Roberta Flack's Life in Photos

Mar. 15, 2025

Roberta Flack in November 1969.Photo:Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty

Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty

Roberta Flack’s glorious voice will be missed.Per a press release, the Grammy-winning musician died on Monday, Feb. 24. No cause of death was revealed, though Flack was diagnosedwith amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, two and a half years ago.Since launching her music career in the ’60s, she has earned threeBillboardHot 100 No. 1 songs: “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Feel Like Makin' Love.” With “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever,” she became the first artist to win record of the year in consecutive years at theGrammys.As the music industry and her many generations of fans mourn the loss of the icon, we look back at her life and career in the photos below.

Roberta Flack’s glorious voice will be missed.

Per a press release, the Grammy-winning musician died on Monday, Feb. 24. No cause of death was revealed, though Flack was diagnosedwith amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, two and a half years ago.

Since launching her music career in the ’60s, she has earned threeBillboardHot 100 No. 1 songs: “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Feel Like Makin' Love.” With “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever,” she became the first artist to win record of the year in consecutive years at theGrammys.

As the music industry and her many generations of fans mourn the loss of the icon, we look back at her life and career in the photos below.

01of 08Roberta Flack’s ChildhoodMichael Ochs Archives/GettyRoberta Cleopatra Flack was born to Veterans Administration draftsman Laron and church organist Irene Flack on Feb. 10, 1937, in Farmville, North Carolina. She began playing the piano at age 9 and later attended Howard University at only 15 years old with a full music scholarship.

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Roberta Flack’s Childhood

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born to Veterans Administration draftsman Laron and church organist Irene Flack on Feb. 10, 1937, in Farmville, North Carolina. She began playing the piano at age 9 and later attended Howard University at only 15 years old with a full music scholarship.

02of 08Roberta Flack’s Early CareerRoberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.Courtesy AtlanticAfter jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann heard Flack play in a Washington, D.C., nightclub in 1968, he arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records. The following year, she recorded her debut studio albumFirst Take.

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Roberta Flack’s Early Career

Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.Courtesy Atlantic

Courtesy Atlantic

After jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann heard Flack play in a Washington, D.C., nightclub in 1968, he arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records. The following year, she recorded her debut studio albumFirst Take.

03of 08Roberta Flack Wins a GrammyCher, Roberta Flack and Andy Williams in March 1974.CBS via GettyAlthoughFirst Take didn’t find immediate commercial success,Clint Eastwoodheard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” two years later and featured it in his 1971 filmPlay Misty for Me. The recording’s prominent role in the film’s soundtrack catapulted it to No. 1 for six weeks on theBillboardHot 100.“The First Time Ever” won Flack her first Grammy in 1973 for record of the year.“Through the years, I’ve sung that song thousands of times, and it has taken on different stories in my life, [but] honestly, at the time it was recorded, I sang it about my cat who had just died,” Flack told PEOPLE of the song. “I loved that cat so much. That’s the story I was telling in the recording.”

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Roberta Flack Wins a Grammy

Cher, Roberta Flack and Andy Williams in March 1974.CBS via Getty

CBS via Getty

AlthoughFirst Take didn’t find immediate commercial success,Clint Eastwoodheard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” two years later and featured it in his 1971 filmPlay Misty for Me. The recording’s prominent role in the film’s soundtrack catapulted it to No. 1 for six weeks on theBillboardHot 100.

“The First Time Ever” won Flack her first Grammy in 1973 for record of the year.

“Through the years, I’ve sung that song thousands of times, and it has taken on different stories in my life, [but] honestly, at the time it was recorded, I sang it about my cat who had just died,” Flack told PEOPLE of the song. “I loved that cat so much. That’s the story I was telling in the recording.”

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Two More No. 1s

Roberta Flack in October 1975.Ann Limongello/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Ann Limongello/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Flack went on to earn two more No. 1 hits with a recording of “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Feel Like Makin' Love.” The former song won her another record of the year at the 1975 Grammys, making her the first artist to win the category in consecutive years.

05of 08Continued Success Through the ’80s and ‘90sRoberta Flack in March 1981.Paul Natkin/GettyShe continued to be a mainstay on music charts over the next two decades. In 1982, she had another top 20 hit with a rendition of Burt Bacharach’s “Making Love,” and the title track of her 1988 albumOasisreached No. 1 on the R&B chart.The ’90s saw Flack return to the top 10 with theDiane Warren-written “Set the Night to Music,” which she sang as a duet with reggae vocalist Maxi Priest.

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Continued Success Through the ’80s and ’90s

Roberta Flack in March 1981.Paul Natkin/Getty

Paul Natkin/Getty

She continued to be a mainstay on music charts over the next two decades. In 1982, she had another top 20 hit with a rendition of Burt Bacharach’s “Making Love,” and the title track of her 1988 albumOasisreached No. 1 on the R&B chart.

The ’90s saw Flack return to the top 10 with theDiane Warren-written “Set the Night to Music,” which she sang as a duet with reggae vocalist Maxi Priest.

06of 08Roberta Flack’s Last Recordings’Let It Be Roberta’.AmazonFlack released her final album in 2012, titledLet It Be Roberta, which consisted of 12Beatlescovers, including “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.““There’s a lot of great music in the world, and The Beatles are certainly responsible for a whole bunch of it,” Flack toldNPR. “I love the stories the songs tell. I love the simplicity — the fact that they’re so accessible. When I got ready to do this album, I had to smack my hand and say, ‘Keep going!’ I just got so involved.“The singer lived next toJohn LennonandYoko Onoin the New York City apartment building The Dakota, and she developed alasting friendshipwith the musicians and their son,Sean Ono Lennon.

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Roberta Flack’s Last Recordings

‘Let It Be Roberta’.Amazon

Amazon

Flack released her final album in 2012, titledLet It Be Roberta, which consisted of 12Beatlescovers, including “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.”

“There’s a lot of great music in the world, and The Beatles are certainly responsible for a whole bunch of it,” Flack toldNPR. “I love the stories the songs tell. I love the simplicity — the fact that they’re so accessible. When I got ready to do this album, I had to smack my hand and say, ‘Keep going!’ I just got so involved.”

The singer lived next toJohn LennonandYoko Onoin the New York City apartment building The Dakota, and she developed alasting friendshipwith the musicians and their son,Sean Ono Lennon.

07of 08Roberta Flack’s ALS DiagnosisRoberta Flack in 2017.Paul Zimmerman/WireImageIn 2022, a spokesperson for Flack confirmed to PEOPLE that the singer was diagnosed with ALS. A press release said that the illness had “made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.“However, the statement clarified that “it will take more than ALS to silence this icon” and Flack intended to “stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.““Her fortitude and joyful embrace of music that lifted her from modest circumstances to the international spotlight remain vibrant and inspired,” the press release concluded.

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Roberta Flack’s ALS Diagnosis

Roberta Flack in 2017.Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

In 2022, a spokesperson for Flack confirmed to PEOPLE that the singer was diagnosed with ALS. A press release said that the illness had “made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.”

However, the statement clarified that “it will take more than ALS to silence this icon” and Flack intended to “stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.”

“Her fortitude and joyful embrace of music that lifted her from modest circumstances to the international spotlight remain vibrant and inspired,” the press release concluded.

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Roberta Flack Dies at 88

Roberta Flack in January 2020.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

The Grammy-winning musician died on Feb. 24, 2025, two weeks after her 88th birthday.

source: people.com