Roberta Flack: can Killing Me Softly star sing with ALS, what is Motor Neurone disease and how old is she now?

Roberta Flack’s manager has announced that the singer has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig‘s disease.

In a statement released on Monday (14 November), Suzanne Koga shared that the progressive disease had “made it impossible” for the singer “to sing” and it was “not easy to speak.”

The Grammy Award winning artist is best known for her hit singles including “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.

The news comes just before the premiere of “Roberta”, a feature-length documentary directed by Antonino D’Ambrosio screens at the DOC NYC film festival.

So what is ALS and what has Roberta Flack’s manager said about her condition? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is Roberta Flack?

Roberta Cleopatra Flack is an American jazz, folk and soul singer, who is best known for her hit singles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, and “Where Is the Love”.

Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, she shot to fame in the 1970s after being discovered in a jazz nightclub in Washington D.C. and became the first singer to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, two years running. In 1999, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to music.

Flack last performed on stage in 2017, singing a duet with Valerie Simpson at New York City’s Lincoln Center.

How old is she now?

Flack was born on 10 February 1937, making her 85-years-old.

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is the most common form of Motor Neurone Disease (MND). In the UK, we use MND as an umbrella term to cover all types of the disease, whilst in America, they use the names ALS or Lou Gehrig‘s disease.

A neurodegenerative disease, ALS causes messages from the brain to gradually stop being able to reach your muscles. This causes them to stiffen, weaken and waste and can impact things like how you walk, talk, eat or even breathe.

Symptoms progress at different rates, with it impacting everyone differently. There is no cure for MND, it is a progressive condition that is life-shortening.

The MND Association estimates that there are 5,000 people in the UK living with a form of the disease, with a further 1 in 300 at risk of developing it.

Can Roberta Flack still sing?

In a statement on Monday (14 November), Flack’s manager, Koga, announced the singer had ALS, also known as MND in the UK, and had lost the ability to longer sing.

Koga explained the progressive disease “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak”. Adding: “But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.”

In 2016, Flack had a stroke, but had been keen to get back on the stage. In 2018 she gave a private performance at the Jazz Foundation of America’s annual loft party. In an interview with the Associated Press about the event, she spoke about her excitement.

Flack said: “I am very excited about the event, to sing, and to perform. I’m just hoping that I can find the right song.”

She added: “I could sing any number of songs that I’ve recorded through the years, easily, I could sing them, but I’m going to pick those songs that move me. Now that’s hard to do. To be moved, to be moved constantly by your own songs.”