Dionne Warwick Says Music Is Her Secret to Happiness: 'Music Is a Healing Force'

Dionne Warwick is opening up about her secret to happiness.

In a new interview, the five-time Grammy winner revealed that her inspiration continues to come from music and shared that she still gets a huge kick out of life.

“Life always excites me,’ Warwick, 82, told HELLO!. "Waking up in the morning and listening to music gives me incredible inspiration. I love life! It’s just who I am!"

The legendary singer is a guest vocalist on the new album — Postcards from Brazil, Volume Two — from jazz pianist Todd Hunter. Speaking at Hunter’s release party at Urban Press Winery in Burbank, California, earlier this month, Warwick told the outlet that, "Music is a healing force. I can’t imagine living in a world without music.”

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The icon went on to say that music takes people to different places and makes them feel a variety of emotions that reflect the “qualities of life.” 

“I love looking into the audience and seeing smiles, I love when an arm goes around the shoulder, or grabbing each others’ hands or singing with me,” she told HELLO! “That means I am doing something right!" 

Warwick also revealed that she loves Hunter’s album title thanks to its reference to Brazil — a country she called “home,” having previously lived there for 25 years.

At the same party, the "I Say a Little Prayer" singer — who has sold more than 100 million records during her 60-year career — told PEOPLE that she's still having a great time making music.

“It's still a bunch of fun. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it," she told PEOPLE. "When it becomes a job, that's when you won't see me anymore.”

The legendary singer also spoke to PEOPLE about being honored by the Kennedy Center for her lifetime achievement status.

“It’s about time,” the singer joked at the time. “I'm thrilled. I really am. I'm very excited about it. I feel so honored to be honored by the Kennedy Center.”

Warwick — who is set to mark her 83rd birthday on Dec. 12 — performed “That’s What Friends Are For” alongside her granddaughter Cheyenne Elliot at the event and told PEOPLE that although she has already been awarded five Grammys, she still has other awards she'd like to receive.

“There's still the Oscar, the Emmy, the Tony, not necessarily that order,” Warwick said.

The legendary singer also shared the best career advice she has ever received; to “be who I am."

"I can't be anybody else," she told PEOPLE. "I don't want to be anybody else.”