Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist, has died.
Flack, whose personal vocal and musical technique on “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” and other singles elevated her to the ranks of the 1970s’ finest recording artists, died on Monday.
CBS reported that the legendary musician died at the age of 88.
A statement by her publicist said: “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.”
A cause of death was not disclosed but Flack had been battling ALS since 2022.
Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born on February 10th, 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and was raised in Arlington, Virginia.
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Her mother was a church organist, and a young Roberta began singing with churches of different denominations — including the historic Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church — just to enjoy their music. She began playing piano at age nine, and by her teenage years, she was so good that Howard University awarded her a full music scholarship.
Flack graduated from Howard at 19 and began teaching music in the Washington, D.C. area.
She began singing in clubs on weekends and evenings, accompanying opera singers on piano and singing blues, folk, and pop standards to herself in the back room during intermissions.
Under the advisement of her voice teacher, Frederick “Wilkie” Wilkerson, Flack began singing more pop music than classics, and in 1968, she began singing at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant on Capitol Hill.
