Tributes paid as legendary composer Burt Bacharach dies aged 94
Burt Bacharach, who has died aged 94. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire
Tributes have been paid to Burt Bacharach, the composer of classic pop songs including I Say A Little Prayer and Walk On By, who has died at the age of 94.
His publicist confirmed to the PA news agency that he died surrounded by relatives at home on Wednesday, and said Bacharach’s family requested privacy at this time.
The songwriter and pianist wrote hundreds of songs from the 1960s to the 1980s, many with his long-standing lyricist Hal David, who died in 2012 aged 91.
Bacharach wrote hits for artists including Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and the Carpenters.
Springfield was one of his best-known collaborators, producing a series of hits that are still well-played today, including The Look Of Love, while he also composed What’s New Pussycat? and Promise Her Anything for Tom Jones.
Noel Gallagher was among those paying tribute to Bacharach, sharing a photograph of the songwriter on Instagram, captioning it: “RIP Maestro. It was a pleasure to have known you.”
Oscar-winning songwriter Diane Warren said the field had “lost its Beethoven” after the death of Bacharach.
Warren, who has written for stars including Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Aretha Franklin, tweeted: “The songwriting world has lost its Beethoven today. Compose in Power forever Burt Bacharach.” Dave Davies, co-founder and guitarist of The Kinks, also praised Bacharach as a “great inspiration” to his own music.
The Songwriting world has lost its Beethoven today. Compose in Power forever Burt Bacharach🎵🎶🎼💔
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) February 9, 2023
Bacharach was nominated for 21 Grammy Awards, winning six, during a career which spanned seven decades.
He was also a three-time Oscar winner, receiving two Academy awards in 1970 for his original score for Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and for Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.
In 1982 he and his then-wife, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, won the Oscar for Best That You Can Do from Arthur.
In 2008 he was proclaimed music’s “greatest living composer” as he accepted the Grammy lifetime achievement award.
It began with the melodies — strong yet interspersed with changing rhythms and surprising harmonics.
He credited much of his style to his love of bebop and to his classical education, especially under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, the famed composer.
Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes).
In the 21st century, he was still testing new ground, writing his own lyrics and recording with rapper Dr Dre.
More recently Bacharach developed a songwriting partnership with Elvis Costello, the British new wave singer-songwriter, and they were due to release a compilation of their published songs from the last 30 years in the coming months.
He is survived by his wife Jane Hansen, as well as his children Oliver, Raleigh and Cristopher. He was preceded in death by his daughter with Angie Dickinson, Nikki Bacharach.
