Killing Me Softly singer Roberta Flack honoured by Oprah Winfrey after death at 88
The Grammy winner was also the voice of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
Singer Roberta Flack, known for the hit Killing Me Softly, has died at the age of 88, it has been confirmed, with the likes of Oprah Winfrey paying tribute.
The Grammy-winner and R&B legend was first catapulted to stardom in the early 1970s with tunes such as The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
In her early 30s at the time, Flack achieved stardom practically overnight when Clint Eastwood used the ballad as the soundtrack for an explicit scene starring Donna Mills in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me.
Following this, the tune reached number one on the Billboard chart and received a Grammy for record of the year.
Then, in 1973, her success continued, as Flack became the first-ever artist to win best record twice consecutively, thanks to Killing Me Softly.
While her representative announced the sad news of her death, no cause has been given.
Flack announced in 2022 that she had ALS (Picture: Brian Stukes/Getty Images)‘We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,’ publicist Elaine Schock’s statement read.
She added that she ‘died peacefully surrounded by her family.’
‘Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.’
Veteran radio DJ Tony Blackburn was among those paying tribute to Flack after the news broke.
‘How sad that Roberta Flack has passed away at the age of 88,’ he wrote on X alongside a photo of the US singer.
US singer and actress Jennifer Hudson also hailed Flack as ‘one of the great soul singers of all time’.
‘So sad to hear of Roberta Flack’s passing,’ the Grammy-winning artist wrote in an Instagram tribute post alongside a black-and-white photo.
‘One of the great soul singers of all time. Rest well, Ms Flack. Your legacy lives on!!!’
Alongside her own post, talkshow legend Winfrey wrote: ‘Legendary singer Roberta Flack passed away today at the age of 88.
‘Rest in peace, Roberta. Thank you for giving us the soundtrack to our lives.’
Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, added that he was ‘heartbroken’ by the death of Flack.
The musician wrote: ‘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 announced in 2022 that she had ALS, which is a fatal motor neuron disease causing progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain.
Consequently, she was unable to sing anymore.
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 was assistant conductor of the university choir for a while before returning to North Carolina following her father’s death in 1959, moving back to the capital a year later.
Flack’s voice was widely revered. After she trained as a classical pianist in the late 60s, jazz musician Les McCann wrote that ‘her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.’
Her other known songs from the 70s include Feel Like Makin’ Love, Where Is The Love, and The Closer I Get to You. The latter two were duets with her close friend and former classmate Donny Hathaway.
The two were working together on a collaboration album when Hathaway suffered a breakdown, later falling to his death from a hotel room.
Flack won five Grammys throughout her career (Picture: Andrew Gombert/EPA/REX/Shutterstock)Flack and Hathaway’s body of work went on to sell millions of copies. She said in 2022 that they felt ‘deeply connected creatively’.
As the years progressed, while Flack’s musical releases no longer reached the same success as her debut, she had a hit in the 80s with the Peabo Bryson duet Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.
Speaking after her death, Oscar and Grammy-winning singer Bryson described Flack as his ‘greatest inspiration’.
Alongside a photo of them performing together on stage, Bryson wrote on social media: ‘My relationship with this iconic and divinely gifted artist and friend, forever changed my life in music and entertainment.
‘She was my greatest inspiration and will always remain in my heart, as the cornerstone, in my pursuit of excellence in both art and life.’
He added a quote that read, ‘Travel well, for you have earned it and go knowing, you will be missed, but not forgotten,’ before signing off the tribute, ‘Love Always, Peabody Bryson’.
In the 90s, Flack featured on the Maxi Priest duet Set the Night to Music and was thrust back into the spotlight when the Fugees covered Killing Me Softly, which also won a Grammy. Flack performed onstage with the hip-hop group at one point.
The five-time Grammy recipient, born in North Carolina and raised in Virginia, was nominated a further eight times by the Academy.
In 2020, she was honoured with a lifetime achievement Grammy, with Ariana Grande and John Legend heaping praise on her.
Then in 2022, Roberta, a feature-length documentary about the soul singer, was released and told of her rise to stardom amid the backdrop of America’s civil rights movement.
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