< /p> American songwriter Burt Bacharach pictured on April 23, 2016.
Los Angeles – American pop composer Burt Bacharach, who wrote hits for Aretha Franklin and Tom Jones, has died at the age of 94. It was reported by the AP agency with reference to his assistant. Among the most famous compositions of the late artist are I Say a Little Prayer or Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head from the Oscar-winning film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In addition to three Academy Awards, Bacharach also won a number of other trophies, including eight Grammy Awards.
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The “uniquely gifted and popular” author, as the AP called him, was born May 12, 1928, in Kansas City. Publicist Tina Brausam said today that he died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
During his long career he collaborated mainly with lyricist Hal David, among the singers his favorite was Dionne Warwick, who covered his song Walk On By in 1964. He wrote the hit What's New, Pussycat? for Tom Jones, he also collaborated with Dusty Springfield and The Carpenters. He remained active well into his old age, performing at the Glastonbury festival in his 80s and contributing to the soundtrack for the film Po.
According to the AP, only a handful of writers in recent decades can match Bacharach in terms of the ability to create “immediately catchy” songs that remain popular long after they were written. His works with unforgettable melodies and “special arrangements” topped the charts from the 1950s to the beginning of the 21st century.
As a child, Bacharach moved with his parents to New York, where he absorbed music as a teenager in clubs where he went with a fake ID to see jazz stars Dizzy Gillespie or Charlie Parker. He later studied music at several schools in Canada and the United States, among his teachers were the French Jewish refugee from Nazism Darius Milhaud and the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů.
