Roberta Flack, the esteemed Grammy Award-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal deliveries and musical prowess cemented her status as a leading recording artist of the 1970s and continued to exert a profound influence well beyond that decade, passed away peacefully at her home on Monday, surrounded by her cherished family. She was 88 years old. According to a statement from her publicist, Elaine Schock, Flack's journey ended as she desired, amid the warmth and love of her kin. In 2022, Flack bravely revealed her battle with ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, announcing that it had robbed her of the ability to sing.
Prior to her meteoric rise to fame in her early thirties, Flack was relatively unknown. However, her star shone brightly overnight when Clint Eastwood chose her haunting ballad "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" as the soundtrack for one of cinema's most unforgettable and poignant love scenes, featuring Eastwood and Donna Mills in his 1971 film "Play Misty for Me." This hushed, hymn-like tune, with Flack's ethereal soprano floating effortlessly over a bed of gentle strings and piano, soared to the top of the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and garnered her a Grammy for Record of the Year. Recalling the experience in 2018, Flack told The Associated Press, "The record label suggested re-recording it with a faster tempo, but Eastwood insisted on keeping it just as it was. With the song serving as the theme for his movie, it gained immense popularity and took flight."
In 1973, Flack repeated her success with "Killing Me Softly With His Song," becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for Best Record. A classically trained pianist of exceptional talent, she earned a full scholarship to Howard University, a historically Black institution, at the tender age of 15. Discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later penned that "her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known," Flack possessed a versatility that allowed her to evoke the upbeat gospel fervor of Aretha Franklin. Yet, she favored a more deliberate and contemplative approach, meticulously curating each song, word by precious word.
To Flack's myriad admirers, she was a sophisticated and daring new voice in the music world and a pivotal figure in the social and civil rights movements of her time. Her circle of friends included influential figures such as Reverend Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison during Davis's trial for murder and kidnapping—charges for which she was ultimately acquitted. Flack lent her voice to the funeral of Jackie Robinson, major league baseball's first Black player, and participated as a guest performer in Marlo Thomas's feminist children's entertainment project, "Free to Be... You and Me."
In the 1970s, Flack's musical repertoire flourished with hits like the heartwarming "Feel Like Makin' Love," as well as duets with her dear friend and former Howard University classmate, Donny Hathaway – "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You." This collaboration, however, was marred by tragedy. During the recording sessions for their album of duets in 1979, Hathaway suffered a mental breakdown and tragically fell to his death from his Manhattan hotel room later that night. Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the million-selling "Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway" album in 2022, Flack told Vibe, "We were intricately linked creatively. He was a jack-of-all-trades, capable of playing and singing anything. Our musical rapport was unparalleled, unlike anything I had experienced before or since."
Although she never replicated the initial wave of success, Flack did achieve hit status in the 1980s with "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," a duet with Peabo Bryson, and in the 1990s with "Set the Night to Music," a collaboration with Maxi Priest. In the mid-90s, Flack garnered renewed attention when the Fugees recorded a Grammy-award-winning cover of "Killing Me Softly," which she eventually performed live with the hip-hop trio. Throughout her career, she amassed five Grammy Awards (three for "Killing Me Softly"), received eight additional nominations, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2020, with tributes from artists like John Legend and Ariana Grande.
"I cherish the connection with fellow artists because we comprehend music, we breathe music; it's our universal language," Flack shared with songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. "Through music, we grasp our thoughts and emotions. No matter life's challenges, I find solace at my piano, on stage, with my band, in the studio, immersed in music. Music guides me."
In 2022, Beyoncé recognized Flack alongside Franklin and Diana Ross in the Grammy-nominated "Queens Remix" of "Break My Soul," elevating her status within the musical pantheon.
Flack's personal life included a brief marriage to Stephen Novosel, an interracial union that strained relations with both their families. She also had a son, singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For many years, she resided in Manhattan's Dakota apartment building, sharing a floor with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became close friends and contributed liner notes to Flack's album of Beatles covers titled "Let It Be Roberta." Dedicating substantial time to the Roberta Flack School of Music in New York, which primarily serves students aged 6 to 14, Flack has made a lasting impact on future generations.
Born to musicians in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Roberta Cleopatra Flack embarked on her journey after graduating from Howard University. In her 20s, she taught music in Washington D.C.-area junior high schools while moonlighting in clubs. Occasionally backing other singers, her performances at Washington's esteemed Mr. Henry's club attracted celebrities such as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis, and Johnny Mathis. The club's owner, Henry Yaffe, transformed an apartment above into a private studio aptly named the Roberta Flack Room.
"I aspired to be a successful, well-rounded musician," she confessed to The Telegraph in 2015. "I was influenced by Aretha, the Drifters, among others, trying to emulate their style while playing and teaching."
Signed to Atlantic Records, Flack's debut album, "First Take," a harmonious blend of gospel, soul, flamenco, and jazz, was released in 1969. One of its tracks was "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," an English folk love song penned by Ewan MacColl in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack was not only familiar with the ballad but had also used it during her teaching days with a glee club. "I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C., in an area where children weren't as privileged, yet fortunate enough to have music education," she recounted to the Tampa Bay Times in 2012. "To engage them, I'd start by singing a Supremes hit, 'Stop, in the name of love.' Once I had their attention, I could teach them! 'You have to be creative when dealing with inner-city kids,' she added. 'I knew they'd love the line, 'The first time ever I kissed your mouth.' The kids giggled, but soon we were on a roll."
