Burt Bacharach dies aged 94: Composer was behind hits including I Say A Little Prayer and Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
Burt Bacharach, one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 94.
The US musician composed more than 500 songs during his career and was behind hits such as I Say A Little Prayer, Walk On By, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, and Do You Know The Way To San Jose.
Bacharach had written for stars including Dionne Warwick, Cilla Black, Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield, and he provided a mellow alternative soundtrack to rock and roll in the 1960s and 1970s.
Pic: Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock
His music had quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies, and more than 1,200 artists performed his songs.
Bacharach won six Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award, and three Oscars during his seven-decade career.
He died of natural causes at his home in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday with his family by his side.
Earning comparisons with American greats George Gershwin and Cole Porter, Bacharach started his career as a songwriter in the early 1950s, working with Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich, before forging a professional relationship with lyricist Hal David in 1957.
But it was when Bacharach and David met Dionne Warwick in 1961 that their talents really took flight, with 39 of her chart hits written by the pair.
Singer Noel Gallagher was among those paying tribute, writing on Instagram: “RIP Maestro. It was a pleasure to have known you.”
‘Innovative and original’
“I’m a person that always tries to deal with melody,” said Bacharach, speaking about his music talents.
David once told an interviewer: “He was just different. Innovative, original. His music spoke to me. I’d hear his melodies and I’d hear lyrics. I’d hear rhymes, I’d hear thoughts and I’d hear it almost immediately.”
Performing in concerts around the world late into his career, Bacharach had fans across the generations thanks to a resurgence of lounge music in the 1990s.
Remixes and samples of his work kept him in the public consciousness long after he stopped turning out the hits, as did Hollywood’s use of many of his tunes as soundtracks to their movies.
Despite being crowned the king of easy listening, his fans would argue his use of mixed meters and complex melodies made his compositions far from “easy”.
Burt Bacharach performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra
Later collaborations with stars as diverse as Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello and Dr Dre, plus a Pyramid Stage performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2015, proved the point that Bacharach never went out of fashion.
Bacharach tweeted his performance of Toledo with Costello three days before he passed.
On his Instagram page, a homage was paid to Bacharach as a “father, husband and friend”.
It continued: “He gave the world so much, and we are eternally grateful. The music is always there, so please keep listening.”
Bacharach married four times – the final time being in 1993 with his surviving wife Jane Hansen, and they had two children together.
Burt Bacharach and wife Jane Hansen. Pic: Rob Latour/Shutterstock
‘A great inspiration’
More tributes were paid on social media, with the lead singer of The Charlatans, Tim Burgess, writing: “One of the greatest songwriting legacies in the history of ever. Farewell Burt Bacharach, you were a king.”
Journalist Tony Parsons tweeted: “If Elvis gave the music its body and Dylan gave the music its mind, then beautiful Burt Bacharach gave the music its grace, sophistication, and class.”
Dave Davies, guitarist for The Kinks, wrote that it was a “very sad day”.
He added: “[Burt] was probably one of the most influential songwriters of our time. He was a great inspiration.”
World
Washington DC shooting: Trump condemns ‘monstrous’ attack near White House – and says suspect is Afghan national
Donald Trump has called for every Afghan national who entered the US under the Biden administration to be investigated following the shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House.
The president said the “monstrous, ambush-style attack” was carried out by an Afghan national who arrived in September 2021 during America’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul.
“This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Mr Trump said in an address to the nation from Florida.
He vowed to “reexamine every single alien” who has entered the US from Afghanistan under the previous government, and said: “I am determined to ensure the animal who perpetrated this atrocity will pay the steepest possible price.”
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Trump condemns ‘animal’ shooting suspect
Suspect to face terror probe
America’s citizenship and immigration office said it had stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.
Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, reports the suspect in custody is 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Both guardsmen were shot in the head, according to NBC, citing senior officials briefed on the investigation.
Wednesday’s shooting – carried out with a handgun – will be investigated by the FBI as a possible act of terror.
The White House was placed into lockdown following the incident, while Mr Trump is away for Thanksgiving.
Pics: AP
Victims in ‘critical condition’
West Virginia’s governor initially said both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries – but later posted to say there were “conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members”.
Patrick Morrisey had said: “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country.”
Hundreds of National Guard members have been patrolling the capital after Mr Trump issued an emergency order in August, which federalised the local police force and sent in the guard from eight states and the District of Columbia.
Mr Trump has announced an extra 500 troops will be deployed in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting.
FBI director Kash Patel said the troops were “brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence”.
At a news conference, he clarified they were in a “critical condition”.
Pic: AP
Former president Joe Biden, who was heavily criticised by Mr Trump in his address, said he and his wife Jill were “heartbroken” by the shooting.
“Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we must all stand united against it,” said a statement.
How the attack unfolded
Jeff Carroll, chief of the metropolitan police department in the area, said the attack began at 2.15pm local time (7.15pm in the UK) while National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols in the area”.
He said: “A suspect came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged it at the National Guard.
“The National Guard members were… able to – after some back and forth – able to subdue the individual and bring them into custody.”
Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting”.
Pics: AP
Social media footage showed first responders attempting CPR on one of the soldiers as they treated the other on a pavement covered in glass.
Nearby other officers could be seen restraining an individual on the ground.
Emergency personnel cordon off an area near where the National Guard soldiers were shot. Pics: AP
The scene was cordoned off by police tape, while agents from the US Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives attended the scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby.
The FBI was also on the scene, the agency’s director said.
World
Lindsay and Craig Foreman: Son of British couple detained in Iran says government not doing enough
The son of a British couple detained in Iran has said the UK government is not doing enough to secure their release.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were taken into custody in Kerman in January during a motorcycle tour around the world and later charged with espionage, which they deny.
In August, the pair were moved to different jails in Tehran, before being reunited in October at Evin prison, where British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held between 2016 and 2022.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Pic: Reuters
‘You need to stand up for your citizens’
Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, told Sky News there are too many similarities with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s situation.
“They themselves are being very passive,” he said of the UK government.
“They’ve got two UK citizens that are accused of spying for the British state, but they’re not coming out and defending them and calling [it out] for what it is.
“You need to stand up for your citizens and call it out.”
Speaking to The World With Dominic Waghorn, Mr Bennett dismissed Iran’s accusation of espionage against his mother and her partner – and accused the regime of “hostage taking”.
Lindsay Foreman with her son Joe Bennett. Pic: Family handout
‘They’re not spies’
Asked whether he had any sympathy with the argument that making too much of the situation makes their release less likely, Mr Bennett said there was “no justification” for the Foreign Office taking such an approach.
“If they’re on charges of shoplifting, potentially that’s understandable, let’s see the court of law, let’s go through it if they’ve been caught of some wrongdoing,” he said.
“They haven’t, and they’ve been accused of espionage, which is state-level political charges, right?
“They’re not spies, it’s quite simple.”
Read more from Sky News:
Court hearing ‘did not go well’ for British couple
Iran protests ‘bring back memories’ of helplessness
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard is supporting Mr Bennett’s case.
He told Sky News: “It does feel to me that I’m hearing too many echoes of our experience in the experience of Joe’s family and others.”
Joe Bennett and Richard Ratcliffe
The Foreign Office warns all British and British-Iranian nationals against all travel to Iran because of “significant risk of arrest, questioning, or detention”.
In October, a spokesperson told Sky News the department was deeply concerned by reports that the Foremans had been charged with espionage and that it was providing them with consular support.
Soldiers have appeared on state TV in Guinea-Bissau to say the country’s military has seized power, accusing its president of interfering in Sunday’s election as he revealed he had been “deposed”.
Military spokesperson Dinis N’Tchama said in a statement that the military had decided to “immediately depose the president of the republic” and suspend all government institutions.
He said they acted in response to the “discovery of an ongoing plan” that he said aimed to destabilise the country by attempting to “manipulate electoral results”.
Guinea Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo at the UN in 2023. File pic: Reuters
The “scheme was set up by some national politicians with the participation of a well-known drug lord, and domestic and foreign nationals”, Mr N’Tchama said, but gave no details.
The country has emerged as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe.
The electoral process was being suspended immediately, along with the activities of the media, while the country’s borders were being closed, he said.
Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló told French television network France 24: “I have been deposed.”
French news outlet Jeune Afrique quoted Mr Embaló as saying he was arrested in what he called a coup led by the army chief of staff but did not suffer violence.
An international election observer told Associated Press the president “has been speaking to people saying he’s being held by the military”.
Gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in the capital, Bissau, around noon on Wednesday.
A palace official said a group of armed men tried to attack the building, leading to an exchange of gunfire with guards.
Gunshots were also heard around the nearby national electoral commission, an interior ministry official said.
Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
Roads leading to the palace were closed off, with checkpoints manned by heavily armed and masked soldiers, an AP reporter said.
Meanwhile, Mr Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa both claimed victory on Tuesday in the presidential and legislative elections held on Sunday, even though official provisional results were not expected until Thursday.
Read more on Sky News:
Man admits driving into football fans
Fire engulfs high-rise buildings
Farmers’ parliament protest
Mr Embaló, who was elected in February 2020, was due to stand down earlier this year after serving a five-year term.
That was extended until 4 September by the country’s supreme court, but voting was delayed until this month.
Guinea-Bissau has seen four coups and numerous attempted ones since it gained independence in 1974, including one reported last month.
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