[3] Warwick was born in East Orange, New Jersey, to Mancel Warrick (1911–1977), who began his career as a Pullman porter and subsequently became a chef, a gospel record promoter for Chess Records and later a Certified Public Accountant; and Lee Drinkard-Warrick (1920–2005), manager of The Drinkard Singers.

Dee Dee Warwick sang with her sister Dionne Warwick and their aunt Cissy Houston in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir in Newark, New Jersey: eventually the three women formed the gospel trio the Gospelaires, who often performed with The Drinkard Singers.

At a performance by the Gospelaires with the Drinkard Singers at the Apollo Theater in 1959, the Warwick sisters were recruited by a record producer for session work and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Doris Troy, subsequently became a prolific New York City area session singing team.

Dee Dee Warwick began to dabble in a solo career in 1963 cutting what is reportedly the earliest version of "You're No Good" for Jubilee Records, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who later recorded Warwick on their own Tiger label with the 1964 single "Don't Think My Baby's Coming Back".

Warwick made her network TV debut performing the gospel song "Children, Go Where I Send Thee" with her sister Dionne on NBC's Hullabaloo, which aired on March 30, 1965.

Reflecting on her unrewarding Atco tenure, Warwick opined: "The problem was simply, that the company had a lot of other big female acts - like Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack - and you get into a situation, where you don't get the right kind of material or production or promotion..."[7] Warwick returned to Mercury Records in 1973, but the following year she moved to Private Stock, where the 1975 single "Get Out of My Life" became her final charting song (number 73, R&B).

In late 2006, she returned to success singing background for her sister Dionne in concert, and was also part of the "Family First" song in the Tyler Perry film Daddy's Little Girls and its soundtrack album.

[10][11] Warwick's sister, Dionne, and Whitney Houston's mother, Cissy, expressed doubt regarding the truthfulness of the allegations.