Burt Bacharach, one of the titans of 20th-century popular song, has died in Los Angeles, aged 94.

The pianist and composer was best known for evergreen hits such as I Say a Little Prayer, Walk On By and What The World Needs Now Is Love (songs written with lyricist Hal David), and crossover movie themes for films including What’s New Pussycat?, Alfie and Arthur’s Theme.

Bacharach won three Oscars, two Golden Globes, six competitive Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement honour in 2008.

Burt Bacharach. Photo © Olaf Heine

Closely associated with the Tin Pan Alley tradition and the pop factory of New York’s Brill Building, Bacharach pushed the form of popular music, employing sophisticated chord progressions (drawn in part from his early love of jazz), asymmetrical melodies, extended harmonies and changes of meter. Bacharach described his compositional technique as “horizontal”, one in which melody was allowed to stretch naturally across chord structures and rhythms.

In the liner notes of his 1997 album Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach, composer John Zorn wrote: “Bacharach’s songs explode the expectations of what a popular song is supposed to be”.

Born in Missouri, Bacharach grew up in New York...