Along with Walk On By and Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Bacharach had more hits. Dionne Warwick, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, and Dusty Springfield were among the celebrities for whom the musician penned songs.
One of the best songwriters of the 20th century, Burt Bacharach, has passed away at age 94.
Over 500 songs were written by the American songwriter over the course of his career, which produced classics including I Say A Little Prayer, Walk On By, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, and Do You Know The Way To San Jose.
More than 1,200 musicians have covered his tunes, which have oddball arrangements and enduring melodies.
Over the course of his seven-decade career, Bacharach garnered three Oscars, six Grammys, and a lifetime achievement award.
On Wednesday, he passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles-area home with his loved ones at his side.
Bacharach began his career as a songwriter in the early 1950s, working with Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich, and quickly garnered comparisons to American greats George Gershwin and Cole Porter. In 1957, Bacharach established a creative partnership with lyricist Hal David.
However, Bacharach and David’s careers truly took off once they met Dionne Warwick in 1961, penning 39 of her top 40 songs.
Noel Gallagher, a singer, was one of many who did so, posting on Instagram: “Adieu, Maestro. I enjoyed getting to know you.”
“Innovative and unique”
Regarding his musical abilities, Bacharach remarked, “I always try to deal with melody.
David once divulged to a reporter: “He was just unique. innovative, and unique I felt moved by his songs. His tunes and words would play for me. I would almost instantly begin to hear rhymes and concepts.”
Due to a renaissance of lounge music in the 1990s, Bacharach was able to play concerts all over the world as he neared the end of his career.
Long after he ceased producing successes, remixes, and samples of his work as well as Hollywood’s usage of many of his songs as soundtracks for their films helped to keep him in the public’s attention.
Despite being hailed the king of easy listening, his admirers would claim that his works were everything from “easy” due to the usage of mixed meters and intricate melodies.
Bacharach never fell out of style, as seen by later collaborations with artists as diverse as Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, and Dr. Dre as well as a 2015 Pyramid Stage appearance at Glastonbury Festival.
Three days before he went away, Bacharach tweeted about his performance of Toledo with Costello.
Bacharach was honored as a “parent, husband, and friend” on his Instagram profile.
It went on: “He gave the world so much, and we will always be appreciative. Please continue to listen; the music is always on.”
Bacharach had four marriages, the most recent of which was to his still-living wife Jane Hansen in 1993. They had two children together.
“A wonderful inspiration”
Social media users continued to pay homage, with The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess writing: “one of the greatest songwriting traditions in recorded history. Burt Bacharach, you were a king; goodbye.”
According to journalist Tony Parsons’ tweet, Burt Bacharach gave the music its elegance, refinement, and class if Elvis gave it its body and Bob Dylan gave it its intellect.
It was a “really sad day,” The Kinks’ guitarist Dave Davies remarked.
Added him: “One of the most important composers of our time was certainly [Burt]. He provided a lot of motivation.”
