Back to Bach, Burt jets in

The incredible songwriter has announced six dates for 2014, starting with two at London’s Royal Festival Hall on July 23/26, with the tour then moving to the Birmingham Symphony Hall on July 28, Edinburgh Playhouse on July 30, Manchester Bridgewater Hall on August 1, and ending with a show at the Liverpool Empire on August 3.

He started composing songs as a teenager, Perry Como having a hit with Magic Moments. He then wrote a number of country‑rock classics for Gene Pitney and Marty Robbins.

But he established himself as one of world’s top writer/producers, working with singers like Chuck Jackson and Dionne Warwick.

Bacharach will perform some of his greatest hits, including The Look Of Love, I Say A Little Prayer, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head and (They Long To Be) Close To You – songs made famous by legendary singers, such as Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.

Winner of three Oscars and eight Grammys (including a 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award and 1997 Trustees Award with longtime collaborator Hal David), Bacharach revolutionised the music of the 50s and 60s and is regularly bracketed with legendary names, from Cole Porter to Sir George Martin, as one of a handful of visionaries who pioneered new forms of music from the second half of the 20th century.

Bacharach and David were recipients of the 2012 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, previously awarded to Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Bacharach plays the Liverpool Empire Theatre on August 3. Tickets: £34.50.