Grammy-winning singer Roberta Flack dies at 88

Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose soulful voice and intimate style defined the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 88. She died at home, surrounded by family, her publicist confirmed. In 2022, Flack revealed she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which left her unable to sing.

Flack’s rise to stardom came unexpectedly in her early 30s, with Clint Eastwood’s 1971 sinema Play Misty for Me using her rendition of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” for a memorable love scene. The ballad topped the charts in 1972 and won a Grammy for Record of the Year. In 1973, she followed this success with “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for Best Record.

Discovered by jazz musician Les McCann in the late 1960s, Flack was praised for her emotive voice, which McCann said “touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known”.

Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Flack was a classically trained pianist who received a full scholarship to Howard University at just 15. She was a powerful figure both musically and socially, with deep ties to the civil rights movement. Her circle included figures like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, for whom Flack notably visited in prison. Flack also performed at Jackie Robinson’s funeral and contributed to the groundbreaking children’s project Free to Be…You and Me.

Flack’s other iconic hits from the 1970s included the smooth “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and two memorable duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate, Donny Hathaway: “Where Is the Love” and “The Closer I Get to You.” Their collaboration, however, ended in tragedy. In 1979, while working on a duet album, Hathaway suffered a breakdown during recording and tragically fell to his death from his Manhattan hotel room that same night.

“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.”