burt bacharach
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- Composer Burt Bacharach has died at the age of 94.
- Bacharach worked with stars like Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and Tom Jones.
- The legendary songwriter wrote hits like I say a little prayer walking for and Do you know the Way to San José?.
Legendary American pop songwriter Burt Bacharach, whose prolific output provided a chart-topping playlist of the 1960s and ’70s with hits like I say a little prayerhas died in Los Angeles at the age of 94, US media said on Thursday.
Bacharach worked with stars like Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and Tom Jones and also wrote hits like walking for and Do you know the Way to San José?.
Bacharach, who died Wednesday of natural causes, was known for romantic and melancholic ballads that crossed the border between jazz and pop, regularly topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
A passionate jazz pianist, he was born on May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, and studied the art of composition at several American universities.
After his military service, Marlene Dietrich hired him as an arranger and musical director for her tours.
In 1957 he met the lyricist Hal David, who died in 2012, with whom he would form one of the most successful partnerships in the music industry.
Four years later, they would discover during a recording session a young showgirl who would become their standard bearer: Dionne Warwick.
Between 1962 and 1968, they wrote 15 titles that reached the US Top 40.
The songwriting duo also drew acclaim from Hollywood. In 1970, they won two Oscars for the music for the film. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the original song Raindrops keep falling on my head.
In 1973, a financial dispute broke out between the two men. For ten years, they spoke only through lawyers and never worked together again.
