Composer and pianist Burt Bacharach was born on May 12, 1928 and died on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at his home in Los Angeles. His death was confirmed by press secretary Tina Brausam.
Burt Bacharach died at the age of 94. He has been composing for nearly 70 years
Bacharach began his musical career very early. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he was Marlena Dietrech’s band manager and accompanist, and later collaborated most often with songwriter Hal David. The breakthrough for them was the song “The Story of My Life”, recorded by Marty Robbins. Their compositions were most often created with Dionne Warwick in mind, but Bacharach also wrote for such groups and artists as The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield and Luther Vandross.
His musical style is characterized by non-standard chord sequences that create pleasant, catchy melodies. At the same time, jazz influences can be heard in this music. In 2014, Bacharach was reported to have written or co-written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 songs. His compositions topped the Billboard Hot 100 include “This Guy’s in Love with You” (1968), “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (1969), “They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970), “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1981), “That’s What Friends Are For” (1986) .
Marlena Dietrich wrote in her autobiography that Bacharach loved to go with her on concert tours to Poland, because exceptional violinists played here, and he also felt that the audience particularly appreciated the talent of musicians.
Burt Bacharach was the author of the soundtrack to such films as “Casino Royale” – it was with this title in mind that he created “The Look of Love”, performed by Dusty Springfield. His filmography also includes such titles as “What’s Up, Kitty?”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “Night Shift” and “Calm Down, Daddy”. He won an Oscar for the soundtrack to “Butch Cassidy” and the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”. Then the statuette was awarded to him for “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” – here he also received the Golden Globes.
He was married four times. He first married Paula Stewart, then became involved with actress Angie Dickinson (they had a daughter, Nikki – she was on the autism spectrum). His third wife was the songwriter Carol Bayer Sager, the last was to Jane Hansen, who bore him a daughter and a son.
Source: Gazeta
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