Legendary Pop Composer Who Wrote ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ and Several Other Hits Dies at 94
I Say A Little Prayer; Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head; Love Is What the World Needs Right Now; I’ll Never Fall In Love Again… All of these truly legendary songs were written by Burt Bacharach, the legendary composer.
During his decades-long career, Bacharach wrote hundreds of songs, many of which we’ve all danced to or sung along to at some point. In the United States, 73 of his songs charted in the top 40.
Unfortunately, the legendary songwriter died on February 8th at 94. Bacharach died as a result of natural causes.
Bacharach was a classically trained musician who grew up in New York. He had previously served in the US Army.
However, he did not become the sensation he is today until he met fellow lyricist Hal David in 1957. They collaborated on Marty Robbins’ The Story of My Life (Michael Holliday’s UK hit version) and Perry Como’s Magic Moments. Both became number-one hits in the United Kingdom.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Following their first two chart-topping hits, David and Bacharach went on to write several more hit songs, including Aretha Franklin’s I Say a Little Prayer, Tom Jones’s’ What’s New Pussycat?, Dusty Springfield’s The Look of Love and the Walker Brothers’ Make It Easy on Yourself.
According to the Guardian, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, performed by BJ Thomas and featured in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, won a Grammy and an Oscar in 1969, while Bacharach’s music for the film won an Oscar for best original score.
Bacharach married four times throughout his life. Jane Hansen, his fourth wife, died in 1993.
Hansen is survived by three of his four children. Bacharach’s daughter, Nikki Bacharach, committed suicide in 2007 at 40.
