‘One of the Greats’: ‘Killing Me Softly’ Singer Roberta Flack Passes Away Years After ALS Diagnosis Which ‘Made It Impossible to Sing and Not Easy to Speak’
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Singer Roberta Flack, best known for her hits “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” has died on Monday, Feb. 24. She was 88.
The four-time Grammy award-winning artist, who had been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for three years, died in Manhattan on the way to hospital, according to The New York Times. Her manager Suzanne Koga reportedly told the outlet Flack’s cause of death was cardiac arrest.
A statement about her death shared with ABC News reads, “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025. She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
Her passing arrives just three years after she retired due to her progressive illness that had “made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak,” according to a CNN report.
Her musical abilities were inherited by her family. Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina but raised in Arlington, Virginia, Flack grew up in a household with a mother who played the organ at church and a father who was a self-taught jazz pianist.
She learned to play piano herself and even went to Howard University on a scholarship to study piano at age 15. But following her father’s death in 1959, she moved back to North Carolina and became a music teacher for about a decade.
In a 1975 interview she did in Adelaide, South Australia, Flack said that teaching wasn’t a “waste” but it was “not music.” She said, “The transition from the classroom to the stage was a very easy, smooth one for me personally. I didn’t leave the classroom with stacks of records and demo tapes in hand to knock on doors. I rather think that the facility was a direct result of my being prepared.”
Flack began to get more notoriety for her singing after she left teaching and began singing at a nightclub on Capitol Hill called Mr. Henry’s. One day, jazz pianist Les McCann attended the club when Flack was performing and later told Atlantic Records about her. In 1968, she was signed by the label.
She catapulted to fame after Clint Eastwood used her version of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” in his 1971 directorial debut film “Play Misty For Me.” The song was initially on Flack’s 1969 debut LP “First Take,” but after the film it was released as a single and earned her her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Where is the love?
You said, was mine, all mine
‘Til the end of time
Was it just a lie?
Where is the love?—
⋆
𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑵𝒊𝒌𝒌𝒊
Flack was awarded a Record of the Year Grammy for the hit in 1973, the same year she and Donny Hathaway were awarded the Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for their single “Where Is the Love.”
But her winning streak was not quite over. She released “Killing Me Softly” — which was famously covered by Lauryn Hill and The Fugees in 1996 — and it won her Record of the Year again at the 1974 Grammys.
roberta flack was the FIRST artist to win record of the year consecutively at the grammy’s.
pic.twitter.com/YN4ygvYe4n
— . (@thetrillgent) February 24, 2025
Flack scored another No. 1 single in 1974 with “Feel Like Making Love.” Among other songs she charted with like “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Where Is the Love,” she got her next big win in 1978 after releasing “The Closer I Get To You” with Hathaway. The song spent two weeks at the No. 1 spot on the Hot Soul charts.
Despite continuing to release music, Flack’s fame began to wane in the 1980s. And in November 2022, it was announced that the singer was diagnosed with ALS and could no longer sing. This occurred months after she was given the key to New York City at the 20th annual St. Albans Jazz Festival in Queens.
She leaves no immediate survivors.
On Variety’s tribute to her on Instagram, fans celebrated her in the comments.
“May her soul be at peace. She was one of the greats, a legend,” said one.
Another said, “Her music will forever be timeless.”
And a third wrote, “First Take was a pivotal album in my life. She’ll always hold a special place in my heart. RIP Ms. Flack.”
Flack was not married at the time of her passing and has no children. She was previously married to Steve Novosel, from 1966 until their divorce in 1972.
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