- How much money have you invest in "Shark Tank" entrepreneurs?

- Very hard because you have you you have your hard numbers, and your soft numbers, and you have your phantom number So, I think the hard number may be about 12 million.

- [Tony] As her career developed, Dionne Warwick mingle a distinctive, multiracial sound uniting white and black tastes.

- You can sit in my audience and be surrounded by every race, color, creed, and religion, you know, and it's a wonderful f - That's today on "Inspired Live (bright music) Well, thanks for the ride, man.

- Yeah.

You can roll down the window if you want.

- Absolutely.

Daymond John, the gracious host, gave me a tour of his tranquil 250-acre estate, nestled in the hills of Pleasant Valley, New York, about an hour and a half north of a Wall Street pace he mastered long ago.

So, do you come out here to relax and get away from it all?

- I do, yeah.

I do, I get to fish every day, I get to meditate, spend time with my family, and just, you know, work out, just relax, you know?

- Good.

- Yeah.

- And you need that doing what y - Yeah, you know, when I wake up in the morning about 6:00 AM there's probably anywhere from, I'd say 150 to 300 forms of communication on my phone, email, devices.

By the time I'll go to bed at around one, 1:00 AM, I will probably have zero time b - Thank you very much.

My tour came after our conversation in John's home stud where we began with the roots of his success.

What prompted the idea of FUBU, - Well, the initial prompt itself was that, at the time when we were buying and hip hop was new, fairly new, but it was getting very popular in New York City.

So I said to myself, who's ever gonna really make clothes and really just appreciate who is wearing their product?

And that was already happening in the luxury, you know, era, you know, or the luxury category But it wasn't happening on the s And plus, I didn't need a thousa Gore-Tex-lined ski jacket, because what I liked was the sty So I didn't need a lotta the functionality.

So could I make that at one-third of the price and appreciate the customer when they bought it?

- "For Us, By Us" the acronym.

- Yeah.

- What is the underlying meaning of, "For Us, By Us?"

- It's exactly what it is.

It's whoever is making it, whate or promoting it, is also the person who is utilizing it.

- That's unique, isn't it?

In the merchandising business?

In the textile business?

- It's only unique, you know, we call ourselves the first hashtag of clothing, r But it's the core, it's the core of most business today.

You know, it used to be, make it and they will come.

Right?

But business has changed.

They wanna know, I can get it from anybody.

Why exactly am I getting it from you?

Do you care?

Now, that message is more prevalent today than ever before because there's so much access to information.

And people just wanna know, what do you care?

They want authenticity.

They alw - [Tony] In 1992, Daymond John cornered the market on authenticity, founding his FUBU streetwear apparel line in his mother's Hollis, Queen's, New York home, with sewing lessons from his mother, his first investor, who later took a $100,000 loan against her home to secure necessary capital.

John used his sewing skills to manufacture hats, and sold $800 worth of them in just one hour in his neighborhood.

With help from his friends, Carl J. Alexander Martin, and Keith P FUBU slowly began taking shape.

The men then began designing t-s while juggling other jobs.

- Well, if you were off, you're gonna help sell shirts, you're gonna help deliver, you're gonna answer the phones.

So we were trying to basically, and business is very simple, rig You either increase sales or red We were trying to reduce costs at the time.

You can make money either way.

- [Tony] And they hustled, meeting music artists and making - So we were bartering and trading our clothes for mentions or wearing it in the video.

- One of these artists was an acquaintance of John's, and he just wasn't any artist.

His name is LL Cool J.

- Mm-hmm.

- And he helped boost your brand.

- Well, you know, I grew, LL was in the neighborhood.

I didn't know him that well.

We kind of, knew him a little bi But, you gotta understand who LL was at the time, and who he is today.

At that time, we're talking 1990 there was probably about 10 arti and probably maybe Naz and LL, and maybe Run DMC and Public Ene were the only platinum artists in the world.

LL was three times bigger than D - [Tony] It turns out that LL was shooting a video in the neighborhood.

So John, not about to miss out on his big chance, went down to the production site - Yeah, I said, "Okay, can you put a FUBU shirt on him?"

He said, "Yeah, I think this video's gonna be big."

And I was like, "Oh, whatever, m I don't care, I just wanna see i Puts the shirt on him, he's sitting on the rock.

It's, "Hey Lover" video with Boy All of a sudden they pan around he's wearing the shirt.

And I, you know, and I go and I spend all the money I have, I have like $300, I go to a digital house and get it frozen, him wearing that shirt.

And I make posters and put it all around the neighborhood.

And LL comes to me and says, "Hey man, what're you doing?"

"Huh, what's up?"

"You got my face all around the damn neighborhood on a poster wearing FUBU."

"Well, you were wearing it, were "You can't just do that."

"Why n Then he said, "You know what?

I'm gonna let you do it.

Go ahea - It was a perfect storm.

LL's kindness, meeting with John's perseverance, helping launch FUBU into now, more than 30 years later, an estimated $8 billion international lifestyle brand, far exceeding its beginnings in You have the FUBU network of streaming programming, that caters to Black lifestyles, Black culture.

You have FUBU Radio.

How would you define what was an urban line of fashion, now is so much larger than that?

- Well, you know, I think that, I wrote a whole book on it, that things can become, you know, an item, a label, a brand, and if you're fortunate enough t a lifestyle, you know.

You know, people our age would say, you know, "Make me a Xerox."

Or they would say, you know, "Give me a Coke."

Right?

And if you can be, get to the point where you are synonymous with a category, or with an entire way of thought I think that's a blessing.

- We are in the midst of celebra the 50th anniversary of hip hop.

- Yeah.

- Hip hop and FUBU, do they dove - Absolutely.

- How so?

- 120%.

- How so, would you say?

- Well, you know, it was formed out of the love of hiphop.

Right?

The functionality of the clothes were created, the looseness and various other A lotta people don't realize, if you think about the market, somebody will say, "Well, why do the kids have thei hanging off their butt?"

Now, there's a different aspect a social issue as well.

And I always say, you have to, there's an origin of something.

Traditionally, when the kids are having their clothes hang off their butt, what it was as African American Latinos, with a heavy level, with a high level of incarcerati when they were incarcerated, they can't wear belts or strings on their pants because of the challenge of hanging themselves.

So, if you have a large amount of people in your community that come out of jail, those are uncles and fathers and you wanna emulate them.

- [Tony] And John said hip hop also made loose-fitting pants more practical.

- When hip hop came around, there was another reason, you were break dancing.

You wanted your pants to be loos So a lotta people may think of F and I wanna make sure I make thi as pants hanging off your butt.

No, we just made 'em looser, but it was supposed to fit.

Right?

(Tony laughs) - Amid his great success, John is forever humble.

You are referred to as the Godfather of urban fashion.

- Yeah.

- Does it fit?

- I don't, I don't know.

I don't You know, I think Karl Kani would be that, he inspired me.

So, I think he's more Obi-Wan and I'm a little bit of Luke.

(Tony laughs) Well.

(upbeat pop music) - In 2009, John joined "Shark Ta ABC's reality business show, giving entrepreneurs the chance to pitch investors, called sharks, on a business idea, in hopes of landing an investmen Why did you agree to join "Shark - In '07 when nobody's, you know, buying clothes, when they can't pay their mortga I knew that I needed to maximize my relationship with the buyers and diversify my portfolio.

So I go on the show, I'm gonna diversify my portfolio.

That's the main reason.

And then, I never thought the show would work.

- But here's a business rarity.

John's calculation was incorrect At the time of our discussion, "Shark Tank" was beginning its 15th season, and John was a big investor.

How much money have you invested in "Shark Tank" entrepreneurs?

- Very hard because you have your hard numbers and your soft numbers, and you have your phantom numbers.

Right, so, I think the hard number may be about 12 million.

I think the soft numbers are staff, travel, fly.

I think that could be another 6 And I think the phantom numbers could be a loss, meaning, or lost opportunity or something like that, I don't know what that would be.

- Do you have an idea as to what your return on investment might be?

- I think I'm about 30%.

- You're happy with that?

- Oh, the bank is gonna give you I am proud to say that my hard work paid off.

My story is your story.

Right?

- [Tony] It is in helping shift from hope to success that drives John to support entr in reaching for their dreams.

In 2020, he founded Black Entrepreneurs Day, now held annually at Harlem's historic Apollo Theater, to celebrate and encourage Black The event features discussions with Black business and cultural leaders.

In one discussion, filmmaker Spi who credits his family's support in his success, made a direct appeal to Black pa - There's a tendency amongst Bla to discourage their sons and dau from being in the arts, 'cause it's not guaranteed.

So, they tell you, go to college a lawyer, a doctor, you know?

In business, we succumb to parental pressure and choose a major, a path, which is not what you wanna do.

And many years later, you end up hating your parents because you're miserable.

You're working in a job that you But they believed in me, like a lotta other people, and I was able to, you know, make a path my way.

But I have to say, for the parents in the house, please don't kill your children' - [Tony] It was the racial conflict across the United State in the summer of 2020, after the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapo that shook John into action, taking what would become the ini toward breathing life into Black Entrepreneurs Day.

- I was literally here, frustrated and angry from what I was seeing on TV, like probably every American.

I was seeing people burning busi instead of building 'em.

Why don't we start giving people a different perspective that the same kid burning that place right now, that Shaq was lost just like you Bob Johnson was lost just like you.

Ice-T was lost.

We made the same mistakes, but there was a way that we got pulled outta this.

- [Tony] John chose to pull out of this conflict by appealing to corporate and community leaders, and asking for support in keeping Black-owned small businesses open.

- We're gonna have to adjust the coating of chocolate on the - [Tony] Jessica Spaulding, owner of Harlem Chocolate Factor is a prime example of how John's appeal is working.

Spaulding received a $25,000 gra through Black Entrepreneurs Day, when the pandemic virtually shut down her business.

- Without that money, we would've been just struck.

I don't think we had a solution for how we were gonna pay for th And I was, I can still remember being award - We are honored to give you a $25,000 grant.

- What do you mean?

- You got $25,000.

You won $25,000 for Harlem Chocolate Factory from QuickBook and Black Entrepreneurs Day.

- They said this was an interview.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Okay.

All right, no.

I'm, okay.

What?

It was like a real lifeline.

It's so hard to like, get money as a, you know, like a Black founder.

You don't have access to traditional forms of capital.

I can't go into a bank.

I don't own my home.

I don't have like, a lotta people that I can turn to.

And so, when you get these, you know, cash infusions that aren't like the typical lik and, you know, 2,500.

$25,000 all at once, with no strings attached.

- [Tony] In three years, Daymond John's Black Entrepreneu in partnership with the NAACP, has awarded $1 million in Black business grants.

- So, the grants are very hard t and often, people of color or women as well, and a lotta people feel that they're boxed out of grants, because the grants are given to who have their stuff more together, have connections, come from legacy wealth and understand the systems.

But in this instance, they say, Daymond knows how, you know, what I'm going through And so, it's been really amazing - I spoke with one of these young women, Jessica Spaulding.

- Jessica, Harlem Chocolate-- - [Both] Factory.

- That's correct.

And she said, your support through Black Entrepreneurs Day has really given her business a - I'm a conduit.

It's the people around me who make the difference.

You know, I don't believe that anything is one person.

I believe that these ideas of supporting a community with apparel, somebody's gonna d (relaxed jazz music) - [Tony] Daymond John was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 23rd, 1969, and grew up in nearby Hollis, Qu In school, he was a whizz at math and science, but struggled with reading and w - As a kid, you know, who would ever see my writing, right?

A teacher, my mother, and a girl Right, you write her a love lett And that's probably why most gir after I wrote a love letter, 'cause they didn't know what the hell I was saying.

(Tony laughs) Right?

- [Tony] As John got older, and began to understand that he was dyslexic, he worked - If I were to read a book, I would either have to read it several times 'cause I wasn't su if I retained the information pr or if it instructed something, I would go out and physically do to see if I did it right.

And I think that that reinforced, you know, to do it.

We know there's a lotta people that will be lifetime learners in school, and they will be able to talk the best about everythin but they never physically did it And so I think that that's what And also I was told that LinkedIn, you know, the reason why they put it as an asset now is because dyslexia has a way of having you cut straight through to what really you're trying to accomplish.

- As you were struggling with dyslexia, you said, quote, "I always thought I was a genius - Yeah.

- You still knew, although you s with language arts, you were a g - Yeah, you know, a little, I wa and you know, I thought I was a Now I know I'm not.

I know very smart people.

(Tony laughs) - You don't think you're a geniu - No.

No, I don't think so.

I don't, but I knew I was pretty - You said, quote, "I have this attitude about any challenges you have in life.

You highlight it, address it, and then find out how to work ar Figure out how to live with it."

- Yeah.

- That approach certainly helped in working through dyslexia.

- You know, for the men and women who watch us sitting here today, every one of us has our own problems.

There's nobody in the world that doesn't have our own proble And if you come at it from that basic sense of taking a moment to analyze it you aren't in the place that you wanna be on life right now.

What did you do to today to actively alter that course?

- It's that can-do spirit that's made John a multimilliona And it hasn't always been easy.

He's continued to slay dragons along his way.

John was diagnosed with stage two thyroid cancer in 2017.

You said the diagnosis redefined your life, Daymond.

How so?

- Well, the story is that I didn't know I had it and I went and got a thyroid, I went and got an executive phys I was, and again, this is the lack of information that's out in the world.

And I wanna make it very clear, when I was a younger kid, I didn't take care of my health, but I started going, getting checkups and everything.

I thought I was pretty active about my health.

Oh, we have this thing called an executive physical, you know, fairly expensive.

I don't wanna be tone deaf to th who cannot afford these type of but I know there is some certain type of coverages.

And they find a little nodule on my thyroid and they don't think it's anythi But I go in and I go get a surge One hour surgery becomes five ho They said they pulled a golf-ball-sized mass outta my throat.

- It was the wake up call John, who's married to Heather, and a father of three daughters, said he needed to begin focusing on his health.

I quoted John from a recent inte he gave "People" magazine.

You said, "I want to see them gr to be productive people who can help add some value to this world."

- Yeah.

- "If I am so busy and neglect my own health, I may not be around at all.

That would make my family suffer at the same time."

- Yeah.

- So in your focus on your healt your family certainly is central toward you living a healthy life - They're the only reason I should live a healthy life.

- How is your health now?

How yo - I'm fantastic.

I am fantastic.

You don't understand.

I'm amazing.

I was looking at myself this morning, I was like, you know-- - You're pleased with yourself.

- Pleased?

(Tony laughs) Man, I'm telling you, I looked at myself in the morning and I looked, I mean, I don't know, I can't tell you, man, like I looked at, every time I'm watching TV and I see like fashion shows and these sexy runway models and stuff, I'm like, "That guy's Do you see me?"

(Tony laughs) Trash.

- When John is not building a multi-billion dollar fashion line or investing millio in helping entrepreneurs towards he's a bestselling author.

"The Power of Broke."

- Yes.

- An instant "New York Times" be - Yes.

- This quote, this quote, I love this quote, it jumped out "It helps to have your back against the wall when you're starting out.

It helps to be up against it.

It helps to have to scrape.

It helps to have passion.

Especially when passion is the only resource you can aff - Yeah.

That's the power of broke.

I realized that after I started making money that, you know, it's kind of like, you know, money highlights your weaknesses and a lotta times then you have an inflated ego.

And as they say, your ego's not your amigo.

Right?

You, think that money can buy these things.

And then again, going back to just the data, 65% of the wealthiest people in are self-made men and women.

- You started FUBU with $40.

- Yeah.

- Or so is the urban myth.

Is th - That's true.

- 40 bucks?

- 40 bucks.

- So you were up against it.

- Of course.

But again, the power of broke is to have a hunger to say, I just have, the passion of what I wanted to do, I needed to do today.

I didn't have an opportunity of let me go to a rich uncle or a bank or a trust fund.

And it forces you to take action - Now I have a book here, "Little Daymond Learns to Earn."

- Soon as you say that, that's-- - (laughs) You've gotta change h - That's like Pavlov's dog.

Soon as you say it, the hat just - (laughs) Fair enough.

Look at you with that book.

Now, is there a resemblance to that little guy on the cover and the big guy with the hat?

I don't know Daymond, I don't se - Yeah, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's got his friends behind him.

- He's got a lotta hair, Daymond - I still have my hair.

I have almost all of my hair.

I got a little, but I have almost all of it.

Yeah, he's chilling, man.

- Why did you write that book?

It's charming.

I read through it over the last and it's all about teaching kids the power of money, how to use money.

- Yeah.

What money is, how to us But I think that the issue of lack of financial intelligence with our children, it's not a co It's not anybody trying to profit off of our people.

But we've gotten to the point no where we don't teach this financial intelligence.

And the data is that 50% of the graduating college today, will retire with a job title that doesn't exist today.

So what happens is, if you teach how to process information the p at five and six and seven, they grow up with the proper hab And if they grow up with the proper habits, well then, instead of, I grew up where, you know, they basically say you're all go from cribs to corrections.

I wanna change that to cribs to whatever your college means.

I truly do believe in higher edu If you pull up, I swear you pull up right now, donkey and you put cake-- - [Tony] John is not all business all the time.

His playfulness was on full display as he introduced me to two of his favorite pets.

- And this is Deebo.

Hello Deebo.

How you doing, goo goo?

And you see how they push?

'Cause Felicia'll be like, "Wait a minute, I need a hug."

My favorite movie is "Friday."

- All right.

- And the reason I named them, 'cause my wife says, "Daymond, you know," says, "Daymond, you know, you named the chicken Letitia, you named Felicia and Deebo."

She said, "You don't know any Bobs or any Toms or Sarahs?"

(Tony laughs) You know, but, there you go, Dee The reason why I named 'em Felicia and Deebo is 'cause my favorite movie is " So whenever we're leaving, my little daughter, not knowing better, goes, "Bye, Felicia."

You just can't pay for that.

(Tony laughs) - But don't mistake John's easygoing nature for a devil-may-care attitude.

If pushed, he will protect his b After all, he is a shark.

Recently, a federal court in New ruled in favor of you.

- Yes.

- Ordering "Shark Tank" contestants with whom you worked to stop posting disparaging remarks about you in their social media.

- Yes.

- You said that that cost you, that experience cost you.

So, I'd like to know how it cost and then what you learned from that experience.

- Well, you know, it was a very hard ruling.

First of all, I wish it never would've happened.

They were saying that I was a th They were saying that my whole 40 years of business, I waited till they came along to just steal from them.

They also had made eight times the amount of money that I did, but they were hurting my reputation.

Now, why does that matter?

How can I have Black Entrepreneu and ask Chase to give me a milli to hand to people in need if they don't trust me?

How can I advise a president if I'm a thief?

You know, how can anybody want me to be an investor if I'm a thief?

And so, unfortunately I had to have this, this thing happen.

- You're a successful businessma You're a successful author.

- Yeah.

- You have a successful, Emmy award-winning television program.

- Thank you.

- You've beaten dyslexia.

- Yeah.

- You've beaten cancer.

- Yeah.

- You have a beautiful family.

- Yes.

- What has your life experience taught you?

- I'm lucky as (silenced), man.

I'm really, I don't wanna say it You're gonna have to bleep that, sorry.

I forgot, it's PBS.

What has life taught me?

I don't I'm really, really, really fortu But it's also, you know, it's ta that it can all go in a second, and to appreciate and be in the (upbeat music) - It is indeed a pleasure.

- (laughs) Thank you.

- I met an 82-year-old Dionne Warwick at a recording studio just outside of Los Angeles.

And appropriately, among our first topics of discussion was a 1962 recording session Warwick had at age 21.

You were singing backup in a recording session in New York City on the Drifters record, "Mexican Divorce."

- Yes.

- And you met Burt Bacharach.

- Yep.

Well, he met me.

(both laugh) - Fair enough.

He met you.

What was that initial conversati - Basically, after we had finished the oohs, aahs, and yeah, yeahs on the recording he approached me and asked if I would be interested in doing demonstration records.

And I don't know why he chose me out of the three voices that were there to do this.

He said, "I don't know, there's just a certain tone that you happen to have.

And, how would you feel about doing some demos for us?

I'm now consummating a deal with a new songwriting partner."

- That songwriting partner was H who became lyricist to Bacharach's composer.

And with Warwick now on the team the iconic music trio was born.

Within just one year, Warwick's career took off.

1963, you played the Olympia Theater in Paris.

- Yes, I did.

- And you were introduced by the iconic Marlene Dietrich.

- That's right, sure was.

- How did that happen?

- I ran into her, it's a funny story.

- [Tony] The story is that Warwi was walking into the offices of Bacharach and David in New York City's famous Brill home to many music industry offi where some of America's most popular 1960s songs were written.

As she was walking in, Dietrich was walking out.

- And I did like a triple take, not a double take.

And when I walked in, I said to Burt and Hal, I said, "Do you know who I just And Burt started laughing.

He said, "Did you see Marlene Dietrich, Dionne?"

I said, "Yeah, that's who I saw.

How'd you know that?"

- [Tony] It turns out Bacharach was Dietrich's music conductor.

And as both women were soon to be in France, he arranged for them to meet in And what a meeting it was.

- She got me checked into my hot Then we went to the amphitheater where she did my sound check, she did my lighting, and then walked me into my dress showed me her clothing.

And I showed her my cute little which I thought were pretty nice and she didn't like at all, started throwing 'em into the ha I said, "Uh-huh, this woman has lost her mind."

Hey, wait a minute.

New Jersey came out of me.

- (laughs) I bet it did.

- It did.

And as she's throwing 'em out, I was picking 'em up.

And, she took me shopping.

And it was the most incredible experience I've ever had.

You know, to go into these couture designer shops with this most magnificent woman - [Tony] It was the beginning of Warwick's taste for elegant fashion.

Her Paris concert was the talk of international music circles, and the best was yet to come, beginning in 1964.

You released-- - [Both] "Walk On By."

- Yes.

- Your biggest international hit What did that record do for your - Oh, it opened doors that were just enormous.

♪ Walk on by ♪ ♪ Walk on by ♪ And all of a sudden here I was thrown into these magnificent scenarios.

- Such as?

- Oh, my goodness.

I was invited to perform in Swit in Gstaad, Switzerland, where I met people like Jacqueline Kennedy.

- In 1966, the movie "Alfie" was in London's West End.

"Alfie," starring a young Britis actor named Michael Caine, was a box office success.

And Dionne Warwick played an important role.

In 1966, you released the theme to the movie "Alfie."

And you didn't wanna do it.

- No, I didn't.

- Why not?

- 'Cause it'd already been done.

- [Tony] It had already been done by Cilla Black, an English singer, and ultimatel by a few dozen recording artists But Warwick, whose career was he got the last laugh.

- I think I was around the 42nd, 43rd person to record "Alfie."

Yeah, that's how many times it's been recorded.

And as a result of that, I'm very proud to be able to say I'm the only one who had a hit r ♪ Alfie ♪ Ta-da.

♪ Until you find the love you've ♪ You're nothing, Alfie ♪ - [Tony] And then came the magic 1968, you released, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?"

- Oh my god, I sure did.

- Your first Grammy award for th And it came in the pop category, which was a first for a Black vo - Right.

- Now, I don't know how many people know this, Dionne, but you've never been crazy about that record, have you?

- Until this very day.

(Dionne and Tony laughs) No, in fact, I accused Hal David of not writing that song.

- Oh really?

- I sure did.

He looked at me like I had four He said, "What do you mean?

Of course I wrote that song."

- What don't you like-- - I said, "Now how could you write a song like that?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?

(Tony laughs) You know?

He said, "San Jose's very dear to my heart, Dionne, you have to sing the song."

I said, "Only because I love you, Hal.

Only."

And I gave it my best effort.

As it turned out, it must've been the better effort I've ever had.

- Well, absolutely.

- And, it gave me my first Gramm ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ Do you know the way to San Jos ♪ I'm been away so long ♪ ♪ I may go wrong and lose my way ♪ Do you know ♪ - Any regrets that you recorded that you didn't like?

- No, I've cried all the way to (both laugh) - And although she made it look effortless, to the trained musician, it is understood that great skill is necessary in singing a Burt Bacharach composition.

Is it difficult to sing Burt Bacharach melodies?

- Yes.

- You make it look so easy.

- Fortunately, I'm a music stude I read music.

I play music.

And, it was very a enjoyable cha Burt marched to his own drummer.

You know, he never thought about the fact that, I'll start the song in four four we'll go to the seven eight bar, then we'll go to the three four bar, and the two one bar.

And, you know, you wanted to sing his music, you had to march to his drummer, which really propelled my music ability as well.

- It really was a team.

- Oh yeah.

- A match made in heaven, wasn't it?

- Yes, it was.

We were known in the industry as a triangle marriage at work.

- In the 1960s, as Warwick was making a name for herself, a concert tour took her through the Jim Crow South, far from her New Jersey roots.

You said that you experienced a level of bigotry that you never saw growing up in the North.

- True.

- What did you experience?

- Just the mere fact, you know, I'm looking at signs on doors, "Colored" and "White."

I mean, right down to a water fo in the coliseum that I was perfo And, it was just unbelievable.

- Then there's the story when Warwick and Sam Cooke were in concert in the South.

White audience on one side.

- Oh, yeah.

- Black audience on another.

Again, this is during the Jim Cr - Mm-hmm.

- Sam Cooke asked you not to do - Yes.

- What did he ask you not to do, and what did you do?

- Well, you have to imagine the is like we're sitting here.

The band was at the very end of White people were sitting on thi Black people were standing on the other side of the stage.

And Sam said to me, 'cause he knew me from a child, "Dionne, do not turn your back on the white folk."

I said, "Why not?"

He said, "Just don't do that, okay?"

And I said, "Okay."

As I walked out on stage, looked at the band, started my song, and immediately turned around and started singing to my folk that looked like me.

They got a bit of me.

Every now and then I'd look at ' My attention was to those that looked like me.

And, there were the repercussion You know, I was cool.

I came off, Sam said, "Mm."

(Dionne and Tony laugh) - Race also played a role in Warwick's earliest concerts in Europe, but it was a role that Warwick never expected.

This is reminiscent of the experience that you had when you first started performing in Paris, when audiences that hadn't seen you thought you were white.

- Yeah.

I don't know why.

I have a feeling it has to do with the music I was singing, the type of music I was singing.

The arrangements that were being given to people's ears that they had never heard before So, they just associated that with more of a formal singer.

- As her career developed, Dionne Warwick mingled a distinctive, multiracial sound, uniting white and Black tastes.

In the 1960s there was race music, R&B, and there was pop.

And there was a large gulf between the two.

- Yeah, a major gulf.

- But you're credited with chang with being the bridge, the crossover artist who changed all of that.

- Yeah, bridged the gap.

- What is it about you and your that allowed that to happen?

- Well, the first thing I can sa there's nothing else out there like what I was doing.

And that's credited to both Bacharach and David.

Bacharach, writing melodies that you had to be almost crazy as he was to sing.

And words that Hal David wrote that were what people needed to - Smokey Robinson said you pulled down racial barriers because quote, "Your music is everybody music."

- Mm-hmm.

And it is.

You know, that's one of the things I'm very, very proud of.

You can sit in my audience and be surrounded by every race, color, creed, and religion, you know, and it's a wonderful f - For Warwick, the 1970s began the way the 60s ended, with her music topping the chart ♪ That's what you get for all your trouble ♪ ♪ I'll never fall in love again - In fact, in 1970, Warwick won her second Grammy for her album, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

And at this point, you're really on a roll.

That song, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," was one of 19 singles in a row that made it to the Billboard To - Yeah.

Quite a feat, huh?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

Second to only my girl, Aretha Franklin.

- What company.

- Yeah, tell me about it.

♪ Oh oh, I never knew love befor - [Tony] And in 1974, Warwick teamed up with The Spinners on "Then Came You."

♪ I never knew love before ♪ ♪ Then came you ♪ - I had just finished a tour with the Spinners.

We recorded a little thing called "Then Came You."

And as it turns out, it was my v number one recording.

- [Tony] Dionne Warwick was at the top of her game in the 1970s.

So what came next was surprising In the 1970s, when disco was int - Yeah.

- The story, the famous story is that you were thinking about leaving the music industry.

- Yep.

- That's true?

- Absolutely.

- Why were you considering leavi - Well, it was a case of, my recordings were not being played as much.

I was not selling as many as I normally would.

And I was caught up in a situati where they were creating radio stations to play disco.

- [Tony] Warwick said the disco did not meet with her skillset.

So she considered becoming a tea But you had a buddy, and still do, named Clive Davis.

- (chuckles) Yeah.

- Who at the time approached you and I love this quote from him.

He told you, "The music business needs you."

- Yes.

You know, he said, "You might be to give up the business, but the business is not ready to give you up."

I said, "Oh, really?"

He said, " Just started a company, Arista R Now would you consider coming to be a part of my label?"

- [Tony] Warwick became a big part of the Arista label.

♪ I know I'll never love this wa - [Tony] Winning two Grammys for "I'll Never Love This Way Again," and "Deja Vu."

- It was most amazing.

I mean, and not only amazing, but surprising.

- Why surprising?

- Because, there's no Black person that ever won like that before.

Are you kidding me?

Pop?

I wasn't blonde and I wasn't blu - Mm-hmm.

- You know, and that category had always been relegated to white folks.

I mean, it's just that simple.

And here's a little brown bomber come out there again.

(Tony laughs) Hey, y'all.

(Tony and Dionne laugh) - You have broken through barriers for so many-- - Yes.

- Haven't you?

- Well, you know, I've never looked at anything that presented itself as a barri You know, I've always felt that anything I felt or thought I could do, I did.

- [Tony] In the 1980s, Warwick just kept on doing, now focusing on helping the less fortunate, for which she's become beloved w In 1985, you recorded, "We Are T with Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie.

- Stevie Wonder, the world, the world of music was in that room that night.

- Amid other big names.

- Yes.

- Right?

The proceeds benefiting victims of famine in Africa.

- Uh-huh.

- That record raised more than $60 million for the cause.

- [Dionne] It did.

- Why did you do that?

- Well, it was just a way of giv You know, why would we want anyone to suffer, not being able to eat, or not being able to produce their own food?

- Also, in 1985, you released "That's What Friends Are For," with your friends, Gladys Knight Elton John, Stevie Wonder, the proceeds benefiting the American Foundation for AIDS - Yeah.

- [Tony] The royalties on that r now in the tens of millions of d - Yeah.

- You were a lone voice, Dionne, at that time in history among celebrities.

- Yeah.

- In support of HIV/AIDS researc People were stigmatized by it-- - Oh yeah.

- Or felt they would be, and ran from it.

- Yeah.

- You didn't.

Why?

- I think more than anything els is because we were losing so man All of a sudden, we started losing within my industry, sound men, light men, dancers, choreographers, wardrobe people, cameramen.

I mean, we were losing people to this thing.

And I lost my valet, my hairdres I said, "No, no, no.

We gotta do something about this."

- [Tony] And do something, she d ♪ I'll be on your side forevermo ♪ That's what friends are for ♪ - Warwick became so committed to of HIV/AIDS research that President Ronald Reagan noticed and appointed her US Goodwill Ambassador of Health.

But the president was no match for Warwick's passion.

You pushed Ronald Reagan.

- Yes, I did.

- Into saying the word-- - [Both] AIDS.

- Yes.

- Publicly for the first time.

- I did, yes.

Because, we needed that leadersh - [Tony] Warwick was at a press with the president, and the discussion turned to her role in combating HIV/AIDS.

That's when she famously asked Reagan to define what she was fighting on the country's behalf.

- "You know what I'm doing.

Come on, tell these people."

"AIDS."

And if his eyes could have killed me at that moment, I'd be a dead body.

- You have said, quoting you, "There is a little bit more to me than singing."

- Yeah, there is.

I think so.

- "And I'm thrilled to be able to share that."

- Yeah.

You know, I am more.

I think I'm more than enough.

I - I would say so.

- (laughs) You know, I, and only with things I truly bel and feel that I can be of servic ♪ You feel the ground around me - Warwick is now being of service at Southern California's Kind Music Academy, founded by her son, Damon Elliott, himself, a two-time, Grammy-award-winning music produ During my visit, 14-year-old Ale a singer-songwriter, was being m by the mother-son team as she screened her new video, "Meant to Fly."

- I'm learning how to just be my and just being able to express it to the world.

- Alexis' father Izzy can't beli his daughter's good fortune.

- And I grew up listening to all her songs, and then to have the opportunity to have Dionne Warwick, the one and only Dionne Warwick, you know, mentor my child, give her this inspirational thin - Love ya.

- Love you back.

- [Tony] Warwick's son Damon said, his mother is a mentor for him and his brother, singer-songwriter David Elliott.

And what better way to celebrate her influence on the brothers' lives than through music education?

- She is both me and my brother' sounding board, as we say.

We're such a strong family, a united family, through music.

I felt like it's just appropriat to start a music school and have Mom be the ultimate men Here we go, shoulders back.

One, two, three and go.

♪ Nah, nah, nah, nah ♪ - [Tony] And a music school featuring Dionne Warwick as ultimate mentor draws support from some of the biggest names in the music industry, among them Nick Cooper, voice coach to the stars.

- I believe that every child in comes to the world as a seed, and it's my job to plant seeds.

Almost to kinda just throw them around freely for people who not only wanna learn how to sing, but for people who wanna change their lives.

(both applaud) - Yeah, you excited?

- When you see this young lady putting together this high-quality recording based on your mentorship and you - That's right.

- [Tony] How do you feel about t - It's wonderful.

I know we, first of all, there's And when you're able to give talent an opportunity to be shown and heard, what more can you do?

- What more can you do?

It's a question to consider as Warwick models compassion.

In her advocacy for women's righ she invited seven gangster rappers, including Snoop Dogg and Suge Knight, to her home, encouraging them to drop misogynistic lyrics.

The dialogue Warwick chose was purposefully unsettling, to make a broader point.

You said to them, "Call me a (si - Yes, I did.

I said, "You have the ability to do that on your recordings.

Call, call me (silenced).

They looked at me like, no, no, Miss Warwick.

Oh no, now, now.

I'm not Miss Warwick today.

Call me a (silenced).

"No."

I said, "Well then why are you doing it for anybody else?"

- [Tony] The point was taken, as Warwick told the group that someday they might be fathers to little girls.

- That little girl's gonna look at you and say, "Daddy, I just heard a record.

Was that you?"

What are you gonna say to her?

And Snoop said, "You know what?

Those words came flying at me, 'cause my daughter did ask me, 'Daddy, is that you?'"

- Warwick became a household name more than 50 years ago, but she is every bit contemporar Dubbed the Queen of Twitter, for her prolific and upbeat twee which she said helped lead the Twitter community in cleaning up some unsavory mes But Twitter, now called X, and owned by controversial billionaire, Elon Musk, is giving Warwick second thought Are you going to stick with X?

- I don't know yet.

I have to meet with him, to see- - With Elon Musk?

- Yes, and see what he really intends to do.

Because, right now I'm not too happy with it.

- Why not?

- I'm not liking it, kind of almost reverting back to what I put a stop to.

- Now author of the bestselling autobiography, "My Life, as I See It," and two children's books, "Little Man," and "Say a Little Warwick writes as she lives, doing what she can to inspire.

And I have a little something, David, please.

Thank you.

"Say a Little Prayer."

- Yes.

- It's a beautiful book.

- Yeah, I love it.

- It encourages children to identify their greatest talent and then to run with it.

- That's right.

Hopefully it'll inspire them to do what I did, or do whatever they want to do.

Because if you find the need to do something, you can do it.

- As we were wrapping up our con amid all the awards, amid all the accomplishments, Dionne Warwick's humility is a c You are a recording superstar.

- Oh, well, that's your opinion.

- You're performing in your seventh decade.

- Yes.

- You've won six Grammy awards.

You've sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

You've seen the worst of mankind - Yes, I have.

- Performing in the Jim Crow Sou You've raised two beautiful youn - Sure did.

- Two successful sons.

- Yes.

- What is the great lesson of yo - Being who I am.

I think if there's anything that I am very, very happy and proud of, is that I am still And I think anybody that knows m or that you ask about me, will t "She's always Dionne."

I don't wanna be anybody other t I don't wanna.

I like me.

- Who is Dionne Warwick?

- Who is she?

She's a young girl that was rais born and raised in New Jersey, still is in New Jersey.

I know everybody there and they I'm just another human being, which I really enjoy being.

- As you look back on your life, is there anything that you would do differently if given the chance?

- Not one iota.

Every step I've made thus far is how I'm being guided.

I'm not doing this on my own.

This is the plan that God has fo So every step I take is where he wants me to step.

And not one thing that has occurred or will occur that I would change.

I can't, I can't change it, in f What is it I would change?

I cannot change it.

This is pre- (upbeat music) (bright music)