Dionne Warwick Says Beyoncé Is Not an Icon Yet

Dionne Warwick said in an interview that Beyoncé is not yet an icon and that she has a "long road" before she achieves that status.

In a recent interview with Essence, the 78-year-old legendary singer stated she doesn't believe Beyoncé has put in the body of work to yet be considered among the icons of music.

“I don’t know if 10 years from now, anybody can actually sing the songs of our babies today."

“I have an admiration for Beyoncé Knowles, Carter now," she told the magazine. "Watching her growth has been quite refreshing. It’s wonderful to see how she’s been able to create what and who she wanted to be and who she is… very proud of that, I really am."

Warwick added: “Now sustaining and becoming a big icon that Gladys Knight, or Patti LaBelle, or Johnny Mathis, or Frank Sinatra, or Sammy Davis Jr. is? I doubt that. And I love her to death and can appreciate her talent. But that iconic status? It’s a long road [ahead].”

The singer, who began her career in the 1960s, also expressed doubts when asked as to whether the today's generation of singers have what it takes to achieve the level of success such as classic artists like herself.

“Not yet,” she said. “I don’t know if 10 years from now, anybody can actually sing the songs of our babies today. That’s not, as you guys say, ‘throwing shade,’ it’s looking at it with reality.”

Warwick, who released her new album "She’s Back" earlier this month, is the cousin of the late singer Whitney Houston. She began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan.

Warwick has won five Grammy awards and earned two number 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is second only to Aretha Franklin, who passed away in August 2018, as the most-charted female vocalist of all time with 80 singles on all Billboard charts combined.