American Music Ball Cancelled

Last night, TMZ reported that some of the dozen planned inauguration balls were in deep trouble due to poor ticket sales. The American Inauguration Ball, headed by music legend Dionne Warwick, was cancelled for those reasons. Her party was set to feature headliners including Yolanda Adams, George Clinton, Chaka Khan, Marvin Sapp, Smokie Norful and Kirk Franklin. Alongside with her star-studded event, the joint party for the kids at the Hip-Hop Ball, which featured hip-hop stars Ludacris and T-Pain, was also axed at the last minute. Ticket sales proved to be a troubling factor for both events, with sales reaching over $450.

At Gawker, a popular online blog, they decided to leave some extra commentary on the subject after it was revealed how pricey the tickets were going. "Like subprime mortgages packaged up and resold as AAA bonds, the promoters were hoping they could transform their ball scams, through some alchemy, into Obama gold. We may feel bad for Warwick — but not for the fool who hired her."

But they also forgot to report the big truth: Dionne booked too many gospel acts. You know folk ain't going to pack a music hall for a gospel concert even for $50. $450 is really pushing it.

[DIONNE'S NOT HAVING A BALL]
Dionne Warwick Not Having a Ball at Inauguration [Gawker]

Remembering Dee Dee Warwick

Another soul legend has passed us by. She probably didn't earn the bright glow of celebrity found in her infamous sister Dionne Warwick, but Dee Dee Warwick was a class act that cut some a number of R&B hits in the 1960s and 70s with "Foolish Fool," "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (later recorded by the Supremes) , the original version of "You're No Good" (also re-recorded by Linda Ronstadt in 1975) and the Top Ten R&B hit "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)."

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Warwick started singing as a teenager and joined The Gospelaires and her renowned family gospel group The Drinkard Singers (also featuring Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick). At the height of the Drinkard Singers' career, Warwick would continue to provide background vocals for their albums; leading to historic background sessions with greats like Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack and Wilson Pickett.

Dee Dee reunited with her singing family members (Cissy, Whitney, Dionne) on "Family First;" a song featured in the Tyler Perry movie soundtrack Daddy's Little Girls. Warwick also recorded with Dionne in January 2008 on her gospel album Why We Sing; performing a duet with her sister on the album's title track. These two works ended up being the last of her released work. Dee Dee Warwick died Saturday at a nursing home in Essex County, said family spokesman Kevin Sasaki. She had been in failing health in recent months, he said, and her sister was with her when she passed away.

She indeed will be missed. Yet her memory lingers with us...in spirit and in song.