Burt Bacharach, Oscar-winning composer, dead at 94

Burt Bacharach – The Academy Award-winning musician was well-known for tunes like “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” and many others.

Bacharach excelled in a variety of artistic mediums.

He was a three-time Oscar winner, an eight-time Grammy winner, and a prize-winning Broadway composer for “Promises, Promises.” For the music of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” he won two Academy Awards in 1970. He and his then-wife, writer Carole Bayer Sager, received an Oscar in 1982 for their work on the “Arthur” theme song, “Best That You Can Do.” His other film soundtracks include the 1967 James Bond parody “Casino Royale,” “What’s New, Pussycat?” and “Alfie.”
Numerous musicians, including Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and Tom Jones, were among those for whom the composer wrote songs. His songs were frequently covered by Elvis Presley and others as well.

Sammy Cahn, a fellow songwriter, used to quip that Burt Bacharach was the first songwriter he had ever met who did not have dentist’s teeth.

Bacharach was a “swinger,” as such men were known in his era. Among his numerous relationships were marriages to actress Angie Dickinson from 1965 to 1980 and Sager from 1982 to 1991. Throughout his lifetime, the composer was married four times.

Despite being best known for his pop songwriting, Bacharach also created rhythm and blues, soul, and other genres for country music singers.

The composer most recently collaborated with Dr. Dre, a rapper.

Oliver, Raleigh, and Christopher Bacharach, along with his fourth wife Jane Hansen, are still living. His daughter, Nikki Bacharach, who he had with Dickinson, predeceased him.

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