Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist from Kansas City, Missouri. Born in 1928 and active from the 1950s, he dies in 2023. His work sits within pop, easy listening, baroque pop and the Brill Building tradition, and it draws on his jazz background.

Career

Bacharach writes many of his best-known songs with lyricist Hal David. He often arranges, conducts and produces his own recordings. His writing is marked by unusual chord changes, shifting time signatures and distinctive instrumentation. More than 1,000 artists record his songs.

Between 1957 and 1963, he and David work with artists including Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels and Jerry Butler. From 1961 to 1972, they also write frequently for Dionne Warwick. After that, Bacharach composes songs for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and B. J. Thomas.

Notable songs

His catalogue includes a number of major US hit singles, among them “This Guy’s in Love with You” by Herb Alpert, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” by B. J. Thomas, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the Carpenters, “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross, “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick and “On My Own” by Carole Bayer Sager.

He reaches 52 Top 40 hits in the United States and scores several number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. His music later appears widely in film soundtracks, and his influence extends into chamber pop and Shibuya-kei as well as easy listening.

Awards and recognition

Bacharach wins six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and one Emmy Award. In 2012, he and Hal David receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, as the first songwriting team to receive it. In 2015, Rolling Stone places the pair 32nd on its list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.