Roberta Flack, singer of 'Killing me softly with his song', dies

BarcelonaAmerican singer Roberta Flack, one of the great voices of R&B, soul and jazz, died on Monday at the age of 88 in New York, her representative has informed media such as Variety. "We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025," the statement said, adding: "She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records."

One of the milestones achieved by Roberta Flack was becoming the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Recording of the Year two years in a row: in 1973 for the song The first time ever I saw your face, an extraordinary version of the Ewan MacColl folk song, and in 1974 by Killing me softly with his song, a song by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel that Roberta Flack made immortal.

Born on February 10, 1937 in Black Mountain (North Carolina), Roberta Flack is an example of an artist forged over a slow fire. A pianist before being a vocalist, for a time she accompanied lyrical singers. In some of these recitals she took advantage of the breaks to sing jazz and rhythm'n'blues standards that would end up modulating a very characteristic phrasing, nocturnal and moving at the same time. It is the style that she spread especially in the early seventies, in tune with other soul and rhythm'n'blues voices such as Dionne Warwick and Bill Withers, and which would later influence vocalists such as Luther Vandross and Sade: somewhere between velvet and silk, but with a lot of depth.

When jazz pianist Las McCann heard Roberta Flack sing, he advised the Atlantic record company to sign her. It was entering the music industry through one of the big doors, but the first album, First take (1969), did not have the repercussion it deserved. At least, it did not get it right away... One of the star songs on that album was the version of The first time ever I saw your face, which Flack sang slowing down the rhythm and filling the spaces left by the double bass with mystery and sadness. Clint Eastwood used it in the film Play misty for me (released in the United States in late 1971) and Roberta Flack's life changed.

Just before that he had released his second album, Chapter two (1970), in which he brought songs like Just like a woman, by Bob Dylan, and Let it be me, the Everly Brothers' adaptation of Gilbert Bécaud's song into English. As she had done on the first album, Roberta Black imbues the performance with nocturnal sweetness, with the double bass and piano as essential accompaniments. She didn't stir up emotional havoc like Nina Simone, but with only two albums she was consolidating a style. On the third album, Quiet fire (1971), continued to offer notable versions, of Bridge over troubled water by Simon & Garfunkel, To love somebody of the Bee Gees and Will you love me tomorrow, the Gerry Goffin and Carole King composition that had been made popular by the Shirelles.

There was a risk of being overshadowed by the original songs, but Roberta Flack had already achieved a good place among the soul stars, and in March 1971 she traveled to Ghana to participate in a concert to celebrate the African country's independence day. She shared the stage with Wilson Pickett, Ike & Tina Turner McCann & Eddie Harris, Staple Singers Santana and Voices of East Harlem.

A few months later the success of The first time ever I saw your face reaffirmed Roberta Flack's way of singing, which became a reference and model to imitate when she published the album Killing me softly (1973), preceded by the North Carolina singer's most popular song: Killing me softly with his songFlack set the tone for her interpretation, a path that most of the singers who have covered it later could not avoid. The following year she achieved another number one with Feel like making love, a beautiful synthesis of soul and jazz with a very elegant percussion arrangement; it is surely the interpretation of Roberta Flack that most projects itself in the way of singing of later artists such as Sade.

This period, in the seventies, was the glorious era of Roberta Flack, culminating with a second album shared with Donny Hathaway in 1980, which included two covers of Stevie Wonder (who also collaborated as a keyboard player and backing vocalist). Consolidated as a star, she continued to deploy a discography with key achievements such as the single Making love (a composition by Burt Bacharach). In the 21st century one of Roberta Flack's most notable works was the album Let it be Roberta (2012), which brought together magnificent versions of the Beatles.