'Killing Me Softly With His Song' Singer Roberta Flack Passes Away, Aged 88

Roberta Flack, the American R&B singer-songwriter and classical pianist best known for her hit single, Killing Me Softly With His Song, passed away on Monday (24 February) at the age of 88.

While initial reports said that Flack passed away peacefully surrounded by her family, her manager, Suzanne Koga, stated to The New York Times that she died from cardiac arrest on her way to the hospital in Manhattan.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning,” her representative said in a statement (per The Hollywood Reporter). “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

In 2016, Flack suffered a stroke and retired from performing two years later. In 2022, it was reported that she was diagnosed with ALS and could no longer sing.

Roberta Flack made history when she became the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years, with First Time Ever I Saw Your Face in 1973 and Killing Me Softly With His Song in 1974. Both songs went to #1 in the US, as did Feel Like Makin’ Love.

U2 repeated the feat in 2001 and 2002, followed by Billie Eilish in 2020 and 2021.

In 2020, Flack received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Flack belatedly found fame when her song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, was used in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 directorial debut, Play Misty For Me.

A feature-length documentary about the singer, Roberta, made its debut at the DOC NYC Film Festival in November 2022. In 2023, a children’s book Flack co-wrote, The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music, was released.

Throughout her career, Flack was a pioneer of R&B music who interpreted songs by Leonard Cohen and The Beatles in her songs. She released 15 albums, with her final album, Let It Be Roberta, a collection of Beatles covers, released in 2012.