American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist Burt Bacharach gained notoriety in the late 1950s and enjoyed success far into the 1980s. Many of the pop songs he co-wrote with lyricist Hal David are well known. Bacharach is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, with over 1,000 artists having recorded his songs, winning three Academy Awards and six Grammy Awards, and having his compositions covered over 1,000 times.
Bacharach’s distinctive style can be heard in his hits from the early stages of his collaboration with Hal David, including songs for Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Bacharach’s style is characterized by his use of uncommon chord progressions and instrumentation and is informed by his training in jazz harmony. Later, he produced hit songs for artists including Herb Alpert, The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, and Tom Jones. Bacharach arranged, conducted, and produced the majority of his recorded work, including his No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 songs like “This Guy’s in Love with You,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” and “That’s What Friends Are For.”
Bacharach has had a considerable influence on popular music, and his compositions have been hailed as some of the most important music of the 20th century. He has won multiple awards, including the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress, which he shared with Hal David in 2012. Shibuya-kei and chamber pop are two other contemporary musical subgenres that Bacharach’s music has impacted. He and Hal David were voted 32nd by Rolling Stone in 2015 while compiling their list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Read also: Burt Bacharach cause of death, wife, net worth, children
Burt Bacharach’s wife: Was he married?
Burt Bacharach married multiple times over his love life. He married four times throughout his life, the first to Paula Stewart lasting from 1953 until 1958. Their daughter Nikki was born during his second marriage, which lasted 15 years, from 1965 to 1980, to the actress Angie Dickinson. Tragically, Nikki committed suicide in 2007 when she was 40 years old. Bacharach’s third marriage, which lasted from 1982 until 1991, was to lyricist Carole Bayer Sager. The couple created a number of musical works together while they were married, and they also had a son together. He wed Jane Hansen in 1993, marking his fourth and last union. Together, they have two children: Raleigh and Oliver, a girl
