Legendary Songwriter Burt Bacharach Has Died At Age 94

Renowned songwriter Burt Bacharach has died at age 94. Bacharach died of natural causes on Wednesday, February 8 at his home in Los Angeles, his publicist Tina Brausam told the Associated Press.

Bacharach’s songs, often co-written with lyricists Hal David or Carol Bayer Sager, were interpreted by several of the most well-known and popular musicians of the past 70 years. Those who recorded Bacharach’s songs include Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Costello, The Fifth Dimension, Herb Alpert, B.J. Thomas, The Carpenters, Manfred Mann, Bobby Vinton and many more.

Born ​​Burt Freeman Bacharach on May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, Bacharach moved to New York City with his family in 1932 where he began studying cello, drums and finally piano. Bacharach began sneaking into New York nightclubs to see jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker whose bebop style would influence Burt’s songwriting.

Bacharach went on to study theory and composition. In 1957, he met lyricist Hal David, with whom he would go on to have an incredibly successful collaborative relationship. Bacharach also began working with the group The Drifters, writing hits like “Please Stay” and through them met singer Dione Warwick, who had a knack for navigating Bacharach’s complicated and unconventional compositions.

When Warwick thought a song called “Make It Easy On Yourself” would be her debut, which was then given to Jerry Butler, she reportedly quipped “Don’t make me over, man!” — slang for don’t lie to me. This inspired Burt and David, who then penned her first Top 40 Hit “Don’t Make Me Over.”

Bacharach & David went on to create 20 Top 40 hits for Warwick over the next decade, seven of which cracked the Top 10: “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (1963), “Walk On By” (1964), “Message to Michael” (1966), “I Say a Little Prayer” (1967), “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” (1968), “This Girl’s in Love with You” (1969) and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” (1969).

The Bacharach and David songwriting team also wrote hits for Jackie DeShannon (“What the World Needs Now”), which is perhaps one of their most famous compositions, as well as Tom Jones (“What’s New, Pussycat?”), Dusty Springfield (“The Look of Love”) and B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”), which famously appeared in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and earned Burt two Academy Awards. Bacharach would go on to compose songs for film and television throughout the 1970s when he had a falling out with his main collaborators Hal David and Dione Warwick.

The 1980s saw Burt continuing his scoring work but also forging new relationships — including with lyricist Carol Bayer Sager, who he married in 1982. In 1995, Bacharach experienced a mid-career resurgence when he began working with Elvis Costello. The pair later appeared in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, working on songs for the Mike Myers movie which introduced Bacharach to a new generation.

Bacharach released his first solo album in a quarter century, At This Time, in 2005. The record saw Burt collaborating with an eclectic group of artists including Elvis Costello, Dr. Dre, Chris Botti and Rufus Wainwright. The LP also was the first to feature Bacharach lyrics, which carried an uncharacteristically political slant.

Bacharach was a six-time Grammy Award winner. He garnered Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and Best Original Song for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” the latter also earning a Golden Globe Award.

Bacharach’s songs have been recorded by over 1,000 artists. In 2008 he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2012, Bacharach and Hal David were bestowed the prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by The Library of Congress.