• Legendary soul signer Dionne Warwick is officially one of Twitter's rising stars, with several of her humorous recent posts going viral.
  • Warwick in particular ribbed Chance the Rapper and The Weeknd, who both were good sports about it, and she's also swapped tweets with names like Taylor Swift and Wendy Williams.
  • Warwick has earned six Grammys in her career, and is best known for singles like "Walk on By" and "I Say a Little Prayer."

Dionne Warwick has a statement to "quell all of you naysayers" who don't believe that the 79-year-old six-time Grammy recipient is the mastermind behind the iconic run of recent tweets that's made her a bit of a viral star.

"This is for all of you tweeters who have decided that I'm not tweeting my own stuff to you," Warwick said. "I want you to know I am, and I'm getting very, very, very good at it. You see, I have a wonderful niece, her name is Brittani. She said, 'Aunt Dionne, you'll have a lot of fun if you get on this with me.' I said, 'Okay, teach me how to do it.' And she did, and I am doing it."

On December 5, Warwick went viral for jokingly setting her sights on artists who have "The" in their stage names. "If you have 'The' in your name, I'm coming for you. I need answers today," she wrote. First, she tagged Chance the Rapper, who was elated that the "Déjà Vu" singer knew who he was.

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Next, she took aim at The Weeknd, joking about the "The" in his name and its unorthodox spelling.

"I just got roasted by Dionne Warwick and I feel honored! You just made my day," The Weeknd replied.

Warwick stating that she herself is primarily responsible for the tweets comes as a bit of a surprise, since she commented in a December 7 interview with Andy Cohen on whether or not she scribes her own messages: "No, I don't. My niece, Brittani, is a hysterical person. She's funny as all get-out. I tell her she should have been a comedian," Warwick said. "She has a wonderful way with words, and my PR people also help. They feel they can put a little few things in there for me."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Warwick has previously called Brittani her "social and branding director."

Regardless of who is penning her tweets, the respect for Warwick is well earned. She's been building her music legacy since the 1960s, recording several top 10 hits including "Walk on By," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," I Say a Little Prayer," and "Then Came You." And she continues to release music, including two albums in 2019: She's Back and Dionne Warwick & the Voices of Christmas.

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Warwick has been on Twitter since October 2012, but she has been particularly active in 2020, posting memes that advocate for social distancing, promoting her appearance on The Masked Singer, and currently asking people to donate to the organization Hunger: Not Impossible in celebration of her upcoming 80th birthday on December 12.

Fighting hunger is a cause that Warwick has been especially involved with over the years. She has performed on a fundraising single for The Hunger Project and performed for the organization in concert. She also served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN.

In addition to her jesting with Chance the Rapper and The Weeknd, Warwick has also used Twitter to source holiday music recommendations:

Respond to criticism from Wendy Williams:

And send well wishes to Taylor Swift:

Regardless of whether Dionne is a social media mastermind or has help from her niece and her publicists, she's clearly made herself into a must-follow. After all, isn't that what friends are for?

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Grant Rindner

Grant Rindner is a culture and music journalist in New York. He has written for Billboard, Complex, and i-D, among other outlets.