*Dionne Warwick is making headlines on two fronts, unveiling plans for her farewell album “DWuets,” while waging a legal battle over earnings she says were taken from her without her knowledge, StereoGum reports.
“DWuets” brings together some of today’s most compelling voices for a series of collaborative recordings. Songwriter Diane Warren composed the entire body of work for the album. Among the featured pairings, Warwick and Cynthia Erivo unite on “Ocean In The Desert,” the lead single due out on March 20.
Warwick’s legal battle centers on allegations that AREC, formally known as Artists Rights Enforcement Corp., quietly diverted her earnings for well over two decades. She filed the suit on March 9, with court documents identifying several of her signature recordings as targets of the alleged scheme — among them “Alfie,” “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” “That’s What Friends Are For,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” and “Walk On By.”
The legal entanglement has its roots in a 2001 agreement Warwick signed to enlist AREC’s help in pursuing money she was owed by Warner Bros. Records. She had no attorney present when she signed and understood the arrangement to be limited to that single matter. Her legal team argues that AREC exploited the agreement far beyond its intended scope, drawing a 50% cut from the full breadth of her recorded output spanning 1962 to 2001 — a practice that allegedly continued for 23 years.
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Her lawyer Robert S. Meloni stated in the court filing, “Ms. Warwick seeks to expose AREC’s performative ethics and vindicate her rights and obtain restitution for the damages caused by AREC’s decades-long pilfering of millions of dollars in royalty income she earned as a result her legendary recordings.”
Warwick alleges the company funneled her royalty payments into its own accounts and kept her entirely in the dark, producing no financial records or statements during that time. She reportedly remained unaware until last September, when a new legal representative began reviewing her affairs.
The filing accuses AREC of undermining a separate transaction Warwick had been pursuing with Primary Wave, allegedly reaching out to the company to block the deal from moving forward.
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