by Mick the Ram

Roberta Flack the R&B singer who shot to fame in the 1970’s has died at the age of 88 in Manhattan.

In recent years she had faced various health challenges, including the stroke she suffered in 2016, and then in 2022 it was revealed that the legendary singer had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Her intimate vocal and musical style made Roberta one of the top recordings artists of her time and she continued to be an influential performer long after.

It was her recording of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” which was used to soundtrack an explicit love scene in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 film: Play Misty For Me which really set her on her way and it was subsequently named song of the year at the Grammys.

She followed that up by winning the award a second time a year later with “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and that track was introduced to a new generation of music fans when Lauryn Hill’s hip-hop group The Fugees recorded a cover of it which topped charts all around the world in 1996.

Family statement

In a statement from her representatives it was revealed that she died peacefully surrounded by her family. “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025, Roberta broke boundaries and records and was also a proud educator.”

Although unconfirmed, it has been reported that the singer died on her way to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Classical pianist

She was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina to a musical family and raised in Arlington, Virginia.

She initially went down the classical music route and she gained a full school scholarship to Howard University aged just 15 as a classical pianist. She started accompanying opera singers on piano, singing pop standards during study breaks.

World record holder

Her recording career started 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.”

After her Grammy-winning tracks she topping the charts again in 1974 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, but soon after the star decided to take a break from performing to concentrate on recording and charitable causes.

The much-loved singer also holds a Guinness World Record for winning those back-to-back Grammy Awards, sharing the honour with U2 and Billie Eilish.

Loss of that “soulful” voice

She was once quoted as saying “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, because 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.”

When she received her diagnosis of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neurone disease, MND, her manager Suzanne Koga explained that the condition – which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord – had made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak either.

Validation

In 2020, a year after suffering a stroke, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys, which she called “a tremendous and overwhelming honour”, before adding: “I’ve tried my entire career to tell stories through my music so this award is a validation to me that my peers heard my thoughts and took in what I have tried to give.”

At home with the music

Overall, she won five Grammys and was nominated eight other times, but she always said: “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.”