ONE of the world’s finest singer songwriters is heading to Bournemouth for a special show this summer.

Burt Bacharach plays the Pavilion on July 5 and celebrates half a century of hits.

As a teenager, he was composing songs, and by the late 1950s his songs were hitting the charts in perform-ances by artists from different segments of popular music. Perry Como had a hit with Magic Moments.

He wrote a number of country-rock classics for Gene Pitney and Marty Robbins. Soon afterwards, he estab-lished himself as one of the music industry’s top writer/ producers, working with singers like Chuck Jackson and, of course, Dionne Warwick.

Bacharach’s global aud-iences span several gener-ations, and he is viewed as the unique combination of one of the greatest composers of all time and the ultra-cool cult hero of the contemporary music set who often has several songs on various music charts in many countries simultaneously.

The show will see Bacharach perform some of his greatest and unforgettable 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.

This month will see Bacharach’s memoir Anyone Who Had a Heart, set to be published by Harper Collins. For the first time in his long and astonishing career, Bacharach is willing to tell his story of love, heartbreak, success, failure, and unbridled ambition in Anyone Who Had a Heart. Bacharach’s memoir is named after one of many songs Bacharach and Hal David wrote for Dionne Warwick.

“I am looking forward to being back in the UK in the summer. I will be performing some of my newer songs as well as my more familiar hits, with my terrific band and singers,” says Burt.