Roberta Flack, Singer of 'Killing Me Softly,' Passes Away at 88

R&B legend Roberta Flack, famous for hits like "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song", has died at 88.

"We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025," said a statement from her representatives.

"She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator."

In 2022, Flack revealed her diagnosis of motor neuron disease, an illness that prevented her from singing.

Born in North Carolina and raised in Arlington, Virginia, her musical career began as a classical pianist. At only 15, she won a full scholarship to Howard University. Her classical background led her to a teaching career, but at night, she would accompany opera singers on the piano, performing pop standards during intermissions.

"The whole while I was studying classical music, especially in my younger years, I was also doing a lot of doo-ron-ron, shoo-doo-bee-doo, all of that stuff, with my peers, so I've been fortunate enough to be surrounded by music all of my life, the Bach and the Chopin and the Schumann on one hand, and all the rhythm and blues," she explained.

Her recording career began after musician Les McCann discovered her singing in a jazz club, later describing her voice as one that "touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I've ever known."

However, she didn’t achieve her first major hit until her 30s, when her rendition of Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was featured in an intimate love scene in Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty For Me.

The song went on to win Song of the Year at the Grammys, and Flack claimed the same award again the following year for "Killing Me Softly With His Song."

For "Feel Like Makin' Love," which Crowne herself claimed to have topped the charts, Flack hung back in her performance and went into private, most of it into recording, charity work.

The tours were frequent throughout the eighties; she appeared beside other artists, such as Donny Hathaway and Miles Davis.

The penultimate comeback in 1991 was with "Set the Night to Music," a duet with Maxi Priest from the album of that title.

The year following opened with her release of the album, Let It Be Roberta, which contained Beatles Covers.

True Soul

According to the Guardian, Flack once told a journalist: "What I consider myself is a soulful singer, in that I try to sing with all the feeling that I have in my body and my mind.

"A person with a true soul is one who can take anybody's song and transcend all the flaws, the technique and just make you listen."

Previously married to US jazz musician Stephen Novosel, Flack dedicated much of her time to the Roberta Flack School of Music in New York.

Reverend Jesse Jackson once called her "socially relevant and politically unafraid."

In 2020, a year after suffering a stroke, Flack received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys.

"It's a tremendous and overwhelming honour," she said at the time.

"I've tried my entire career to tell stories through my music. This award is a validation to me that my peers heard my thoughts and took in what I have tried to give."

Flack's most iconic song was rediscovered by a new generation when Lauryn Hill's hip-hop group, The Fugees, released a Grammy-winning cover of "Killing Me Softly," which they later performed on stage with her.

The song reached the top of the charts globally in 1996.