Killing Me Softly singer Roberta Flack dies

Soul has lost one of its greats as singer Roberta Flack, best known for her no.1 hit Killing Me Softly, has died aged 88 on Monday.

Elaine Schock, Flack’s representative, issued a statement confirming the singer’s death from cardiac arrest. “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away,” it read. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

Flack was a classically trained pianist who successfully made the transition to pop. “I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” she told The Telegraph during a 2015 interview. Her musical style, noted for a softer delivery as heard on singles such as Feel Like Makin’ Love, received critical recognition in the form of four Grammy awards and enjoyed widespread airplay on the radio.

Roberta Flack’s early life and musical career

Born in Black Mountain in North California in 1937, Flack was brought up by musical parents, her mother was a church choir organ player. By the age of 15 she was an accomplished piano player and was accepted to study music on a scholarship at Howard University.

Following this she became a teacher, and spent seven years in Washington schools, whilst her popularity at evening performances in nightclubs and restaurants eventually led to her signing to Atlantic Records in 1968. Clint Eastwood’s inclusion of her recording of the folk ballad The First Time Ever I saw Your Face in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me was critical in launching her career to new heights. It became her first major hit, and spent six weeks at the top of the US singles chart. This success was matched by her famed recording of Killing Me Softly.

Flack awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020

As well as a performer, Flack’s interest in education continued. She devoted much time to the Roberta Flack School of Music in New York, attended by students aged between six and fourteen. Following the high points of her musical career, she also hosted a weekly music and chat radio show during the 1990s. She married the bassist Steven Novosel in 1966, this and a second marriage ended in divorce.

Towards the end of her life, in 2020, Flack received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. “It was overwhelming and breathtaking to be there,” she said of receiving the award. “When I met those artists and so many others in person and heard from them that they were inspired by my music, I felt understood.”