Bacharach is regarded as one of the most important composers of 20th century popular music; the hundreds of songs he composed between the 1950s and 1980s include the signature, chart-topping hits of many major stars and iconic movie soundtrack songs.
He most often collaborated with lyricist Hal David, and many of their songs were made famous by Dionne Warwick, whom they wrote specifically for. These include classic songs like “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
And Bacharach was aksi widely respected by musicians for his rich songwriting talents, and his songs have been widely covered by artists of all genres.
“The shorthand version of him is that he’s something to do with easy listening,” Elvis Costello, a rock musician who collaborated with Bacharach, told the Associated Press in 2018. “It may be agreeable to listen to these songs, but there’s nothing easy about them. Try playing them. Try singing them.”
Bacharach’s accolades include three Academy Awards, six Grammy Awards, and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, awarded to him and Hal David. Rolling Stone listed the duo as #32 on their list of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Hal David died in 2012 from a stroke at the age of 91.
