By Bianca Sierra
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of quiet storm. Her commercial success included the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face“, “Killing Me Softly with His Song“, and “Feel Like Makin’ Love“. She became the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years.
Flack frequently collaborated with Donny Hathaway, with whom she recorded several hit duets, including “Where Is the Love” and “The Closer I Get to You“. As one of the defining voices of 1970s popular music, she remained active in the industry, later finding success with duets such as “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” with Peabo Bryson (1983) and “Set the Night to Music” with Maxi Priest (1991). Across her decades-long career, she interpreted works by songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles. In 2020, Flack received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
From 1966 to 1972, she was married to Steve Novosel. Flack was the aunt of professional ice skater Rory Flack. She was also the godmother of musician Bernard Wright, who died in an accident on May 19, 2022. For 40 years, Flack had an apartment in The Dakota building in New York City that was right next door to the apartment of Yoko Ono and John Lennon, their son Sean grew up calling her “Aunt Roberta”. She also counted among her friends the activists Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis.
According to DNA analysis, Flack was of Cameroonian descent.
In late 2022, it was announced by a spokesperson that Flack had been diagnosed with ALS and had retired from performing, due to the disease making it “impossible to sing”.
Flack died on February 24, 2025, at the age of 88. Initial reports stated that she died at home among her family. However, her manager, Suzanne Koga, stated she died from cardiac arrest on her way to the hospital in Manhattan.
