The music world is mourning the loss of Roberta Flack, the legendary Grammy-winning singer whose timeless ballads like Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face defined an era of soul and romance. Flack passed away on Monday at her home, surrounded by her family, her publicist Elaine Schock confirmed to CNN. She was 88.
Flack’s death followed years of health struggles, including a 2022 diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The progressive condition had robbed her of her ability to sing, but her legacy as one of the most influential voices of her generation remains untarnished. Over her illustrious career, Flack earned 14 Grammy nominations, won five awards, and was honored with a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020.
Questlove, drummer for The Roots and a longtime admirer of Flack, paid tribute to her on social media, posting a throwback photo with the caption: “Thank You Roberta Flack. Rest In Melody.”
Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Flack’s musical journey began early. She started piano lessons at age 9 and earned a scholarship to Howard University, where she graduated with a degree in music education. Though she initially aspired to be a classical pianist, she faced barriers as a Black woman in the genre.
“One of the hassles of being a Black female musician is that people are always backing you into a corner and telling you to sing soul,” Flack once told TIME. “I’m a serious artist. I feel a kinship with people like Arthur Rubinstein and Glenn Gould. If I can’t play Bartok when I want to play Bartok, then nothing else matters.”
Encouraged by a voice teacher to explore pop music, Flack began performing in Washington, D.C., clubs, where she was discovered by jazz musician Les McCann. Her audition for Atlantic Records became the stuff of legend, as she reportedly played over 40 songs in three hours. “I was so anxious and so happy, and I still am,” she later told Philadelphia Weekly. “But it was all a brand-new experience, and I probably sang too many songs.”
Her debut album, First Take, released in 1969, included her haunting rendition of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The song became a global sensation after Clint Eastwood featured it in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me, spending six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning Record of the Year at the 1973 Grammys.
Flack’s career continued to soar with hits like Killing Me Softly With His Song, which earned her two more Grammys in 1974, and her collaborations with Donny Hathaway, including their Grammy-winning duet Where Is the Love. She also broke barriers by producing her own music under the pseudonym Rubina Flake, a bold move in a male-dominated industry.
While Flack was best known for her romantic ballads, she never shied away from addressing social issues. Songs like Tryin’ Times and Compared to What tackled racial injustice and economic inequality, while her rendition of Ballad of the Sad Young Men subtly acknowledged the struggles of the LGBTQ community.
“I’m deeply saddened that many of the songs I recorded 50 years ago about civil rights, equal rights, poverty, hunger, and suffering in our society are still relevant in 2020,” Flack told AARP that year. “They speak to the growing economic disparities, to Black Lives Matter, to police brutality, to activism versus apathy, and the need for each of us to see it and address it.”
Reverend Jesse Jackson once described Flack as “socially relevant and politically unafraid,” a testament to her enduring commitment to justice and equality.
As the world remembers Roberta Flack, her music and activism continue to resonate, proving that her voice—both literal and metaphorical—will never be silenced. Rest in melody, Roberta.
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