604 Dionne Warwick (1940- ) “Don’t Make Me Over” 1962

“Warwick’s recording debut as a solo artist was in August, 1962, singing ‘Don’t Make Me Over.’ Her last name (Warrick) was misprinted on the record label as Warwick. The record was a hit. In 1963, Burt Bacharach persuaded actor Marlene Dietrich, then starring in a show at the Olympia Theater in Paris, to invite Warwick to perform. Warwick left college and went to Paris. There, with Dietrich’s help, Warwick learned how to dress and move on stage. She was so successful in Paris that the French press called her ‘The Black Pearl.’ Warwick was the first African American female contemporary music artist to achieve stardom in Europe” (Marcia Dinneen, Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016). 

Dionne Warwick “Don’t Make Me Over”