Dionne Warwick: Finding New Fans As Queen Of Twitter, She Continues Blazing Trails

That is, your Auntie Dionne Warwick, as the revered pop and soul chanteuse is known to her legion of fans on Twitter and far beyond. Having tested the livestreaming waters first with an online 80th birthday party in December and an Easter concert in April, Warwick will be back for a pair of Mother’s Day shows May 9 via the Mandolin streaming platform. 

Warwick’s digital juggernaut is one of most remarkable examples of an artist making the absolute most of the downtime forced upon live entertainers by the COVID pandemic. 

When the pandemic struck, Warwick had been touring “A Night Of Class,” with support from artists including Peabo Bryson and Deniece Williams. Initially, shows in March and beyond were postponed, including a March 22 performance at New York City’s Beacon Theater which was ultimately canceled. Following the North American run, an extensive European tour was in the works.

Of the “Night Of Class” concerts for which box office was reported to Pollstar, Warwick averaged 1,297 tickets sold per show and a gross of $100,628 at venues including the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, Calif., where she sold 1,305 tickets for a gross of $108,149; Fox Theater in Atlanta (2,594 sold; $23,560 gross); Knight Concert Hall – Arsht Center in Miami, Fla. (633; $70,118); and Mary Stuart Rogers Theatre in Modesto, Calif. (1,202;  $69,824) – all venues ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 capacity.

“I had a tour planned, a very extensive one,” Warwick tells Pollstar. “And, of course, it had to be postponed. All those dates have been pushed into the latter part of this year and into 2022. That was all that could be done.” 

Well, it wasn’t all that could be done. Warwick is a music legend, dating back to her massive string of hits from the 1960s, most in collaboration with the equally legendary Burt Bacharach and Hal David but, like millions of mere mortals, she took to the Twitter account she’s had since 2012 while stuck at home.

But instead of doomscrolling, Warwick engaged with her fans in earnest, offered music and life advice, and heaped praise – and sometimes gentle criticism – on younger artists she didn’t necessarily expect to know who she was. Warwick’s Twitter fan base was already growing, but then she went viral.

“Hi, @chancetherapper. If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this,” Warwick tweeted on Dec. 5.

Much to her surprise, and the delight of her hundreds of thousands of followers, the 28-year-old Chance The Rapper replied: “Sorry I’m still freaking out that u know who I am. This is amazing!”

“Well, that’s what he is; he’s a rapper,” Warwick says with a laugh when reminiscing about the tweet heard ‘round the world. “You know, I was curious to know just why he had to advertise that he was a rapper, if everybody knew that! But he responded, which I was very surprised about.”

Twitter can be ruthlessly fickle. But there’s no reliable formula for creating a tweet that resonates into the kind of virality that earned Warwick the “Queen Of Twitter” title. APA agent Jaime Kelsall says speculation that Warwick may have a social media manager (namely, her niece Brittani Warrick) ghost-tweeting for her is simply not true.

“It was definitely organic. It was an opportunity that she created on her own,” Kelsall says. “There wasn’t a publicist involved or anything of that nature. She’s been on Twitter for some time, but she just started giving advice to younger artists and honoring them on their success and giving kudos to the artists. It was all Dionne.”

Soon, Warwick was trending and her following blew up to more than 530,000 fans. Such was the attention she garnered with near-daily interactions with fans and fellow artists that one tweet earned a New York City billboard and “Saturday Night Live” introduced “The Dionne Warwick Talk Show” as a recurring sketch.

“She thought it was hysterical!” Kelsall says  of the “SNL” bit, in which actor Ego Nwodim “interviews” guests in Warwick’s Twitter persona. “She was very gracious and she was a little bit shocked about it, but she was very thankful to get attention from a maybe younger audience that she normally has on the road or on her social media.”

Warwick is clearly pleased with the results.

“I find it quite amusing, basically. But it’s wonderful,” she says. “It’s giving me enough truly to continue to engage with people and make some new friends. And I’ve been having a wonderful time.”

In addition to Chance The Rapper, The Weeknd also entered Warwick’s orbit following another Twitter encounter and both contemporary artists are now collaborating with her on new music. Warwick and Chance are currently working on a track she hopes will be released in August, a collaboration confirmed by Kelsall. 

“We subsequently started conversing by phone and decided to do something together,” Warwick explains. “Right now, he’s putting his part on a song that we decided we wanted to do. And as soon as he’s completed that, he’s going to send it to me and I’ll put my voice on. So it’ll be sometime, hopefully late summer, that this project will be out: the big Chance The Rapper and Dionne The Singer record!”

According to Kelsall, Chance is just one fresh face whose reverence has been particularly gratifying.

“It’s pretty incredible that these younger artists have the immense respect that somebody of her caliber deserves, because in the pop culture that doesn’t necessarily come into play, and some of the younger artists aren’t necessarily exposed to [older artists],” Kelsall says.

Students of pop music history should have an idea of Warwick’s stature. Now a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominee, she’s won six Grammy Awards over the course of a storied career that began as a child singing gospel at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., before performing with gospel groups that were often hired to provide backup vocals for other touring and recording artists.

One such gig caught the attention of composer Burt Bacharach, who initially operated out of New York City’s famed Brill Building, with lyricist Hal David. He would sign Warwick in 1962 to a production company they owned signed to Scepter Records. The following year, Scepter released Warwick’s debut album, Presenting Dionne Warwick.

The collaboration between Warwick, Bacharach and David is one of the most successful songwriting and production collaborations in pop music history. Their first charting single, “Don’t Make Me Over,” was released in late 1962, followed by “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” the title track of her second album and first to reach the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The floodgates burst open with 1964’s Make Way For Dionne Warwick, and its hit singles “Walk On By,” “You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)” and “Wishin’ And Hopin’.”

The hits just got bigger as the decade progressed. Songs like “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” “Alfie,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Promises, Promises,” and “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” are as close to American pop standards as anything from the era. 

With musical tastes and style favoring rock ‘n’ roll in the 1970s, and Warwick’s departure from Scepter Records to sign with Warner Bros. Records, her hits became less frequent but she had chart success with singles “Make It Easy On Yourself,” “Then Came You” (with the Spinners), “Déjà Vu,” and “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.”

But such was her enduring legacy that in 1985 she assembled “Dionne And Friends” – herself, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John – to record “That’s What Friends Are For.” 

The single, which benefitted the American Foundation For AIDS Research (AmFAR), raised more than $3 million and reunited Warwick and Bacharach, along with Carol Bayer Sager. “That’s What Friends Are For” was the top-selling single of 1986 and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

It also underscored Warwick’s support for humanitarian causes, including raising money and awareness for sickle cell anemia research and serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization. 

Much of Warwick’s touring history predates Pollstar, but Boxoffice reports in the 1980s until her final pre-pandemic concert show her to be a true road warrior, with tours in most years (See Boxoffice Insider on page 19).

Some of her best-selling concerts paired her with contemporaries like Johnny Mathis, with whom she shared stages for multiple shows in  September 1987 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City (27,734 tickets sold), in January 1986 at Fox Theatre in Atlanta (30,566) and October 1986 at the Chicago Theater (32,046). 

Bacharach joined her onstage many times over the years, including dates in 1987 at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va.; PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J.; Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord, Calif.; Radio City Music Hall in New York City; and Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee. 

Warwick and Bacharach continued to perform together occasionally, most notably on annual short runs in 1991-93 and again in 1995 and 1997. In 2012, Warwick celebrated her 50th anniversary in music at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles with special guests Bacharach and David, as well as Clive Davis.

Her last pre-pandemic concert took place Jan. 31, 2020 at the 2,500-capacity showroom at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. 

Warwick says she is taking her cues from Broadway before deciding when it’s safe to return to touring. 

“I would love to perform, but I still feel we got a little ways to go before anybody is going to really want to sit next to each other,” Warwick says of her plans. “And I think that’s for the safety of everybody concerned; not only my audience,

but for me as well. I have kind of decided that when Broadway is open again – I mean truly open, where people are actually sitting next to each other and on that stage as actors and actresses interfacing with each other with the way they are supposed to – I think that’s when it’ll be safe enough for me to think about doing concerts again.”

In the meantime, she has the recording projects with Chance The Rapper and The Weeknd in the works, along with a wish list of artists who (or their fans) have reached out.

“As soon as I complete what I’m doing with Chance The Rapper, I’ll be getting with The Weeknd to make a decision as to what we want to do and start choosing songs,” she says. But why stop there? “And I’m going to ask Taylor (Swift) about the possibility of recording. I’m being engaged by Ariana Grande’s fan base as well. These babies are all finding me, and I’m amazed that ‘Oh, you know who I am!’”

The fresh attention complicated Warwick’s future touring plans, which now entail more than just pushing the pause button and rescheduling. Going forward, the trick for Warwick and Kelsall is to convert the musician’s young and passionate Twitter fandom into ticket sales.  

“We are engaging different ways to take advantage of these opportunities where we can bridge the gap between the younger and older audiences and, once it’s safe to be out on the road, to figure out different avenues to engage ticket buyers, including her newer fans,” Kelsall says. 

It’s an interesting dilemma to have. In recent decades, Warwick has performed many dates overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and primarily in performing arts centers when stateside. 

“Fortunately, my audiences have been pretty stable over the years,” Warwick says. “I look into the audience and I see mothers and fathers and their children and those are the people who grew up with me and my music. Now they’re exposing their kids to it and even their children who have now become adult age and have their own children. They’re bringing them to concerts. I’m seeing grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren.”

But it’s a reasonably safe bet there will be a perceptible shift in her audience when she returns to the road.

“I think I am going to be exposed to another type of an audience, because of the people I’ve been interfacing with lately,” Warwick acknowledges. “So that’s an audience that I’ve never been exposed to that I’m sure I will be. And I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know people like Chance and The Weeknd and Taylor Swift and Cardi B. I mean, they’re reacting to me as I’m reacting to them.

“I don’t know what my audience is really going to look like when I go back on the road,” she concludes with a laugh.

And some of the venues Warwick plays may change, as well. Kelsall has been taking calls from major festivals and, while not ready to name names, suggests that live performances with Chance The Rapper, The Weeknd and other admirers are a distinct possibility. But for now, the focus is on retooling Warwick’s tour.

“She normally performs in the classic large performing arts centers,” Kelsall says of adjusting to potentially different audiences. “Moving forward, we’re going to have to work with the promoters when rescheduling these dates as to how to reach the younger audiences. They aren’t necessarily going to the performing arts center websites to check out subscription series. It’s going to be a matter of working with promoters in order to fill the reach that we need to get these younger fans to come on board. And we’re going to have to review ticket prices. Younger audiences aren’t going to be able to afford the regular ticket prices that we would normally have in place for her fan base. But we’re working through it. And we think that there will be plenty of touring for her coming forward.”

Pre-COVID, Warwick was what Kelsall calls a “weekend warrior,” doing shows Thursdays through Sundays and being on flights nearly every day. She says Warwick would continue to travel with a large band, because she has no intention of cutting down her show post-pandemic. 

“The only difference in the concert would be – obviously she’ll have all the classics that her fans want – but there may be some of the collaborations that she’s releasing that will be included in the show,” Kelsall says. “I don’t think that that would change very much, but certainly there will be some obvious changes and she would include some different songs that maybe lean a little bit younger with Chance The Rapper and The Weeknd, for instance. But it wouldn’t be cut down by any means.”

The agent has had a long relationship with Warwick. Her late husband, Josh Humiston, went to school with Warwick’s son, Damon Elliott, and they both have known the family for many years. 

“My husband and Dionne’s son, Damon, grew up together,” Kelsall says of her relationship. “I spent a lot of time with them, and with Damon. We were at a Jewish deli one day having lunch with our kids, and Damon came in and sat right next to us. And so Josh and Damon reconnected in that way. A couple of weeks later, my husband got a call from Damon saying, ‘My mom is looking for new representation and she hasn’t been working a lot, but she wants to work more.’ 

“So, Josh brought me in and we had a meeting with Dionne in the office. She and I ended up getting along really, really well. And I kind of took it from there. 

“She would call me all the time and give her input. And she went from doing maybe 10 dates in the United States the year prior to us representing her to 45 shows a year. It was a little bit of girl power.”

Kelsall and Humiston quickly put Warwick back on the routing map and booked her regularly. As promoters saw the caliber of concerts she was performing, word of mouth ensured her concert calendar was filled.

“She is fantastic and amazing and just utterly talented,” Kelsall says. “And there’s no shame in her and her voice because of her age, which was one of the first questions the promoters asked. 

“But her show is so tremendous that once we got rolling, it was easy-peasy. It was just a matter of making promoters aware that she was still active and wanted to be.”

And, after 14 months at home riding out a COVID quarantine, Warwick is more than ready to hit the road again. But in the meantime, she’s making do with livestreaming, an idea brought to her by Elliott, who serves as her producer and co-manager.

“Please understand, I truly miss doing what I do, being in concert, traveling the road and actually doing the things that Dionne Warwick is,” she explains, recalling a conversation with Elliott. “He said to me, ‘Mom, let’s think about doing some concerts. Let’s think about the holidays coming up that are meaningful to people. And since everybody’s been confined for well over a year, I think it’d be kind of a breath of fresh air and a little bit of sunshine in people’s lives. First of all, it’s not just the singing but because you still care about them and you miss them.’ And I said, ‘Good idea.’”

They put together her 80th birthday party online, followed by an Easter concert, and Warwick admits working with the new technology was a bit daunting. 

“It truly amazes me. It sounds like something that’s so alien to me that I’ve never, ever even dreamed of doing,” she says. “But it seems to be the way of the world right now. The technology is working,” she says with a touch of amazement in her voice. “I did the Easter show, and I kept saying, ‘Oh, God, please let this work.’  And it did! 

“We practically set up a complete recording studio in my home and it worked. You know, the engineer was sitting in the garage, she says, laughing. He was far away from me. We had cameras set up, all the controls, all at a great distance from me and yet everything worked. So where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

The Easter show was successful enough that Warwick and her team booked two for Mother’s Day, with individual tickets priced at $20 and shows at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET. There’s also a “Me, Mom & Dionne” package that includes two tickets and perks like a private chat room for $40.

“Hopefully, the show will be musical enjoyment, as it was with the Easter show,” Warwick says. “Damon sent me some of the comments that were being made after that, and it was so heartwarming to know, first of all, how much they missed me as much as I missed them, and that they truly enjoyed the songs that I chose to sing. I get comments like, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard that in so long. Or, ‘That’s my mom’s favorite song.’ I want to hear that kind of comment. So I hope that’s exactly the way it will be on Mother’s Day.”