Burt Bacharach

Burt Freeman Bacharach ( BAK-ə-rak; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. He composed hundreds of pop songs, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. His music features atypical chord progressions and time signature changes, influenced by his background in jazz, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output. Beginning in the 1950s, Bacharach and David worked with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. From 1961 to 1972, most of the duo's hits were tailored for Dionne Warwick. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach wrote hits for singers such as Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and B. J. Thomas. In total, he wrote fifty-two US Top 40 hits, including chart-toppers "This Guy's in Love with You" (Herb Alpert, 1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (Thomas, 1969), "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (the Carpenters, 1970), "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (Christopher Cross, 1981), "That's What Friends Are For" (Warwick, 1986), and "On My Own" (Carole Bayer Sager, 1986). Over 1,000 artists have recorded Bacharach's songs. A significant figure in orchestral pop and easy listening, he influenced genres such as sunshine pop/soft rock, chamber pop, and Shibuya-kei. The writer William Farina said that Bacharach was connected in some way to almost every prominent musical artist of his era. Bacharach's songs would eventually be repurposed for the soundtracks of major feature films. He received six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, and one Emmy Award. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Bacharach and David at number 32 for their list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". In 2012, the duo received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team.