Legendary pop composer Burt Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, publicist Tina Brausam said Thursday.
Bacharach was a singularly gifted and popular composer, who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of "Walk on By," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and more.
Dionne Warwick was his favorite interpreter, but Bacharach, usually in tandem with lyricist Hal David, also created prime material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra were among the countless artists who covered his songs, with more recent performers who sung or sampled him including White Stripes, Twista and Ashanti.
Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. And in 2012, he was presented the Gershwin Prize by Barack Obama, who had sung a few seconds of "Walk on By" during a campaign appearance. In the 21st century, he was still testing new ground, writing his own lyrics and recording with rapper Dr. Dre.
"They were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before," he recalled in the memoir "Anyone Who Had a Heart," published in 2013. "What I heard in those clubs turned my head around." Meanwhile, he had met his ideal songwriter partner - David, as businesslike as Bacharach was mercurial, so domesticated that he would leave each night at 5 to catch the train back to his wife and children on Long Island. Working in a tiny office in Broadway's celebrated Brill Building, they produced their first million-seller, "Magic Moments," sung in 1958 by Perry Como.
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