Burt Bacharach, the acclaimed pop composer and songwriter has died.
A major figure in 20th century pop music, Bacharach scored major hits in a variety of genres, from Top 40 to country to rhythm and blues and film scores.
Many of his songs were “easy listening”, far removed from the sounds of rock and roll or the other popular genres of his time.
And yet Bacharach, with longtime collaborator Hal David, churned out many of the catchiest songs of ever. The list of hits goes on and on;
- Say a Little Prayer
- Walk on By
- Do You Know the Way to San Jose
- Magic Moments
- Baby It’s You
- What’s New Pussycat?
- What the World Needs Now is Love
- This Guy’s In Love With You
And the Patti Labelle-Michael McDonald duet On My Own.
One of his biggest hits was That’s What Friends Are For, the charity collaboration between Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder that topped the charts in 1986 and raised millions for AIDS research.
Over his long career Bachrach earned almost every major award in music, including six Grammys, three Oscars and – with Hal David – the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, awarded by the Library of Congress.
In 2008 the Grammys proclaimed him music’s greatest living composer.
Burt Bacharach was 94.
(Photo, Wikipedia; via CNN)
