Five-time Grammy winner Roberta Flack, known for her classic hits “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” died on Monday at the age of 88.
Publicist Elaine Schock said Flack passed away at her home in Manhattan surrounded by her family after a battle with ALS, a disease that affects nerve cells and muscle control. The news of her illness was made public in November 2022, when she already lost her ability to sing and speaking became difficult.
While Flack had moderate success playing jazz and cover songs, her real breakthrough came after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack during a romantic scene in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.”
The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.
Flack cemented her success in 1973 with her intimate and soulful rendition of Lori Lieberman’s song “Killing Me Softly,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.
That same year, Flack won the “Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group” award together with soul legend Donny Hathaway, a close friend and former university classmate, for their single “Where Is the Love.”
Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born on Feb. 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Born to a family of musicians, her love for music was nourished from an early age. She loved gospel as a child and was a talented piano player. At age 15, she received a full scholarship to Howard, the historically Black university, where she majored in music.
Jazz musician Les McCann discovered her in the late 1960s and helped sign her with Atlantic Records. He later said Flack’s “voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.”
Flack scored several hits in the 1970s and was preparing a second duo album with Hathaway in 1979. However, the partnership ended in tragedy. Hathaway suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.
“We were deeply connected creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) I’d had before or since.”
Flack’s popularity diminished in the 1980s as music styles changed. But a couple of successful collaborations with other artists had her returning to the charts—the 1983 duet “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” with Peabo Bryson, and 1991’s “Set the Night to Music” with British singer Maxi Priest.
The Fugees’ 1995 cover of “Killing Me Softly” rekindled interest in Flack’s work, and she performed the song onstage with the hip-hop group.
Flack was a favorite of artists like Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, and John Legend.
Flack was honored in 2018 with a Lifetime Achievement award from the Jazz Foundation of America and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2020.
“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told Songwriter Universe in 2020.
“Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”
In 2022, filmmaker Antonino D'Ambrosio released “Roberta,” a feature-length documentary about Flack’s life, featuring Clint Eastwood.
