Roberta Flack, the Legendary Grammy-Successful Artist Behind “Killing Me Softly With His Music,” Has Handed Away at 88. The Information of Her Dying Was Confirmed by Her Publicist, Although the Trigger Was Not Disclosed.
Flack, who had been battling ALS (Lou Gehrig’s illness) since 2022, had tragically misplaced her means to sing in recent times. She handed away peacefully, surrounded by her family members, in response to the assertion.
Roberta Flack, born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, on February 10, 1937, grew up surrounded by music.
Her chart-topping hits like “Killing Me Softly With His Music” and “The First Time I Ever Noticed Your Face” stay iconic tracks in music historical past.
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Roberta Flack’s rise to fame got here after Clint Eastwood featured her romantic ballad “The First Time I Ever Noticed Your Face” in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me.
The music earned her the Grammy for File of the 12 months in 1972, an honor she repeated the next yr for “Killing Me Softly.” Roberta Flack turned the primary artist to win this prestigious Grammy award two years in a row.
Flack’s affect prolonged far past music. A outstanding determine within the civil rights motion, she used her platform to make a distinction and was buddies with Reverend Jesse Jackson and activist Angela Davis.
She additionally carried out on the funeral of Jackie Robinson, the primary Black Main League Baseball participant, marking her as an necessary determine not simply in music, but additionally within the social actions of her time.
Her legacy was cemented in 2020 when she obtained the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Even in her later years, Roberta Flack continued to encourage by means of her music, together with her traditional “Killing Me Softly” gaining a second life when remixed by The Fugees in 1996, bringing her work to a brand new technology.
Her impression on music, tradition, and activism will proceed to resonate for years to return.