Why Dionne Warwick Will Never Forget Mrs. Daniels

Which song is your personal favorite song to perform?

Every single one of them.

What’s your music of choice?

I listen to my peers, of course, and basically a lot of Brazilian music. I listen to Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, Earth, Wind & Fire, The O’Jays, Patti [LaBelle], people that I grew up in the industry with and enjoyed their music and have something pleasant to say to me and not send me over the barrel.

When you’re not working, what keeps you busy?

I try to get as much sleep as I possibly can, because it’s something that’s very elusive on the road.

Warwick, pictured here in 1968 for “Vogue” magazine, has been singing professionally since 1961.

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Do you have a good sleep routine — maybe read a good book or watch a little TV? An eye mask?

I like to sleep with the lights on, TV on, everything’s on. I think it’s just force of habit — something I’ve been doing since a long, long time ago. So it just stuck with me.

If you could invite anybody to have dinner with you, who would it be?

Oh wow. Hmm. [Late Texas congresswoman] Barbara Jordan. Oh my heavens, I just, I revere her. She was such a brilliant, brilliant person. I had the pleasure of meeting her and sitting at her feet listening to stories. In fact, she almost made me want to come out of music and get into law. She's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met.

What if music hadn’t worked out. Did you have a back-up plan?

Absolutely. Teaching [high school]. That’s what I went to college for.

Do you remember any special teachers in your life — a teacher who inspired your desire to be a teacher?

Not [to] make me want to be a teacher, but she turned me around with the word “can’t.” That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary or my sphere. Her name was Mrs. Daniels. I'll never forget her as long as I live. I was constantly saying, I can't do this, I can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t. And she called me to the blackboard. She said, “I want you to write a word for me” and I did. The word was “American.” And she asked me —  after I spelled it the way she wanted me to spell it, and the last four letters of the word are “I can”  —  if I saw a T. I said, No, I don't see a T. She said, “Well, there is no can’t in American.”

What type of student were you?

There was a lot of studying, that's for sure. I wasn’t too bad of a student. I got through it, and teaching was my major and piano was my minor. I had a wonderful time at the Hartt [School] of Music [at The University of Hartford] in Hartford, Connecticut  —  where I went to school.

Warwick performs on stage Aug. 23, 2018 at Espaco das Americas in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She lived in the country for about 15 years. “It’s a happy place,” she says.

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You’ve won Grammys, become a Kennedy Center honoree, then finally in October 2024, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Is there one honor that stands out most to you?

I have to really go back to receiving my very first Grammy. [Warwick won it for her 1968 mega-hit “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”] It was exceptionally exciting, and it meant an awful lot to know that I received the Grammy in an area of the Grammys that was not designated for Black people. So it kind of opened doors for my peers to walk through, which was a wonderful feeling.

What would you tell a young person who is trying to break into music today?

[Laughing] There's nothing I could ever tell a youngster today. This industry has changed so drastically. I wouldn't know where to begin to tell anybody anything about it.

How about some words of wisdom for a 21-year-old, just-starting-out Dionne?

There’s nothing to tell her. She seems to have done OK.

Any regrets?

None whatsoever. It’s called life.