Dee Dee Warwick ~ Bye Bye Dee Dee

Soul singer Dee Dee Warwick dies at 63

SOUTH ORANGE, New Jersey (AP) -- Dee Dee Warwick, a noted soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and her performances with her older sister Dionne Warwick, has died. She was 63.

Dee Dee Warwick was the niece of gospel singer Cissy Houston and a cousin of pop star Whitney Houston.

Warwick died Saturday at a nursing home in Essex County, New Jersey, said family spokesman Kevin Sasaki. He said she had been in failing health in recent months and that her sister was with her when she died.

Warwick had several hits on the soul and R&B charts in the 1960s and '70s, including "Foolish Fool, "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)" and a version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" that was later covered by Diana Ross and The Supremes.

Warwick also was a two-time Grammy Award nominee and sang backup for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and others before starting her solo career.

A member of a musical family, Warwick was the niece of noted gospel singer Cissy Houston and a cousin of pop star Whitney Houston. (from CNN.net)

What is weird about this for me mostly, is that just this weekend I was randomly downloading some "old skool" soul/R&B music and when browsing and searching cane across Dee Dee Warwick's name and some of her catalogue. Now I had known of her, of course, but never really knew the music, just that she had done the original version of the tune "Foolish Fool", which Chaka Khan recorded on her most recent Grammy-winning CD, Funk This! I had no Idea at all when downloading two other Dee Dee Warwick songs that she had recently passed away. Did not know of this until finally getting around to watching an episode of ABC's The View, where it was mentioned that she, Levi Stubs (The Four Tops), and Mr. Blackwell, fashion critic had all passed of late!