Roberta Flack, the celebrated R&B singer best known for her iconic hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” has passed away at the age of 88.
According to a statement sent by her management, “We are devastated that the wonderful Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025.” “With her family by her side, she passed away quietly. Roberta violated records and bounds. She was a proud teacher as well.
Flack had previously disclosed her diagnosis of motor neurone disease in 2022, which had ended her singing career.
Born in North Carolina and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Flack began her musical journey as a classical pianist. She earned a full scholarship to Howard University at the young age of 15.
While classically trained, Flack also developed a passion for popular music. She balanced her classical studies with singing pop standards during breaks while accompanying opera singers on piano.
“The whole while I was studying classical music, especially in my younger years, I was also doing a lot of doo-ron-ron, shoo-doo-bee-doo, all of that stuff, with my peers, so I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by music all of my life, the Bach and the Chopin and the Schumann on one hand, and all the rhythm and blues,” she once explained.
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Early Career Of Roberta Flack
Her recording career began after she was discovered singing in a jazz club by musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known”.
However, her first hit did not come until her 30s, when her recording of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was used in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 film Play Misty For Me. The song went on to be named song of the year at the Grammys. Flack won the award again the following year for “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”
After topping the charts again in 1974 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” Flack took a break from performing to focus on recording and charitable work.
She toured extensively throughout the 1980s and collaborated with artists such as Donny Hathaway and Miles Davis.
In 1991, she returned to the charts with a duet with Maxi Priest called “Set the Night to Music” (from the album of the same name). She also released an album of Beatles covers titled Let It Be Roberta in 2012.
Flack once told a journalist: “What I consider myself is a soulful singer, in that I try to sing with all the feeling that I have in my body and my mind. A person with true soul is one who can take anybody’s song and transcend all the flaws, the technique and just make you listen.”
Marriage And Sickness
Flack, who was once married to US jazz musician Stephen Novosel, dedicated significant time to the Roberta Flack School of Music in New York.
Reverend Jesse Jackson described her as “socially relevant and politically unafraid.”
In 2020, a year after suffering a stroke, Flack received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys. “It’s a tremendous and overwhelming honour,” she said at the time. “I’ve tried my entire career to tell stories through my music. This award is a validation to me that my peers heard my thoughts and took in what I have tried to give.”
Flack’s most famous song was introduced to a new generation of music fans when Lauryn Hill’s hip-hop group The Fugees recorded a Grammy-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly,” which they eventually performed on stage alongside her. The Fugees’ version topped the charts around the world in 1996.
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