Walk On By is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick in 1963. Warwick’s recording for the album Make Way for Dionne Warwick was released as a single on April 26, 1964 - the track blends pop and R&B with soul, lounge and light bossa nova influences. The original was produced by Bacharach and David and recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York, and it peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Cash Box’s R&B chart, later becoming a staple of Warwick’s international hits. In 1998 Warwick’s 1964 version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song has been widely covered across decades, including Isaac Hayes’s twelve minute funk version on Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Gabrielle’s UK top 10 rendition (1997), with other versions by Gloria Gaynor, The Stranglers, Sybil and more. Doja Cat sampled Warwick’s recording in 2023 on Paint the Town Red, which topped the Hot 100 and marked a rare chart comeback for Warwick.
