Aurora Starchild
Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton have been quite the busy bees lately! Both legendary singers have their calendars full as they collaborate with some of their favorite artists. At 82 and 77 years old, they recently worked together on two songs. And they found they had much in common. “It was as if we’d known each other for years,” Warwick said of meeting Parton.
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Dionne Warwick Has Been Making Hit Songs Since Longer Than Most People Have Been Alive
Dionne Warwick has been making hit music for nearly 70 years. She’s released just as many albums as years that she’s been in the business: 40 studio albums, 25 compilation albums, and 5 live albums. For the 6-time Grammy Award winning R&B and gospel singer, music runs deep in the family. She’s Whitney Houston’s and Leontyne Price’s cousin (Price is an esteemed soprano opera singer and Houston needs no introduction). Warwick has had 80 singles make it to Billboard’s Hot 100 and currently sits at #74 on their list of Greatest Artists of All Time.
And So Has Dolly Parton
And then of course, there’s Dolly Parton. She joined the music scene one year after Warwick at the young age of 10. The 11-time Grammy Award winning country singer has released a staggering number of albums in her lifetime. She has 222 compilation albums, 52 studio albums, 9 live albums, and nearly 250 other album appearances including audiobooks, soundtracks, and more. And while she’s known for her country croons, Parton isn’t afraid to delve into other genres like gospel and rock.
Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton Are Both Working on Collaboration Albums
In mid-January, Dolly Parton announced that she was working on her Rock album. Tracks will include collaborations with greats such as Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, Pink, John Fogerty, and Brandy Carlile. And earlier this month, Parton appeared on Olivia Newton John’s post-humous album release Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection. While the full album doesn’t come out until May, the singers stunned with their duet of “Jolene.”
Dionne Warwick is in every way on the same level of Dolly Parton. Her forthcoming album, Songs of Inspiration, seeks to recruit gospel greats like Kirk Franklin and Donnie McClurkin. And of course, Dolly Parton is one of those gospel greats. She and Warwick teamed up to sing “Peace Like a River” after Parton sent Warwick’s son the song. It’s written by Parton and produced by Warwick’s award-winning musician and record producer son, Damon Elliott.
Parton Wrote Their Duet and Sent It to Warwick’s Son, Elliott
Dionne Warwick spoke with Billboard about how the project came to fruition. “She asked if I’d like to do it as a duet. She’s testifying on this song, which she knows how to do,” said Warwick. “She felt that I was her voice of choice to do this with. She feels that the world needs it, as I do, and she said, ‘We’ve got a hit song.’ It’s so beautifully written.”
Warwick said that she feels “honored” to be a part of the project.
Dolly Parton reciprocated the feeling. “I was honored to get to sing with one of my idols, Dionne Warwick,” Parton said in a statement. She added that she’d been listening to Warwick’s music for a long time. “I have loved her since we were younger and getting to sing with her was one of the highlights of my career. I loved that she loved my song, and I loved singing it with her.”
They’d Previously Worked on a Song Together… Kind Of
While this isn’t technically the first time Parton and Warwick have worked in some capacity together, it’s their first duet and first meeting. Damon Elliott previously produced a cover of one of his mom’s songs and a music video featuring Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, and Deborah Harry. “Gonna Be You” was part of the 80 FOR BRADY soundtrack and the film released on February 3. It wasn’t the first soundtrack song that Elliott had produced for Warwick. She wrote “Applause” for the 2022 film Tell It Like a Woman and the song was nominated for an Oscar.
It makes sense that Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton were eager to finally collaborate together. While they recorded their audio parts separately, they met up later to film the music video.
Dionne Warwick Says Finally Meeting Dolly Parton Was Like “Two Friends Meeting for Lunch”
“We were there to take care of our business, but along with that, we found time to not only smile but outright laugh,” Warwick told Billboard. “Dolly is very, very grounded — which I was thrilled about — but she’s also very business, which I happen to be about as well. So, it felt like two peas in a pod. It wasn’t like we were working at all. It was more like two friends meeting for lunch.”
Warwick added that she and Parton were getting each other’s sense of humor, too. “It was more laughter than anything else… We had a wonderful, wonderful meeting. It was as if we’d known each other for years.”
On a side note, Dionne Warwick has been dubbed the “Twitter Queen” while Dolly Parton is referred to as “The Queen of TikTok.” And these Queens are certainly here to stay.
