The ‘Killing Me Softly’ legend was 88 years old.
She was 88 years old.
She died peacefully surrounded by her family.
Flack in 1971.Credit:Anthony Barboza / Getty Images
Roberta broke boundaries and records.
She was also a proud educator.
Flack was born in 1937 inBlack Mountain, North Carolina, to parents Irene Flack and Laron LeRoy.
Flack performing in her television special, ‘Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever’, in June 1973.
Surrounded by music, Flack was especially inspired by the sounds of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
It was there that she would meet her dear friend and future musical partner, Donny Hathaway.
She began taking teaching jobsfirst in North Carolina and thenD.C.including teaching music at Banneker Junior High School.
In her spare evenings, she nurtured her passion as a performer at the club Mr. Henrys.
She was signed in 1968.
It was her first taste of fame.
Several years later came another 1970s chart topper, Killing Me Softly.
With these two songs, Flack won back-to-back Grammys for record of the year.
In 1974, Where Is the Love rose to the top of both pop and R&B charts.
She continued recording all the way into 2012, with her last albumLet It Be Roberta.
Even still, her records have been sampled well into modern music.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.
