Burt Bacharach

Few modern songwriters have the stature, prestige and reputation of Burt Bacharach, who - in partnership with lyricist Hal David - created many of the best-loved songs of the late 20th Century, including a string of hits for Dionne Warwick. From a German Jewish family growing up in Forest Hills, New York, Bacharach studied music in California and, strongly influenced by jazz, worked as a pianist accompanying singers like Vic Damone and Steve Lawrence. He met Hal David in 1957 at the Brill Building in New York and the new songwriting partnership had their first big break when Marty Robbins recorded The Story Of My Life; a Number 1 country hit in the US successfully covered in the UK by Michael Holliday. Other melodic hits swiftly followed, including Magic Moments (Perry Como) and Make Room For The Joy (Jack Jones), leading to an unprecedented run of success through the 1960s; notably with Dionne Warwick on hits like Anyone Who Had A Heart (also a UK Number 1 for Cilla Black), Walk On By, Don't Make Me Over, Wishin' And Hoping and You'll Never Get To Heaven. Other major Bacharach-David hits from the era include What's New Pussycat? (Tom Jones), I Say A Little Prayer (Aretha Franklin), Alfie (Cilla Black) and There's Always Something There To Remind Me (Sandie Shaw). When he stopped working with David in the 1970s, Bacharach teamed up with his future wife Carole Bayer Sager, creating hits for Christopher Cross (Arthur's Theme), That's What Friends Are For (Dionne Warwick) and Making Love (Roberta Flack). Bacharach collaborated with Elvis Costello on the Grammy-winning album Painted From Memory (1998) and in 2005 he made a solo album At This Time, writing his own lyrics, with guest appearances by Rufus Wainwright and Elvis Costello.