Dionne Warwick Shared How Elvis Helped Her Sell More Albums Than She ‘Ever Thought [She] Could Sell Anywhere’

In 1969, Dionne Warwick’s career received a boost courtesy of Elvis Presley. Warwick had begun to see success on the charts in the 1960s and Elvis, though on a career decline, was one of the biggest names of the era. He used this fame to help Warwick. She shared how one simple act by him resulted in her selling more albums than she thought possible.

Dionne Warwick said Elvis helped her sell her album

Warwick began her music career in the 1950s and began to see mainstream success by the early 1960s. By the middle of the decade, she was a veritable star with success amongst critics and on the charts. Still, Elvis was able to boost her album sales.

He offered to put a signed photo of himself in the albums Warwick sold in Las Vegas. He had recently signed on for residencies in the city.

“He said, ‘I am going to put a signed photograph of me in every album and every record store in Vegas,’” she said, per The Daily Mail. “I said, ‘You’re going to do what?!’”

Though this was a nontraditional way of promoting her music, it worked. Warwick said she sold more than she thought possible.

“I sold so many albums in Las Vegas than I ever thought I could sell anywhere,” she said. “It was one of those a-ha moments. It was wonderful.”

Dionne Warwick said she also found Elvis very good looking

One of the other “wonderful” parts of the meeting for Warwick was Elvis’ looks. She found him incredibly good looking.

“First of all, looking at that man was overwhelming,” she said. “I’ve never seen a man that pretty in my life.”

It helped that he was kind to her from the moment they met.

“’After meeting him, he was so wonderful and so kind to me.”

His bodyguards said he could be rude to other musicians

Elvis was kind to Warwick, a fellow performer, but this wasn’t always the case. His bodyguards said Elvis could be outright rude to other artists when he met them.

“He wasn’t interested in other performers. In fact, he didn’t like other performers,” his bodyguard Sonny West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “He would always have something catty to say about them. If they came to his dressing room to see him, he would keep them waiting for an hour on end before he would make his entrance.”

West believed Elvis did not like it when other performers took attention away from him.

“Unless he is the center of attention, he just isn’t interested,” he said. “His ego is just out of control . . . and it’s a pity because he wasn’t like that way back … It hurts to see someone you love change so very much.”

Luckily, Warwick never saw this side of Elvis.