Roberta Flack dead: Grammy-winning singer known for 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' dies aged 88
Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer known for “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” has died at the age of 88.
Her representative confirmed her death to Variety on Monday (February 24), saying: “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning. She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
Relatively unknown before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight sensation when Clint Eastwood featured "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in a pivotal love scene between him and Donna Mills in the 1971 film Play Misty for Me.
The intimate, hymn-like ballad, carried by Flack’s graceful soprano over soft strings and piano, soared to the top of the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and won a Grammy for Record of the Year. She repeated both feats in 1973 with "Killing Me Softly", making history as the first artist to win back-to-back Grammys for Record of the Year.
She was also a classically trained pianist who was discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later praised her voice for its emotional depth, saying, “Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” While she had the vocal power to match Aretha Franklin’s gospel intensity, Flack often took a more subtle and introspective approach to her music.
Beyond her musical success, Flack was friends with civil rights leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson and activist Angela Davis, whom she visited in prison while Davis was on trial (and later acquitted) for murder and kidnapping. She also performed at Jackie Robinson’s funeral, honoring the first Black player in Major League Baseball, and contributed to Marlo Thomas’ feminist children’s project, Free to Be ... You and Me.