Burt Freeman Bacharach (
Kansas City, Missouri,
May 12, 1928 – Los Angeles, California, February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record
producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most
important and influential figures of 20th-century
popular music. Starting in the 1950s, he composed hundreds of pop songs, many in collaboration with lyricist
Hal David. Bacharach's music is characterized by unusual
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.
Over 1,000 different artists have recorded Bacharach's songs. From
1961 to 1972, most of Bacharach and David's hits were written
specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. 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.
Bacharach wrote seventy-three U.S. and fifty-two UK Top 40 hits. Those that topped the Billboard Hot 100 include "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). His accolades include six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, and one Emmy Award.
Bacharach is described by writer
William Farina
as "a composer whose venerable name can be linked with just about every
other prominent musical artist of his era"; in later years, his songs
were newly appropriated for the soundtracks of major feature films, by
which time "tributes, compilations, and revivals were to be found
everywhere". A significant figure in
easy listening, he influenced later musical movements such as
chamber pop and
Shibuya-kei. 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.