the motor town review. And i remember they had just experienced someone in the South Shooting at the bus and had missed the gas tank, i think, by an inch from the gas tank. The story was very, very clear. May have a lot of fun struggle on the run man old and young twisting the night away shows were completely sold out every night. There was one side, which was white, where they were seated. And the other side was a ballroomtype setting, where everyone was standing. Blacks were on this side. Whites were on this side. The stage was straight ahead. And i remember sam saying, dionne, do not turn your back on the white folk. I said, well, why not . He said, do not turn your back on the white folk. I said, okay. First thing i did when i went out there, i walked straight to the band and turned my back and played to the ones that looked like me. Everybody could hear me. Everybody could see me. So, we came together. We were in south carolina, sam decided he was going to treat everybody to lunch. Our bus was parked outside a place called the toddle house. We walked in, and this waitress came by. She said what do you gals want . Which kind of started the hair rising on my neck. I said, we have a list here. These kind of sandwiches and this kind of hamburger. So, i said, where can i sit down . She said, no, you can stand here and wait until i get it back to you. Theres no way youre going to sit down. Youre not supposed to be in here. Thats when i turned around i was crazy anyway. Everyone knows it. I looked at her. I said, that order i just gave you, when it comes, shove it up your mmhm. And we walked out. Got back to the bus, they said, wheres the food. I said, that womans got it stuck up her butt, where i told her to put it. Less than three minutes after we got back on that bus, a Police Officer came to the bus. He stood at the front, where i had left the door open. He said, okay, where those two girls that was in the toddle house. They seem to have been very, very insubordinate to the waitress in there, and i want to know which one of them said what. I almost stood up and said, i said it. Sam just stopped me. Sam said, listen, sir, i dont mean to be rude to you. However, this is a private bus. It happens to belong to me. You do not belong on it. So, id ask you to please leave it. And he did. He said, dionne, you could have got us put all in jail in this outfit. Done did me wrong all right now thats what i said dionne had, in her act, what i say, ray charles song. She had it in, tell your ma, tell your pa, were going to integrate arkansas. And we were in one of those cities where you didnt do that. So, they told her she could not do that part