Legendary American songwriter Burt Bacharach died last week at 94. Starting in the late 1950s, he composed hundreds of songs, many of them standards of the American popular songbook. The common classification of his works as “easy listening” belied their technical virtuosity. Bacharach was known for his long-time collaboration with lyricist Hal David, with whom he wrote several hits for Dionne Warwick.
The two men’s creative partnership did not survive their failure of the disastrous 1973 musical remake of Frank Capra’s 1937 film Lost Horizon, for which they wrote the score. Several of the songs they created together were featured in the 1997 film My Best Friend’s Wedding. Over the course of his career, Bacharach was honoured with three Oscars, six Grammy Awards, and an Emmy, along with a Tony nomination.
