Dionne Warwick paid tribute Thursday to late composer Burt Bacharach, the essential musician behind her signature hits “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.”
“Burt’s transition is like losing a family member,” the legendary 82-year-old singer said Thursday in a statement to The Times. “These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner.”
Bacharach, who died Wednesday at age 94, worked closely with Warwick and late lyricist Hal David on a string of impeccable singles, beginning with “Don’t Make Me Over” in late 1962.
Warwick was only a backup singer when the songwriting partners initially enlisted her on their demo records. She went on to score hits with complicated and effervescent songs such as “Walk on By,” “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart),” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Alfie,” “Promises, Promises,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Message to Michael” and “Trains and Boats and Planes.”
“On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run ins but always found a way to let each other know our family like roots were the most important part of our relationship,” Warwick said. “My heartfelt condolences go out to his family letting them know he is now peacefully resting and I too will miss him.”
Bacharach previously said the trio he comprised with Warwick and David was “lucky.”
“It was a case of all the right people in the right place at the right time. Hal and I found the perfect partnership, and Dionne was the perfect voice for our songs,” he said in a 1987 interview with the Chicago Tribune.
In a 2021 interview with The Times, Warwick said that she and Bacharach became friendly again after fighting over music and a lawsuit over a contract dispute.
“We fell out, we fell back in,” she said at the time. “Burt and I are more family than friends.”
Warwick, who has become something of a Twitter maven, is the subject of the HBO Max documentary “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over.”
Earlier this week, Warwick and beloved country star Dolly Parton released the gospel duet “Peace Like a River.”