Burt Bacharach

At a time when rock and roll was king, Burt Bacharach (1928-2023) remained defiantly pop in a decades-long career that won him six Grammys and three Oscars. The classically trained composer whose teachers included Darius Milhaud found his milieu in jazz, first working with dance bands for the U.S. Army and then as an arranger for Marlene Dietrich. His longest-running collaborations were with lyricist Hal David and singer Dionne Warwick. In the late 1990s, his music underwent a revival fueled by films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding and the Austin Powers movies, as well as his collaboration with Elvis Costello.