Why did Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick dislike each other? Inside the R&B singers' long-running feud

5 September 2024, 10:36

It was one of music's oldest feuds.

Both Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick came to prominence in the sixties with the R&B boom that saw black singers rise to the top of the charts and fill the airwaves.

The US Billboard charts welcomed an increasing amount of entries from young, talented singers such as Franklin and Warwick throughout the decade.

Franklin of course was a sassy firebrand with a powerhouse vocal to match, breaking through with now-classics such as 'Chains Of Fools', '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman', and of course, Otis Redding's 'Respect'.

Warwick on the other hand was the muse of pop songwriter extraordinaire Burt Bacharach, lending her delicate voice to hits like 'Walk On By' and 'Do You Know The Way To San Jose' with trademark poise.

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It can go either way in the music industry as to whether success recognises success - if artists respect their rivals or prefer to rule the roost.

Sadly in the case of Aretha and Dionne, it was the latter, with a feud between the pair that rumbled on for half a century.

So why didn't Aretha Franklin or Dionne Warwick see eye to eye? And when did their feud start?

According to a well-renowned music industry figure who knew both parties, it was a largely one-sided affair.

"A great deal of what is taking place is just jealousy" on Franklin’s part they said. "It’s all about Aretha."

In the 2014 biography Respect: The Life Of Aretha Franklin, her own sister Erma Franklin reiterated that sentiment to author David Ritz.

"Aretha’s always had problems with her female contemporaries," she said. "Her fantasy is to eliminate the competition."

So the 'Queen Of Soul' set out to prove her stance as top dog in 1968, covering 'I Say A Little Prayer', Dionne's hit from the year prior.

Her version was a top ten smash, and to rub salt in the wounds, she recruited Dionne's aunt Cissy Houston as a backing singer.

To make matters worse, Bacharach later commented that Aretha's version was "much better than the cut I did with Dionne."

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Warwick's representative Angelo Ellerbee said "Dionne has always spoken favourably about this lady" implying that the aggro is coming from one party.

Especially when you consider that Aretha has had run-ins with a whole host of her female contemporaries over the years.

Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole and Gladys Knight - who Franklin gave the cold shoulder backstage at the Grammy Awards one year - have all reportedly been on the end of Aretha's beef at one time or another.

As the years passed, however, Aretha's hits dried up and was in desperate need of a career revival.

Luckily for her, music mogul Clive Davis knew he could engineer the reboot she needed, having already made huge successes out of the likes of Janis Joplin and Carly Simon.

In 1982, he signed Aretha to his label Arista Records. What irked Aretha however, was that Dionne Warwick was also signed to the label.

"The tension [between the two singers] has something to do with the fact that Clive had [signed] both artists," said magazine publisher Cynthia Horner, who was friends with Franklin since 1977.

"Aretha became his favourite, but Dionne was still connected to Clive," she added. That was because of his next superstar.

His latest signing Whitney Houston had it all - looks, charm, and buckets of talent. She had an unmatchable voice, and Franklin felt threatened.

Not to mention that Davis' new talent was also the cousin of a certain Dionne Warwick.

Looking to apprehend any potential trouble between the soulful icon and bright young thing on his label, Davis paired Aretha and Whitney up for a duet in 1989 titled 'It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be'.

According to Aretha's late agent Ruth Bowen however, the 'Think' singer couldn't resist but have a pop about working alongside Whitney.

"She said that Whitney lacked her wisdom and maturity as a recording artist, but I just think Aretha was nervous about being out-sung by someone from the next generation," Bowen said.

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After decades of little cattiness, Aretha reignited her feud with Dionne Warwick five years after the death of her cousin Whitney Houston.

Aretha wasn't able to attend Whitney's funeral in 2012, citing health problems as she was also contractually obliged to perform that same night in New York City.

So at the funeral, Dionne informed those in attendance that "Ree’s not here, but she is here," referring to Aretha's nickname. "She loves Whitney as if she were born to her. She is her godmother."

Franklin took umbrage to Dionne's words however, telling the Associated Press in 2017: "She blatantly lied on me ... fully well knowing what she was doing" adding that the statement was "libellous" as she wasn't in fact Whitney's godmother.

"There’s been so much going on around her (Houston), around the service, around the drugs, around her and Bobby (Brown) supposed to be fighting, I didn’t want to add anything to that and I didn’t want to be a part of that," she added.

A week before the interview with AP, Warwick bumped into Franklin backstage at the premiere of a Clive Davis documentary.

"She said, 'Give me a hug.' I said, 'Oh hell no. You couldn’t be serious,'" Franklin continued. "I don’t care about her apology, at this point it isn’t about an apology, it’s about libel."

"We’ve never been friends and I don’t think that Dionne has ever liked me."

Aretha Franklin died the following year on 16th August 2018, and it seems that two iconic R&B singers refused to let bygones be bygones even at the very end.