The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

I heard this on the news here in NYC this afternoon. How sad this is when you consider how much money Dionne has earned over the past 50 years.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.1299283

Read what people have to say in the comments, too.

What I don't understand is how she earns $250,000 a year and can only save $120.

Barry Manilow and Billy Joel also had bad managers and lost a fortune. Actually, Barry Manilow lost all of his money a number of years ago and had to start all over again. In a way, I feel sorry for these great entertainers. They're artists -- not money managers. The list is endless of celebrities and sports figures who made fortunes only to lose it all due to getting bad advice. Having a fortune and maintaining it is a job all to itself and requires financial acumen. Who can you trust? In many cases, trusted family members will rip you off. The famous golfer, Davis Love III, who made a fortune on the PGA Tour was ripped off by his own brother-in-law. It's so hurtful to him that he can't even talk about it. So I can't necessarily blame Dionne for her financial disaster. And let's not forget all those huge lottery winners who also ended up broke.

This is indeed sad but not at all surprising. I've posted here for years regarding Dionne's inability to manage money and surrounding herself with the same folks through the years who have taken, taken, taken from her. She has burned herself over and over. Dionne has a long history of extreme and outrageous extravagance both with her own money and charity monies as well. She has made mega millions in her career and with even a modicum of sound financial advice, she could be very comfortable right now. Alas, such is not the case. The main difference with Dionne and the celebrities such as Barry Manilow and Billy Joel, though, is that Dionne was garnering press as early as the early-seventies for financial difficulties-she has a long, long history of blowing through everything she has earned. She has had several financial managers through the years, some have been good, but I have never known Dionne to take their advice...no one says no to Dionne Warwick...at least those who want to stay in her circle and she is well known for her stubbornness and her ability to deny and justify. Appearances seem to be more important to Dionne than reality. Close friends have been worried for years about her lavish lifestyle and the hangers on (some unsavory folks have traveled in her circle in the past 20 years) she has attracted; many of those saw an easy mark in Dionne. Those unsavory folks have probably now disappeared from her life since she can't keep their gravy trains going. It's sad but true to herself always, she blames others for her dire straights...always in denial and spending until the last moment. I am truly saddened that she has lost everything; she's been warned for years to take more control of her finances and to hold her financial advisors accountable but she listens to no one. Unfortunately, it's a story that is repeated over and over in showbusiness. But, good, trustworthy people are around who will watch out for a celebrity and Dionne, had she connected herself with such people, and then listened to their advice, might not be in the fix she's in now. What will tell the tale with this sad story is how she handles her finances going forward; perhaps she can unload all the leeches she has supported all these years and live for herself and scale back her luxe habits. She has able-bodied children and other relatives and friends who have been on her payroll for years. Instead of buying helicoptors and Mercedes and recording studios, maybe Damon Elliott can help his mom out; he's been cashing in on his famous mom to make a buck for himself for years. Maybe Damon will put her on his payroll for a change, but I suspect that there is no payroll there either.

All I can say is that this court filing for bankruptcy will hopefully result in a legal path toward resolving Dionne's longstanding financial problems. .... She remains extremely active (check out her "Official Facebook Page") - and - she shows no signs of lightening up her touring schedule or cutting back on appearances and lending her name to the many causes she believes in.

I posted this in the other thread, but it makes more sense here:

Ugh, I'm so sad for her. I couldn't imagine working as hard as she has for all these years only to end up in this place. If she truly had such bad management, and their advice was the cause of this mess, then I wonder if there is some way that they can be held liable for malpractice. Every dollar would help. Dionne Warwick is no stranger to court, so I wonder if she's ever pursued any action against her former manager(s).

I also find it quite odd that she claims to make only $21K/month (before expenses). That's only $252,000 per year! Compare this amount to the $100K/month she made (according to Bill Elliott's divorce pleadings) nearly 40 years ago at a time when she had no current hits on the radio and probably worked fewer dates than she does today because she was raising her kids, and something seems way off. I always assumed she earned a sizable fee for each concert because of her iconic status and drawing power that she still enjoys. I don't know anything about bankruptcy proceedings, but I suppose it's not out of the question for people to hide income in order to get a favorable outcome.

Poor Dionne.

Lord this is too sad. When I think of what Dionne has done directly and indirectly for charity, politics, schools .. her vast spectum of influence over the past 50 years, the sums probably outshine the tax debt. She's a national treasure and should be looked after. It's a disgrace. Come on Barack cough up ....

In the article on the BBC site it claims that Dionne lives in California but when I saw her concert in England she claimed during that show that her home was in Brazil, I just wonder is she really bankrupt or just bankrupt in the USA?

These days wouldn't bankrupt mean bankrupt internationally?

I'm AMAZED how quiet the 'forum' is ... is it because Mr Bacharach and Mr Davis grabbed all the pies?

Gillanddon you are right about how much Dionne has given of herself (also while taking care of herself i.e. luxury accomodations for herself and entourage, etc) but 25 years ago she had the respect in the industry to move mountains for charity and even her extravagences were small compared to the millions she could raise. No longer. I am sickened though that, much at her own hand, she doesn't have the ability to generate the same momentum for any charity anymore. Too many bad associations with unsavory folks who keep resurfacing in her life (Guy Draper comes to mind) after she swears she'll never have anything else to do with them. She has done so much good but she has just squandered her legacy and her reputation. She no longer can call big names who can lend to her causes...it seems that she went into a downward spiral in around 1993 and just never recovered and she never could seem to put the brakes on her extreme spending until every last dime was gone. I don't believe she has any assets hidden anywhere...that's idle speculation. I hope this will wake her up to the important things in life and help her gain some perspective on how she herself is responsible for this mess she's in. If she doesn't get rid of the enablers and hangers on and start looking at herself, she'll continue to be in the same mess over and over, much as she has been for the past 40 years. I watched a female reporter stalk her in her own driveway and walk up her front walk with the cameras rolling and Dionne slammed the car door on her microphone. What the hell happened to respecting someone on their own property. The reporter had no right to trespass. For that one small moment, I wish Dionne had smacked the sh*t out of her. Now Dionne is fair game for the media, don't get me wrong, but to do what that reporter did was crass and over the line.

Correct me if I'm wrong: Dionne still can earn a very decent living, right? I don't believe that she's destitute.

Look at her upcoming concert schedule:

http://www.dionnewarwick.net/concert-schedule-news/

Believe me, she's not getting pocket money for those dates. She gets BIG BUCKS to perform, I'm sure. She even said on her site that she's okay and that we needn't worry about her.

An interesting point BBfan. What's the real truth on this BtoB? What happens to homes in USA and Brasil etc How do the bankruptcy implications work? Destitute implies 'on the street'.

Concerts, she has to pay her band, their union dues, travel etc. What's left is hers and it not much. She might get a $35,000 to $50,000 guarantee for an appearance in some larger venues especially overseas but once she pays for everything else there's little left. She claims in her filing that she only clears $3,750 per month in appearances (concerts, etc.). She can't sell tickets in the big venues she used to so there are no advances on ticket sales since some venues she doesn't fill. There have been times she hasn't been able to pay her employees. I think to believe that she is not in dire financial straights is to be in denial. She has no credit left to pay her employees or to finance travel, etc. She no longer has her home in Brazil...had to sell it. That's why she rents her home in New Jersey. Now if she manages her finances carefully and lives without excessive extravagance, I think she can live comfortably. The link below details her Chapter 7 filing, her montly income and her monthly "out-go".

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2013/ ... lares.html

Now to those who say that she has things stashed overseas, that's not likely either...she is still a US citizen and has to report all income to the IRS and she's been on their hit list before...for non-payment of taxes so she's on their shortlist. She is a prideful woman and of course she is going to tell her fans not to worry. Now what is really sad about all this is that recording artists who don't write and don't own the rights to their recordings don't usually receive royalties and they should receive a performance fee every time one of their recordings is played (I am all for Dionne on that one!). Dionne has some royalty income due to her post 1995 recordings, but for her vast catalog of Bacharach-David material, she sold the rights back to Warner Special Music in 1991 because she was in dire straights financially then, and those rights could be generating about $10-20,000 per month or more in income for her alone. They've made Bacharach fabulously wealthy. She sold her future back in 1991 when she did that. She was lucky back in 1979 when 1/2 of those rights were awarded to her as part of the $5 million settlement from Bacharach-David. Many singers of her era don't even own their rights and she had them and sold them for probably a lot less than the future market value of those rights. Major mistake as I am sure she is realizing. She will get by, but as I said earlier, only if she can curtail the extravagant spending.

Ms. Warwick is obviously a "prideful woman" and also human. I do not wish to speculate or even suggest the following should or would happen. It is known that Ms. Warwick has a lot of friends in high places with enormous wealth. Wouldn't you think that some of these people might approach her with an offer of assistance? Maybe they have. She would probably not accept the offers. I am referring to people like Mr. Bacharach, Mr. Clive Davis, Mr. Stevie Wonder and the estates of Mr. Hal David and her late cousin Ms. Houston. A fundraising event in her name would probably be unacceptable to Ms. Warwick for obvious reasons unless she was on the brink of poverty or unable to work at all. I do think she will end up OK.

There's so much about this bankruptcy that confuses me. But can someone explain to me how the IRS will allow ANYONE to get indebted to the IRS to the tune of $10,000,000?? It seems to me that, if this is true, then the IRS is getting very lenient these days. No wonder the U.S. has such a deficit! People have said that, if this were you or I, we'd be in prison. Didn't Wesley Snipes end up doing prison time? I certainly don't want to see Dionne in prison -- this is not my point. My point is that, it seems to me, the IRS let her debt get WAY out of hand. No?

Contrary to what B2B said, I am one of those people who think that Dionne has money stashed away somewhere -- maybe Brazil, maybe in a Swiss account, maybe the Caymans, who knows? I find it absolutely impossible to believe that she would end up netting $10.00 a month after expenses. That's almost laughable, isn't it? I mean, who could believe that? I mean, really! -- her driver takes home more money than she does????

Dionne is too smart and too sophisticated for this kind of stupidity. I'm sorry, but I just don't believe it.

Enormous, I respect your response but how do you explain Dionne's tax issues and poor money management and poor judgement going back for decades? I don't believe DIonne is stupid by any means, but she's never taken advice from anyone regarding her finances and her money has always essentially burned a hole in her pocket and she's made lots of it to burn but in these later years when she should have been saving, she spent like she was back in 1970. I have written before of this going back to the 1960s when her manager, Paul Cantor, who was not responsible for her financial management but made sure that she had some sound financial managers around her, would receive calls that Dionne was on a spending spree and would frantically scramble to cover the cheques. But her real problems started in around 1971 when she purchased a new home in Beverly Hills, the Max Factor estate, and began to remodel it. At the time Dionne spared no expense. Dionne even had an office and two kitchens in the place. It was a beautiful place and I can tell you she spared NO EXPENSE! She then purchased a place in Aspen, Co where she would take the kids skiing but the home was seldom used other than that. And she could afford it at the time, although it probably wasn't wise. But this was going on at a time when her career was faltering and that $5 million contract from Warner's in addition to tour income was keeping her afloat because she wasn't selling records. Off and on, through the years, she has struggled financially when she really didn't have to but she is an impulsive and extravagant spender, almost like an addiction and I would say that she probably was addicted to spending. And like an addict, in total denial of her plight...and listening to the enablers around her, which by the way many of her staunchest "defenders" display denial and enabling characteristics; I'll defend her music to the end but not her boorish behaviors. She was sued by American Express in 1998 for $50,000 and allegedly asked Whitney Houston to pay the bill as she had no liquid cash and it made the press, including the tabloid press in the USA along with her mounting tax liability at the time. She left her band stranded in Sweden in 2008 because the airfare she charged to her credit card to get them to London was declined and they ended up footing the bill themselves. And it made the press in Europe. When I say spending, I mean things like mega expensive jewellry, cars, etc. Spending like Nicholas Cage only on a smaller scale. She has also been less than careful with who she has trusted her finances to and has been burned over and over. Stupid? No way. Using poor financial judgement over and over? Yes, obviously. I have never known Dionne to invest or listen to investment advice. I doubt very seriously that she has any cash stashed away anywhere...addicts don't invest...she's too impulsive to leave it alone for very long. Now she may have some things in the name of her children but keep in mind that you can't do too much of that without creating tax liabilities for your children. Dionne has never believed that there might be a rainy day that needed to be saved for. Hey, I love Willie Nelson too, but I'll not be a defender of his boorish behaviors either. Willie needed a few folks around who would tell him the cold, hard truth and negate the enablers and the hangers on, but he didn't want those types around. Neither did Dionne. Neither did Whitney. Neither did many others. It's a classic show biz story. Guess what, the enablers bailed on Willie and Dionne and Whitney as soon as the fun stopped. I bet a few of the true friends who told Dionne the truth all these years are there supporting her now even though she didn't want to listen to them and pushed them away. That's What Friends Are For.