If you are

a patron of the Psychic Friends Network, you probably

already know what this article is about to tell you;

Dionne Warwick is coming to town.

Warwick, an

amazing performer whose career has spanned over four

decades, will play the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater

July 21 and 22. Warwick has recorded dozens of Top 100

hits over the years and has won multiple Grammy awards on

a number of occasions. She is well known for her classic

movie themes, as well as her humanitarian spirit.

Warwick's

career began in East Orange, N.J. She and her sister Dee

Dee formed a gospel group called the Gospelaires. It was

with the Gospelaires that Warwick got her first taste of

singing backup for established performers. She sang

backup for saxophonist Sam Taylor and began doing more

sessions with other acts.

It was

while singing backup for a Drifters song that Dionne met

composer Burt Bacharach. Bacharach loved her voice and

had her record one of his newer songs. The executives at

Scepter Records did not want the song, but they did want

the voice and the rest, as they say, was history.

The year

was 1963 and Warwick started climbing up the charts. Her

first hit was "Don't Make Me Over," which

blended her soulful voice with pop and R&B

sensibilities. Over the next five years, Warwick would

record 12 consecutive Top 100 singles. The songs were all

written and composed by Bacharach and his partner, Hal

David.

In 1968,

Warwick won five Grammys, including an award for Best

Female Performance. She was the first black female

performer to win the award since Ella Fitzgerald. Warwick

also made history with another first in 1968. She was the

first black female performer to appear before the queen

of England.

It was at

this point in her career that Warwick made another huge

stride. She began recording classic movie themes, which

made many of the movies instantly memorable. Songs like

"Alfie," "(The theme from) Valley of the

Dolls," "A House Is Not A Home," and

"The April Fools."

Warwick

continued to work with Bacharach and David for several

more years, recording hits like "I Say A Little

Prayer" and "Walk on By." She switched

labels and began recording on the Warner Brothers label

in the early 1970s. In 1974, Warwick achieved yet another

milestone when she recorded her first number one hit,

"Then Came You," which was a million selling

duet with The Spinners.

In 1976,

Warwick signed with Arista Records and enjoyed some of

her biggest successes. She had her first platinum album,

featuring the song "I'll Never Love This Way

Again," and won Grammys for Best Female Pop

Performance and Best Female R&B Performance. In 1977,

she also joined Isaac Hayes for a world tour

appropriately titled " A Man and A Woman" tour.

In the

1980s Warwick started tackling television. Se was the

host of the hit program "Solid Gold." She also

started exercising her fame for the good of the world.

She was a part of the "We Are The World"

project and performed at Live Aid in 1984. She recorded

"That's What Friends Are For" with Elton John

and Stevie Wonder, to raise money for AIDS research. The

song has raised over $2.5 million for the cause.

Her

dedication led her to be named U.S. ambassador of health

in the 1980s.

Currently,

she lives in Brazil and recorded an album called

"Watercolors of Brazil" in 1994. Her latest

album, "Dionne sings Dionne," features some of

her classics with some of her lesser known gems. She

continues to tour constantly and performs a wide variety

of musical styles. Warwick is also spearheading the

development and production of African and African

American history books for schools, libraries and

bookstores. Few people have made as significant a mark on

as many aspects of the world as Dionne Warwick.

Warwick

will perform Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, at the

Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City.

Tickets are $25. Phone 770-631-0630.

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