DEPARTED GREAT ICONS: ROBERTA FLACK

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, February 10, 1937, Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA Arlington, Virginia.

Roberta Flack was raised in a musical and church-going family.

She started playing classical piano at a very young age and was recognized early on as a prodigy.

At age 15, she earned a music scholarship to Howard University, becoming one of the youngest students ever to enroll.

Initially trained as a classical pianist, she later shifted her focus to voice, teaching music and performing at clubs in Washington, D.C., after graduation.

It initially received modest attention until Clint Eastwood featured the song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me.

The song's popularity soared, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 and earning her the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Perhaps her most iconic song, it also won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1974.

The song showcased her quiet intensity, storytelling style, and emotional restraint, which set her apart from the more flamboyant soul singers of the era.

She had a celebrated partnership with singer Donny Hathaway, producing timeless duets like:

"Where Is the Love" (Grammy Award winner)

"The Closer I Get to You"

Their chemistry became legendary in soul and R&B music.

Roberta Flack blended soul, jazz, folk, and classical music into a signature sound that was intimate, cerebral, and emotionally rich.

Unlike many of her contemporaries, she often used quiet, nuanced vocals and relied on poignant storytelling rather than vocal power alone.

She influenced a wide range of artists and has been widely sampled and covered, including:

Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, whose 1996 version of “Killing Me Softly” introduced Flack’s work to a new generation.

Flack continued recording and touring into the 2000s.

She received multiple Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2022, her team announced she had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which led to her retirement from singing.

Roberta Flack is remembered not just as a singer but as a storyteller and an innovator who carved a space for soft, introspective soul music.

She brought dignity, intelligence, and emotional subtlety to popular music during a time when loudness and charisma often stole the show.

She remains one of the few artists to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year two years in a row — a testament to her enduring artistry and influence.

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