Composer and songwriter Burt Bacharach, the six-time Grammy winner behind hits like “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” has died at 94.
Regarded as one of the most successful composers of 20th century pop music, Bacharach’s tunes have been recorded by more than 1,000 artists, including Dionne Warwick, Neil Diamond, the Carpenters and Tom Jones.
"The Songwriting world has lost its Beethoven today," tweeted Diane Warren. "Compose in Power forever Burt Bacharach." Brian Wilson shared: "Burt was a hero of mine and very influential on my work. He was a giant in the music business. His songs will live forever."
Former pop star Shaun Cassidy recalled that "the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David canvassed my childhood and soundtracked every cool cocktail party back in the day."
Canada's Steven Page shared: "It was absolutely thrilling and absolutely terrifying to get to meet & perform w/ Burt Bacharach. He was an absolute giant. I don't think I understood the magnitude of this opportunity till it had long passed. May his memory be a blessing." Page's fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith paid tribute to the "astoundingly great" Bacharach. "So many of his melodies enriched my childhood and inspired to this day," he tweeted.
Bacharach won the Oscar for Best Original Score in 1970 for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and shared the Best Original Song award with lyricist Hal David won the Oscar for the film’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.” In 1982, Bacharach and three others shared the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)" from Arthur.
Bacharach and David won the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the U.S. Library of Congress in 2012.
The pair’s long list of hits include “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Walk on By,” “What’s New Pussycat?,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “The Look of Love” and “I Say A Little Prayer.”
Some of his songs were so popular that they became hits for more than one artist “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” was a No. 1 hit in Canada for Sandie Shaw in 1964 and went to No. 9 for pop duo Naked Eyes in 1982.
Bacharach and then-wife Carole Bayer Sager penned “That’s What Friends Are For,” which raised millions of dollars for AIDS research in 1986 when it was recorded by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder.
Bacharach was familiar to younger audiences thanks to his cameos in all three Austin Powers movies starring Canada’s Mike Myers.
One of the great thrills and honors of my life was getting to know @BurtBacharach - one of the greatest songwriters of all time. There will never be anyone like him and as a songwriter, he set the bar. Burt, you will be missed but your music will live on. My love to his family. pic.twitter.com/1obui0UYlt
— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) February 9, 2023
RIP Burt Bacharach. A titan of beautiful and effortless song. pic.twitter.com/oGI3z5AVxy
— William Patrick Corgan (@Billy) February 9, 2023
Hard to find the words to describe how much Burt meant to us, but here it goes…#BurtBacharach pic.twitter.com/oqVZxKHbcv
— Stephanie McKeon (@Steph_McKeon) February 9, 2023