Roberta Flack dies, US loses great voice and special style

American singer, songwriter and pianist Roberta Flack, whose unique style made her one of the best recording artists of the 1970s of last century, died today, 14 days after turning 88.

Grammy winner and known for her special way of interpreting iconic songs such as “Killing Me Softly with this Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and other hits, she died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement.

Flack retired from the artistic world after announcing in 2022 that she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal disease that affects the motor neurons of the brain and spinal cord, causing muscle weakness and loss of voluntary control.

Little known before she was 30, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack to one of the most memorable and explicit love scenes in cinema, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me,” local media reported here.

The ballad topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year, but in 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly,” becoming the first artist to win the Academy’s golden gramophone back-to-back in the same category. She won the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2020.

According to data about her career, Flack was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, hit, caught and kicked every emotion I have ever known.”

Versatile enough to evoke the gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack tended to prefer a more thoughtful and measured approach, critics said.

She was also noted for her social activism and civil rights advocacy of her time. Her friends included the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison.

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born on February 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia.

“Through music we understand what we think and feel. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I listen to music,” she once said.