Burt Bacharach American composer Date of Birth: 12.05.1929 Country: USA

1. Biography of Burt Bacharach
2. Early Life and Education
3. Early Career
4. Collaboration with Hal David
5. Success and Achievements

Biography of Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach, born on May 12, 1928, is an American pianist and composer. He is best known for creating a large number of pop hits from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, with lyrics primarily written by Hal David and produced and recorded by Dionne Warwick.

Early Life and Education

Burt was born in Kansas, Missouri. His father, also named Burt Bacharach, was a local journalist. Burt himself is of German-Jewish descent. He received his higher education at McGill University, Mannes School of Music, and the West Coast Music Academy in Montecito, California. During his studies, he was mentored by composers such as Darius Milhaud, Bohuslav Martinu, and Henry Cowell.

Early Career

After completing his military service, Bacharach pursued a career as a pianist. He performed both as a solo artist and as a accompanist for singers of the time, including Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers, and Polly Stewart (who would later become his first wife). From 1958 to 1961, he worked as a pianist, arranger, and bandleader, accompanying Marlene Dietrich.

Collaboration with Hal David

In 1957, Bacharach met the poet-songwriter Hal David, marking the beginning of their fruitful collaboration. Almost a year later, they released their first notable work, the song "The Story of My Life," recorded by Marty Robbins on Columbia Records. The song reached the top spot on American charts at the end of 1957. They followed this success with "Magic Moments," recorded by Perry Como for RCA Records, which reached the fourth spot on the charts in February 1958. Both songs achieved simultaneous first-place success in the UK, making Bacharach and Hal David the first to create two consecutive hit songs.

Success and Achievements

Following their initial success, Bacharach and Hal David continued to produce successful creations. "Heavenly" was recorded by Johnny Mathis and achieved gold status. In the same year, Bacharach's song "Faithfully," also performed by Mathis, received another gold certification in the UK. The wave of success continued, and until the late 1980s, Bacharach was widely regarded as one of the best in his field. As of 2006, he had written seventy hits that entered the Top 40 charts in the United States and fifty-two hits that entered the British Top 40. According to britishhitsongwriters.com, Bacharach holds the eighteenth position in the list of the most successful songwriters in the history of the UK charts, based on the total number of weeks his songs spent on the charts.