Legendary Singer and Composer Roberta Flack Dies at 88 After a Health Battle with ALS

Roberta Flack/Shutterstock

Grammy-Award Winning singer, composer, and pianist Roberta Flack has passed away at 88. According to her media team, the legendary singer died at home with family after battling ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease.

Roberta influenced many R&B and hip-hop artists. Throughout her career, she won five Grammy Awards and had many hit songs, especially "Killing Me Softly With His Song." Her music was sampled across multiple genres.

Flack caught the attention of actor and director Clint Eastwood during the '70s, who used her song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for the soundtrack of his film Play Misty for Me. Her song topped the Billboard charts, and the songstress received three Grammys for that song and its album.

"Killing Me Softly With His Song" received more musical acclaim when Lauryn Hill remade the song with The Fugees on their 1996 album, The Score. The group performed the song live with Flack in 1996.

Roberta & Donny

Flack has memorable collaborations— she recorded a chart-topping duet with Peabo Bryson. She performed two songs with her friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You." Donny unexpectedly died in 1979 while they were working on their joint album—fans were devastated.  

In 2022, the songstress told Vibe about her great musical partnership with Donny: "We were deeply connected creatively. He could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike anything I'd had before or since."

Several Civil Rights activists highly revered Flack, during the '60s and '70s. She reportedly befriended political activist and scholar Angela Davis.

It deeply saddened her fans and fellow artists when she was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's and announced that she could no longer perform. She told Song Writer's Universe about her strong affinity to music; she explained, "I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it's our language." She continued, "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."

Social media tributes have overflown since Flack's death was announced on Monday.

Well done, Roberta. Your talents will be missed.

To subscribe to Volume 82, click the link. To follow our Instagram, click here; for TikTok, click here!