Roberta Flack, the grammy-winning musical artist known for such hits as “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, and her duo offerings performed with Donny Hathaway (“Where is the Love,” and “The Closer I Get to You”), died this past Monday. She was 88 years old.
Flack died at home surrounded by her family.
Flack became an overnight success after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for his love scene with Donna Mills in the 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The ballad topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year. In 1973, she repeated her achievements with “Killing Me Softly,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.
Flack was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” In 2022 Flack announced she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. All told, Flack won five Grammys (three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.
“I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. 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.”
In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross (among others) in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.”
