Tributes flood in for Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly' singer and R&B icon

24 February 2025, 20:35

Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer best known for Killing Me Softly With His Song, has died aged 88.

Tributes have poured in for R&B icon Roberta Flack, who died today aged 88.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,” a statement from her spokesperson read.

“She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

In 2022 it was announced the singer had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological condition that made it "impossible" for her to sing, according to a representative at the time.

Oprah Winfrey has thanked Roberta Flack for creating "the soundtrack to our lives" after the soul singer's death at the age of 88.

The TV star, 71, shared a video of her welcoming the singer on to her chat show to sing hits including Killing Me Softly With His Song, written by Lori Lieberman and Norman Gimbel and composed by Charles Fox.

US songwriter Lieberman told the PA news agency that Flack "exposed this song to the world with her artistry, her talent, her innovation and her heart".

"I do hope that now she can rest in peace... without her my little song never would have been what it is today, and I'm forever grateful," she added.

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Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, said he was "heartbroken" by the death of Flack.

In a social media post the musician said: "Roberta Flack was a very close family friend and neighbour.

"She was an incredibly kind woman. Uniquely talented.

"I am eternally grateful to have known her.

"I'm heartbroken she had to leave this earth. Will always love you."

Flack lived in the Dakota Building in New York City at the same time as Sean and his family, and recorded an album of Beatles covers called Let It Be Roberta in 2012.

US singer and actress Jennifer Hudson hailed Flack as "one of the great soul singers of all time" in an Instagram tribute alongside a black and white photo of the singer.

Veteran radio DJ Tony Blackburn said: "How sad that Roberta Flack has passed away at the age of 88.

"She gave us so many beautiful songs, I just loved her voice. RIP and thanks for the music."

Gladiator II actor Pedro Pascal posted a photo of Flack alongside a broken heart emoji to Instagram.

US singer Peabo Bryson called her his "greatest inspiration" and said: "My relationship with this iconic and divinely gifted artist and friend, forever changed my life in music and entertainment."

Flack and Bryson, 73, released duet album Born To Love in 1983 which featured their hit Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.

Flack was born on February 10 1937 in North Carolina but grew up in Virginia and started classical piano lessons at the age of nine.

She was awarded a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington DC aged 15 and hoped to become an opera singer, a dream that was put on hold when she returned to North Carolina after her father's death in 1959.

She went back to the capital and taught at several schools and in the early 1960s she began accompanying opera singers at the Tivoli opera restaurant in Georgetown, later playing in various clubs in the Washington area before taking up a residency at Mr Henry's.

After watching her perform, jazz musician Les McCann helped to launch Flack's recording career and she was signed to Atlantic Records after decades of classical study, teaching music and accompanying opera singers.

Her debut album, First Take, was released in 1969 and featured a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz.

One of the songs from the album, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, catapulted her to stardom after Clint Eastwood used the song as the soundtrack for a love scene in his film Play Misty For Me.

It also won the Grammy for record of the year in 1973 and a year later her song Killing Me Softly With His Song won the same gong and Flack won best female pop vocal performance.

The tune saw a resurgence in popularity in the 1990s when hip-hop trio Fugees recorded a new version.

The singer, who had collaborated with artists including Miles Davis and Donny Hathaway, was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy in 2020.

In 2022, a feature-length documentary about the soul singer, called Roberta, told of her rise to stardom against the backdrop of America's civil rights movement.