View source for Roberta Flack

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Short description|American singer (1937–2025)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name              = Roberta Flack
| image             = Roberta Flack 1976.jpg
| caption           = Flack in 1976
| birth_name        = Roberta Cleopatra Flack
| alias             = Rubina Flake
| birth_date        = {{birth date|mf=yes|1937|02|10}}
| birth_place       = [[Black Mountain, North&nbsp;Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2025|02|24|1937|02|10}}
| death_place       = New York City,<!--Links not needed per MOS:OVERLINK--> U.S.
| occupation        = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|musician}}
| spouse            = {{marriage|[[Steve Novosel]]|1966|1972|end=div}}
| relatives         = {{ubl|[[Rory Flack]] (niece)|[[Bernard Wright]] (godson)}}
| website           = {{URL|robertaflack.com/}}
| module            = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes
| instruments       = {{hlist|Vocals|keyboards}}
| discography       = [[Roberta Flack discography|Full list]]
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Jazz]]|[[soul music|soul]]|[[R&B]]}}
| years_active      = 1968–2022
| label             = {{ubl|[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]] (1968–1996)|[[Angel Records|Angel]]&nbsp;/ [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] (1997)|[[RAS Records|RAS]]&nbsp;/ [[429 Records|429]]&nbsp;/ [[Sony/ATV]] (2011–2018)}}
}}
}}

'''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 music|folk]], and pop and contributed to the birth of the [[quiet storm]] radio format. Her commercial success included the [[Billboard Hot 100|''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 (Roberta Flack song)|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 (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song)|Where Is the Love]]" and "[[The Closer I Get to You]]". She was one of the defining voices of 1970s popular music and 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]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=February 10, 2020 |title=Why Is Roberta Flack's Influence On Pop So Undervalued? |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804370981/roberta-flack-the-virtuoso |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101213939/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804370981/roberta-flack-the-virtuoso |archive-date=November 1, 2021 |access-date=November 1, 2021 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Flack received the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref name="Italie TIME">{{Cite magazine |last=Italie |first=Hillel |date=February 24, 2025 |title=Roberta Flack, Grammy-Winning Singer, Dies at 88 |url=https://time.com/7261165/roberta-flack-dies-88/#:~:text=Overall,%20she%20won%20five%20Grammys,Grande%20among%20those%20praising%20her. |access-date=February 24, 2025 |magazine=TIME |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Flack was born on February 10, 1937,<ref name="NYT Russonello"/>{{efn|''Motown Encyclopedia'' gives her birth year as 1939, but says: "(although some sources state the year of birth to be 1937)".<ref name="Motown Encyclopedia">{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Graham |title=Motown Encyclopedia |date=2014 |publisher=AC Publishing |isbn=978-1-311-44154-6 |chapter=Roberta Flack & Quincy Jones |access-date=October 16, 2020 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&q=%22roberta%20flack%22%20birth%20date&pg=PT161 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503175855/https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&q=%22roberta%20flack%22%20birth%20date&pg=PT161 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} in [[Black Mountain, North Carolina]], to parents Laron Flack, a jazz pianist and [[U.S. Veterans Administration]] draftsman,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wansley |first=Joyce |date=October 9, 1978 |title=After Three Years on Tilt, Roberta Flack Is Finally Lighting Up the Charts Again |url=https://people.com/archive/after-three-years-on-tilt-roberta-flack-is-finally-lighting-up-the-charts-again-vol-10-no-15/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129013033/https://people.com/archive/after-three-years-on-tilt-roberta-flack-is-finally-lighting-up-the-charts-again-vol-10-no-15/ |archive-date=November 29, 2018 |access-date=November 28, 2018 |work=People |language=en}}</ref> and Irene (née Council) Flack<ref name="NYT Russonello"/><ref name="Soulwaking.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Roberta%20Flack.html|title=Roberta Flack page|publisher=Soulwalking.co.uk|access-date=November 11, 2012|archive-date=October 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009150540/http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Roberta%20Flack.html|url-status=live}}</ref> a church organist.<ref name="Russonello NYT2">{{Cite news |last=Russonello |first=Giovanni |date=February 24, 2025 |title=Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Behind 'Killing Me Softly,' Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/arts/music/roberta-flack-dead.html |access-date=February 25, 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to [[DNA analysis]], Flack was of Cameroonian descent.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 27, 2008 |title=Growing Interest in DNA-Based Genetic Testing Among African American with Historic Election of President Elect Barack Obama |url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/11/prweb1673564.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801011403/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/11/prweb1673564.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2015 |access-date=November 11, 2012 |publisher=Prweb.com}}</ref> Her family moved to [[Richmond, Virginia]],<ref name="Russonello NYT2" /> before settling in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]], Virginia, when she was five years old.

Her first musical experiences were in church.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> She grew up in a large musical family and often provided piano accompaniment for the choir of [[Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church]] singing hymns and spirituals. She occasionally sang at the Macedonia [[Baptist Church]] in Arlington.<ref> Eliza Tebo, [https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/roberta-flack-arlington/ Roberta Flack’s Road to the Grammys Began in Arlington], arlingtonmagazine.com, February 16, 2023 </ref><ref name="Weisbard" /> Her father acquired a battered old piano for her, which she learned to play sitting on her mother's lap.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> and Flack took formal piano lessons when she was nine.<ref name="Soulwaking.co.uk"/>  She gravitated towards classical music and during her early teens excelled at classical piano,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> finishing second in a statewide competition for Black students aged 13<ref name="Russonello NYT2" /> playing a [[Domenico Scarlatti|Scarlatti]] sonata.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/roberta-flack-arlington/|title=Roberta Flack's Road to the Grammys Began in Arlington|first=Eliza|last=Tebo|magazine=Arlington Magazine|date=February 16, 2023|access-date=March 9, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> In 1952 at the age of 15 she won a full music scholarship to [[Howard University]] in Washington DC,<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.robertaflack.com/rfbio.html|title=Roberta Flack Biography|website=robertaflack.com|publisher=Roberta Flack|access-date=November 11, 2012|archive-date=January 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122192647/http://www.robertaflack.com/rfbio.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and was one of the youngest students ever to enroll there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> She eventually changed her major from piano to voice and became assistant conductor of the university choir. Her direction of a production of [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[Aida]]'' received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/roberta-flack-biography-and-career-timeline/25437/|title=Roberta Flack biography and career timeline|date=January 17, 2023|website=Pbs.org|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> At Howard she met her future collaborator, Donny Hathaway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref>

Flack became a [[student teacher]] at a school near [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]]. She graduated from Howard University at 19 and began [[graduate studies]] in music there, but after the sudden death of her father she had to find work to support herself. She took a job teaching music and English at a small, segregated high school in [[Farmville, North Carolina]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Roberta Flack, Best-Of Edition|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5355321|work=[[News & Notes]]|publisher=NPR|interviewer=[[Ed Gordon (journalist)|Ed Gordon]]|date=April 21, 2006|access-date=June 9, 2017|archive-date=June 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620223402/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5355321|url-status=live}}</ref> for which she was paid $2,800 a year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/29/archives/robertas-a-capital-find.html|title=Roberta's a Capital Find|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Jack|last=Rosenthal|author-link=Jack Rosenthal|date=March 29, 1970|access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref>

==Career==
===Early career===
Before becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack returned to Washington, D.C., and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.songwriteruniverse.com/roberta-flack-interview-2020/|title=Legendary Artist Roberta Flack Talks About Her Classic Hits 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,' 'Killing Me Softly' And 'Where Is The Love'|first=Dale|last=Kawashima|website=SongwriterUniverse|date=August 10, 2020|access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-song-that-defined-roberta-flack/|title='The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face': the song that defined Roberta Flack|website=[[Far Out (website)|Far Out]]|first=Reuben|last=Cross|date=February 24, 2025|access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/10/05/principal-takes-junior-high-even-higher/c46a4309-ce30-4ac9-a51c-b49d0548146c/|title=Principal takes Junior High even higher|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Jenice |last=Armstrong|date=October 5, 1989|access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtoninformer.com/roberta-flack-music-education/|title=Music Took Roberta Flack from D.C. Classrooms to Mr. Henry's to Worldwide Stages|website=[[The Washington Informer]]|first= Brenda C.|last=Siler|date=February 7, 2024|access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref> She also taught private piano lessons out of her home on Euclid Street, [[Northwest (Washington, D.C.)|NW]], in the city. During that time, her music career began to take shape on evenings and weekends in nightclubs.<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |last1=Beaumont-Thomas |first1=Ben |last2=Bugel |first2=Safi |title=Roberta Flack, soul and R&B icon behind Killing Me Softly, dies aged 88 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/24/roberta-flack-soul-and-rb-icon-behind-killing-me-softly-dies-aged-88 |access-date=February 24, 2025 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=February 24, 2025}}</ref>

At the Tivoli Theater she accompanied [[opera|opera singers]] at the piano. During intermissions, she would sing [[blues music|blues]], [[folk music|folk]], and pop standards in a back room, accompanying herself on the piano. Later she performed several nights a week at the 1520 Club, providing her own piano accompaniment. About this time her voice teacher, Frederick "Wilkie" Wilkerson, told her that he saw a brighter future for her in pop music than in the classics. Flack modified her repertoire accordingly and her reputation spread. In 1968, she began singing professionally after she was hired to perform regularly at Mr. Henry's Restaurant, located on [[Capitol Hill]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Whiting |first1=Amanda |title=Roberta Flack Still Goes to the Capitol Hill Bar Where She Got Her Big Break|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/06/13/roberta-flack-still-goes-capitol-hill-bar-got-big-break/ |magazine=[[Washingtonian (magazine)|Washingtonian]] |date=June 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Joe |title=Flack's Song of Thanks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/09/28/flacks-song-of-thanks/12a1ce5e-7987-42ef-aab1-7d7b5ae62375/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 27, 1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Arlington Public Library |title= Roberta Flack's Arlington Roots |url= https://library.arlingtonva.us/2021/03/18/roberta-flacks-arlington-roots/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 27, 1987}}</ref> 

Her break came in the summer of 1968 when she performed at a benefit concert in Washington to raise funds for a children's library in the city's ghetto district,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> and was seen by soul and jazz singer [[Les McCann]], who was signed to [[Atlantic Records]]. He was captivated by Flack's voice and arranged an [[audition]] for her with Atlantic,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> in which she performed 42 songs from her nightclub repertoire in three hours for producer [[Joel Dorn]]. Dorn immediately told the label to sign her. In November 1968 she recorded 39 song demos in less than 10 hours. McCann later wrote in the liner notes of her first album, "Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I've ever known. I laughed, cried, and screamed for more... she alone had the voice." Three months later, Atlantic recorded Flack's debut album, ''[[First Take (album)|First Take]]'' (1969), in 10 hours.<ref name="ALLMUSIC">{{cite web |author=Steve Huey |date=February 10, 1939 |title=Roberta Flack &#124; Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roberta-flack-mn0000290072/biography |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617225803/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roberta-flack-mn0000290072/biography |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |access-date=May 23, 2014 |publisher=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> The album was "an elegant fusion of folk, jazz and soul" and included her version of British folk singer [[Ewan McColl]]'s song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref>

===1970s===
Flack's second album, ''Chapter Two'', appeared in 1970 and marked the start of her collaboration with Hathaway as arranger, accompanist and backing singer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> In 1971, Flack participated in the legendary [[Soul to Soul (film)|''Soul to Soul'' concert film]] by [[Denis Sanders]] which was headlined by [[Wilson Pickett]] along with [[Ike & Tina Turner]], [[Santana (band)|Santana]], [[The Staple Singers]], [[Les McCann]], [[Eddie Harris]], [[The Voices of East Harlem]] and others.  The U.S. delegation of musical artists featured in the film was invited to perform for the 14th anniversary of the March 6 [[Independence Day (Ghana)|Independence Day]] of [[Ghana]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/soul-to-soul|title=Soul to Soul (film review)|magazine=[[Time Out London]]|access-date=March 29, 2017|archive-date=March 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329234921/https://www.timeout.com/london/film/soul-to-soul|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Rousing 'Soul to Soul'|first=Howard|last=Thompson|author-link=Howard Thompson (film critic)|date=August 19, 1971|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CEED81238EF34BC4152DFBE66838A669EDE}}</ref> The film was digitally reissued on DVD and CD in 2004 but for unknown reasons Flack refused permission for her image and recording to be included . Her [[a cappella]] performance of the traditional spiritual "[[Oh, Freedom|Oh Freedom]]", retitled "Freedom Song" on the original [[Soul to Soul (soundtrack)|''Soul to Soul'' LP soundtrack]], is only available in the VHS version of the film.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Soul to Soul World Catalog Search Results|oclc=840123917}}</ref>

Flack's [[cover song|cover version]] of "[[Will You Love Me Tomorrow]]" hit No. 76 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in 1972. Her Atlantic recordings did not sell particularly well, until actor/director [[Clint Eastwood]] used a song from ''First Take'', "[[The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face]]", written by [[Ewan MacColl]], for the soundtrack of his directorial debut ''[[Play Misty for Me]].''

Atlantic rush-released the song as a single and it became the biggest hit of 1972,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> spending six consecutive weeks at No. 1 and earning Flack a million-selling [[Music recording certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Barrie and Jenkins]] Ltd|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/312 312]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/312}}</ref> "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" finished the year as [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972|''Billboard'']]'s top song of 1972. The ''First Take'' album also went to No. 1 and eventually sold 1.9&nbsp;million copies in the United States.  Eastwood, who paid $2,000 for the use of the song in the film,<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGilligan |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick McGilligan (biographer)|year=1999 |title=Clint: The Life and Legend |publisher=[[Harper Collins]] |isbn=0-00-638354-8|page=194}}</ref> remained an admirer and friend of Flack's ever after. The song was awarded the [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year]] and Song of the Year in 1973. In 1983, Flack recorded the end music to the [[Dirty Harry]] film ''[[Sudden Impact]]'', at Eastwood's request.<ref name="ALLMUSIC" />
[[File:Roberta Flack - Cash Box 1972.png|thumb|left|Flack on the cover of ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'', April 22, 1972]]
In 1972, Flack began recording regularly with [[Donny Hathaway]], scoring hits such as the Grammy-winning "[[Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song)|Where Is the Love]]" (1972) and later "[[The Closer I Get to You]]" (1978), both of which became million-selling gold singles.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/> Flack and Hathaway recorded several duets together, including two LPs, until Hathaway's death in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/02/24/roberta-flack-dead-killing-me-softly-singer-grammy-winner/10819924002/|title=Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer of hit 'Killing Me Softly,' dies at 88|first=Melissa|last=Ruggieri|website=Usatoday.com|date=February 24, 2025 |access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> After his death, Flack released their final LP as ''Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway.''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sisario |first1=Ben |title=Roberta Flack's 11 Essential Songs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/arts/music/roberta-flack-songs.html |access-date=February 24, 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=February 24, 2025}}</ref>

On her own, Flack scored her second No. 1 hit in 1973, "[[Killing Me Softly with His Song]]" written by [[Charles Fox (composer)|Charles Fox]], [[Norman Gimbel]] l, and [[Lori Lieberman]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Pond |first=Steve |title=Singer's Career Was Softly Killed By Bad Luck And Insecurity |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HJkRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6439%2C710421 |access-date=November 18, 2020 |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |date=June 12, 1997 |page=C5 |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314155605/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HJkRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6439%2C710421 |url-status=live}}</ref> "Killing Me Softly" was awarded both [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]] and [[Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female]], at the 1974 [[Grammy Awards]]. Its [[Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack album)|parent album]] was Flack's biggest-selling disc, eventually earning [[double platinum]] certification. In 1974, Flack released  "[[Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song)|Feel Like Makin' Love]]", which became her third and final No. 1 hit to date on the Hot 100 and her eighth million-seller. She produced the single and her [[Feel Like Makin' Love (album)|1975 album of the same name]] under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.<ref name="Time 1975">{{cite magazine|title=Music: What Ever Happened to Rubina Flake?|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917444,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=August 22, 2015|date=May 12, 1975|archive-date=May 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503115710/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917444,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1974, Flack sang the lead on a [[Sherman Brothers]] song, "Freedom", which featured prominently at the opening and closing of the movie ''[[Huckleberry Finn (1974 film)|Huckleberry Finn]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA642965125&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00253499&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon~e9b51202&aty=open-web-entry|title=MGM's Huckleberry Finn Musical That Never Reached the Screen, Part 2.|first=R. Kent|last=Rasmussen|date=September 22, 2020|journal=Mark Twain Journal|volume=58|issue=2|pages=129–202|access-date=February 24, 2025|via=go.gale.com}}</ref> In the same year, she performed "When We Grow Up" with a teenage [[Michael Jackson]] on the television special ''[[Free to Be... You and Me]]'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bishop|first1=Katie|title=Hearing 'Free To Be... You And Me' For The Very First Time|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/soundcheck/articles/250830-free-be-you-and-me-very-first-time|access-date=February 24, 2025|work=Soundcheck|date=November 15, 2012}}</ref> and a year later in 1975 performed two [[Johnny Marks]] songs, "To Love And Be Loved" and "When Autumn Comes", for the animated Christmas special ''[[The Tiny Tree]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=nbc&p=178&item=B:17761|title=Bell System Family Theatre: The Tiny Tree (TV)|website=Paleycenter.org|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/depatie-frelengs-the-tiny-tree-1975/|title=DePatie-Freleng's 'The Tiny Tree' (1975) |date=December 24, 2014|website=Cartoonresearch.com}}</ref> "Blue Lights in the Basement (1977) included a chart-topping duet with Hathaway on "The Closer I Get to You", and in 1978 they began working on on a second album of duets, which was half-completed when Hathaway, a [[paranoid schizophrenic]] who suffered mood swings and bouts of depression, took his own life in 1979. Flack, devastated, completed the album and it was released in 1980 as "Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> 

===1980–1991===
[[File:Roberta Flack.jpg|thumb|Flack in 1995]]
She found a new duetting partner in [[Peabo Bryson]] and they released "Live and More" in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> "Born to Love" in 1983 produced a hit single, "[[Tonight, I Celebrate My Love]]", which reached No. 2 on the UK charts.<ref name="guardian1" /> Flack had a hit single in 1982 with "[[Making Love (song)|Making Love]]", written by [[Burt Bacharach]] (the title track of the [[Making Love|1982 film of the same name]]), which reached No. 13. 

Flack continued to tour in the 1980s, often backed by a live orchestra.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> In 1986 she sang the theme song "Together Through the Years" for the [[NBC]] television series ''Valerie'', later known as ''[[The Hogan Family]]''. The song was used throughout the show's six seasons. In 1987, Flack supplied the voice of Michael Jackson's mother in the 18-minute short film for "[[Bad (Michael Jackson song)|Bad]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Bad by Michael Jackson |url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/michael-jackson/bad |website=Songfacts |publisher=Songfacts, LLC |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108103711/https://www.songfacts.com/facts/michael-jackson/bad |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Oasis (Roberta Flack album)|Oasis]]'' was released in 1988 and failed to make an impact with pop audiences, though the title track reached No. 1 on the [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] chart and a remix of "[[Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)]]" topped the [[Hot Dance Club Play|dance]] chart in 1989, after failing to chart on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=207}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=100}}</ref>

In 1991, Flack found herself again in the US [[Top 40|Top 10]] with a cover of the [[Diane Warren]]-penned song "[[Set the Night to Music]]", performed as a duet with British-Jamaican [[reggae]] singer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> [[Maxi Priest]], that peaked at No. 6 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] charts and No. 2 AC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/roberta-flack/chart-history/hsi/|title=Roberta Flack &#124; Biography, Music & News|website=Billboard.com|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/roberta-flack/chart-history/asi/|title=Roberta Flack &#124; Biography, Music & News|website=Billboard.com|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> In 1996 [[The Fugees]] released a [[hip-hop]] remix of "Killing  Me Softly".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> 

===Later career===
[[File:Roberta Flack 1.jpg|thumb|Flack in 2002]]
[[File:Roberta Flack in August 2013.jpg|thumb|Flack performing in 2013]]
In 1999, a star with Flack's name was placed on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref> PBS, [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/roberta-flack-biography-and-career-timeline/25437/ Roberta Flack biography and career timeline], pbs.org, USA, January 17, 2023</ref> In the same year, she gave a concert tour in South Africa. During her tour of the country, she performed "Killing Me Softly" for President [[Nelson Mandela]] at his home in Johannesburg.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/406802.stm|title=BBC News &#124; Entertainment &#124; Roberta sings softly for Mandela|website=News.bbc.co.uk|date=July 29, 1999|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> In 2010, she appeared on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, singing a duet of "Where Is The Love" with [[Maxwell (musician)|Maxwell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news2/arts/things-that-go-pop-blog/2010/01/gaga-for-grammys-lil-waynes-pants-pinks-stunts-and-other-highlights-from-musics-biggest-night.html|title=Gaga for Grammys: Lil' Wayne's pants, Pink's stunts and other highlights from music's biggest night|first=Sarah|last=Liss|date=January 31, 2010|website=Cbc.ca|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref>

Flack influenced the subgenre of contemporary R&B called [[quiet storm]], and interpreted songs by songwriters such as [[Leonard Cohen]] and members of [[the Beatles]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Powers|first=Ann|date=February 10, 2020|title=Why Is Roberta Flack's Influence On Pop So Undervalued?|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804370981/roberta-flack-the-virtuoso|access-date=November 1, 2021|archive-date=November 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101213939/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804370981/roberta-flack-the-virtuoso|url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2012, Flack released ''[[Let It Be Roberta]]'', an album of [[The Beatles|Beatles]] covers including "[[Hey Jude]]" and "[[Let It Be (song)|Let It Be]]". It was her first recording in eight years.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Mitchell |first1=Gail |title=Six Questions With Roberta Flack |magazine=Billboard |date=February 18, 2012 |volume=124 |issue=6 |pages=26–27 |issn=0006-2510 |quote=On Feb. 7, the Grammy Award winner released her first project in eight years: Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles.}}</ref> Flack knew [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]], as both parties lived in [[The Dakota]] apartment building in New York City and had apartments next door to each other. Flack said that she had been asked to do a second album of Beatles covers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roberta Flack's Long And Winding Road|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/02/18/146942636/roberta-flacks-long-and-winding-road|publisher=[[NPR]]|work=[[Weekend Edition Saturday]]|interviewer=[[Scott Simon]]|date=February 18, 2012|access-date=April 3, 2018|archive-date=July 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701182056/http://www.npr.org/2012/02/18/146942636/roberta-flacks-long-and-winding-road|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, she was reported to be involved in an interpretative album of the Beatles' classics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertaflack.com/biography.php |title=Roberta Flack Biography |publisher=Robertaflack.com |access-date=May 23, 2014 |archive-date=October 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007203218/http://www.robertaflack.com/biography.php |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the age of 80, Flack recorded "Running" for the closing credits song of the 2018 feature documentary ''[[3100: Run and Become]]'' with music and lyrics by [[Michael A. Levine]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8481848/roberta-flack-running|title=Roberta Flack Returns With New Song 'Running': Premiere|last=Mitchell|first=Gail|date=October 26, 2018|magazine=Billboard|access-date=January 23, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101231111/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8481848/roberta-flack-running|url-status=live}}</ref> She continued to perform into her eighties until she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and could no longer sing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref>

== Criticism ==
In 1971, ''[[The Village Voice]]'' critic [[Robert Christgau]] reported that "Flack is generally regarded as the most significant new black woman singer since [[Aretha Franklin]], and at moments she sounds kind, intelligent, and very likable. But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you'd expect of someone who says 'between you and I'." Reviewing her body of work from the 1970s, he argued later that the singer "has nothing whatsoever to do with [[rock and roll]] or rhythm and blues and almost nothing to do with soul", comparing her [[Middle of the road (music)|middle-of-the-road]] aesthetic to [[Barry Manilow]] but with better taste, which he believed does not necessarily guarantee more enduring music: "In the long run, pop lies are improved by vulgarity."<ref name="Weisbard">{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/listenagainmomen00weis/page/183 183]|editor-last=Weisbard|editor-first=Eric|year=2007|title=Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music|url=https://archive.org/details/listenagainmomen00weis|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|isbn=978-0822340416}}</ref>

Writer and music critic [[Ann Powers]] argued in a 2020 piece for [[NPR]] that "Flack's presence looms over both R&B and indie "bedroom" pop as if she were one of the astral beings in [[Ava DuVernay]]'s version of ''[[A Wrinkle In Time]].''"<ref name=":0" /> Jason King argued that she occupied a complex place in popular music, as "the nature of her power as a performer—to generate rapturous, spellbinding mood music and to plumb the depths of soulful heaviness by way of classically-informed technique—is not too easy to claim or make sense with the limited tools that we have in music criticism."<ref name=":0" />

Flack's minimalist, classically trained approach to her songs was seen by a number of critics as lacking in grit and uncharacteristic of soul music. According to music scholar Jason King, her work was regularly described with the adjectives "boring", "depressing", "lifeless", "studied", and "calculated",<ref name="Weisbard"/> although in contrast, [[AllMusic]]'s Steve Huey said it had been described as "classy, urbane, reserved, smooth, and sophisticated".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roberta-flack-mn0000290072/biography|title=Roberta Flack|date=n.d.|last=Huey|first=Steve|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=March 18, 2017|archive-date=April 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419064759/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/roberta-flack-mn0000290072/biography|url-status=live}}</ref>

An obituary in February 2025 stated: "She sang with flawless diction and an elegant, understated power" in a voice that was "soft and sensual, creating a radio-friendly crossover between jazz, R&B and easy listening," and her classical training meant that she could accompany herself in any style on the piano.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/roberta-flack-obituary-singer-who-fused-soul-jazz-and-folk-q6gsbmfmt |website=thetimes.com |title=The Times Register: Obituary Roberta Flack |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Flack was a member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, which advocated for artists to have the right to control their creative properties. She was also a spokeswoman for the [[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (ASPCA); her appearance in commercials for the ASPCA featured "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". The Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, NYC, (now called Leaders In Our Neighborhood Charter School) ran an after-school music program called "The Roberta Flack School of Music" to provide free music education to underprivileged students in partnership with Flack, who founded the school.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertaflack.com/roberta-flack-school-of-music.php |title=Roberta Flack School of Music |publisher=Robertaflack.com |access-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-date=October 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005190932/http://robertaflack.com/roberta-flack-school-of-music.php |url-status=live}}</ref> Flack was also an advocate for [[gay rights]], stating that "Love is love. Between a man and a woman, between two men, between two women. Love is universal, like music."<ref name="Russonello NYT2" />

From 1966 to 1972, she was married to [[Steve Novosel]].<ref name="guardian1" /> Flack was the aunt of professional ice skater [[Rory Flack]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jacobson |first1=Robert |title=Roberta Flack – Biography |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Roberta_Flack.aspx#1 |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-date=February 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217131843/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Roberta_Flack.aspx#1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=DeCurtis |first1=Anthony|author-link=Anthony DeCurtis |date=March 23, 1997 |title=Two Seasoned Voices, Together Raised for a Cause |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/23/arts/two-seasoned-voices-together-raised-for-a-cause.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214232607/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/23/arts/two-seasoned-voices-together-raised-for-a-cause.html |archive-date=February 14, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Culture/roberta-flack-enduring-songstress-dies-age-88/story?id=103253751|title=Roberta Flack, enduring songstress, dies at the age of 88|first=Meredith|last=Deliso|website=ABC News|date=February 24, 2025|access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> She was also the godmother of musician [[Bernard Wright]], who died in an accident on May 19, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vibe.com/news/national/bernard-wright-dead-1234663868/|title=Bernard Wright, Funk And Jazz Singer And Godson Of Roberta Flack, Dead At 58|first=Mya|last=Abraham|website=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|date=May 20, 2022|access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> 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 Lennon|Sean]], grew up calling her "Aunt Roberta".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/music/sean-lennon-recalls-growing-up-next-door-to-aunt-roberta-flack/|publisher=People Magazine|title=Sean Lennon Recalls Growing Up Next Door to 'Aunt' Roberta Flack: 'Coolest Neighbor in the World'|last=DeSantis|first=Rachel|date=November 16, 2022|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> She also counted among her friends the activists [[Jesse Jackson]] and [[Angela Davis]],<ref name="Italie TIME" /> as well as [[Maya Angelou]], who co-wrote the song "And So It Goes" for Flack's 1988 album ''[[Oasis (Roberta Flack album)|Oasis]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/132808/roberta-flack-maya-angelou/|title=Roberta Flack Remembers Maya Angelou: 'We All Have Been Inspired'|first= Nolan|last=Feeney|magazine=TIME|date=May 28, 2014|access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>

===Illness and death===
In 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the [[Apollo Theater]] at a benefit for the [[Jazz Foundation of America]] when she became ill, left the stage and was rushed to the [[Harlem Hospital Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/roberta-flack-falls-ill-at-apollo-theater-rushed-to-hospital-1202373558/|title=Roberta Flack Falls Ill At Apollo Theater, Rushed To Hospital|last=Haring|first=Bruce|date=April 20, 2018|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=April 21, 2018|archive-date=April 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421072352/http://deadline.com/2018/04/roberta-flack-falls-ill-at-apollo-theater-rushed-to-hospital-1202373558/|url-status=live}}</ref> In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had had a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was "doing fine" and was being kept overnight for [[medical observation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/music/roberta-flack-rushed-hospital-performance-apollo-theater/|title=Singer Roberta Flack Rushed to the Hospital After She Fell Ill at the Apollo Theater|last=Fernandez|first=Alexia|date=April 21, 2018|work=People|access-date=April 21, 2018|archive-date=April 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421083226/http://people.com/music/roberta-flack-rushed-hospital-performance-apollo-theater/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late 2022, it was announced that Flack had been diagnosed with [[ALS]] and had retired from performing,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63630778|title=Roberta Flack is unable to sing after ALS diagnosis|date=November 14, 2022|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> as the disease was making it "impossible to sing".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/roberta-flack-als-diagnosis-403caf46fc277d8fddeb438a1f57979d|title=Roberta Flack has ALS, now 'impossible to sing,' rep says|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 14, 2022|access-date=November 14, 2022}}</ref>

Flack died of cardiac arrest on February 24, 2025,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Statement on the Death of Roberta Flack |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/statement-death-roberta-flack|date=February 26, 2025|access-date=February 27, 2025 |website=[[National Museum of African American History and Culture]]|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |language=en}}</ref> on her way to a hospital in Manhattan. She was 88 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/roberta-flack-singer-killing-me-softly-dead-1236318888/?|title=Roberta Flack, '70s R&B Vocalist Known for 'Killing Me Softly,' Dies at 88|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Chris|last=Morris|author-link=Chris Morris (music writer)|access-date=February 24, 2025|date=February 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/roberta-flack-dies-61ad9755cc7b4f37b29884adc49c9340|last=Italie|first=Hillel|publisher=AP News|title=Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer with an intimate style, dies at 88|date=February 24, 2025|access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref><ref name="NYT Russonello">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/arts/music/roberta-flack-dead.html|title=Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Who Ruled the Charts, Dies at 88|first=Giovanni|last=Russonello|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 24, 2025}}</ref>

A memorial ceremony was held on March 10, 2025, at [[Abyssinian Baptist Church]].<ref> Associated Press, [https://www.voanews.com/a/music-flows-in-roberta-flack-s-celebration-of-life-memorial-with-stevie-wonder-and-al-sharpton/8005968.html Music flows in Roberta Flack's 'Celebration of Life' memorial with Stevie Wonder and Al Sharpton], voanews.com, March 10, 2025 </ref> [[Lauryn Hill]] sang a tribute performance of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and, alongside [[Wyclef Jean]] and [[Stevie Wonder]], "Killing Me Softly With His Song".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0kQTvw0s4 |title=Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean epic performance At Roberta flack Celebration Of Life |date=2025-03-11 |last=@DigitalTV |access-date=2025-03-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Stevie Wonder also sang “I Won’t Complain”, and [[Lisa Fischer]] sang “Somewhere”.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7uxnZqz-jI&feature=youtu.be |title=LAURYN HILL, STEVIE WONDER & WYCLEF JEAN Give ROBERTA FLACK MUSICAL TRIBUTE @ Her Funeral |date=2025-03-11 |last=GOSPEL ON DEMAND |access-date=2025-04-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==Accolades==
On May 11, 2017, Roberta Flack received an honorary Doctorate degree in the Arts from [[Long Island University]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.liu.edu/About/News/Univ-Ctr-PR/2017/June/Roberta-Flack-Inspires-Graduates-at-LIU-Brooklyn-Commencement |title=Roberta Flack Inspires Graduates at LIU Brooklyn Commencement |publisher=Long Island University|date=May 12, 2017 |access-date=January 1, 2020 |archive-date=January 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101210454/https://www.liu.edu/About/News/Univ-Ctr-PR/2017/June/Roberta-Flack-Inspires-Graduates-at-LIU-Brooklyn-Commencement |url-status=live}}</ref> She was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=2009 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322222813/https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, Flack was one of the first inductees into the [[Women Songwriters Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/06/the-women-songwriters-hall-of-fame-has-honored-its-first-class-of-inductees|author=Diop, Arimeta|title=The Women Songwriters Hall of Fame Has Honored Its First Class of Inductees|newspaper=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=June 29, 2021}}</ref>

On March 12, 2022, Flack was honored with the [[Daughters of the American Revolution|DAR]] Women in American History Award and a restored fire callbox in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington D.C. commemorating her early-career connection to nearby Mr. Henry's neighborhood bar.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2022 |title=Legendary Song Artist Roberta Flack Honored in Capitol Hill Ceremony – Photo Essay |url=https://capitolhillcorner.org/2022/03/13/legendary-song-artist-robert-flack-honored-in-capitol-hill-ceremony-photo-essay/ |access-date=March 13, 2022 |website=Capitol Hill Corner|first=Larry |last=Janezich |language=en |archive-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313132841/https://capitolhillcorner.org/2022/03/13/legendary-song-artist-robert-flack-honored-in-capitol-hill-ceremony-photo-essay/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 24, 2023, the [[PBS]] series ''[[American Masters]]'' opened its 37th season with an hour-long look at her career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/roberta-flack-biography-and-career-timeline/25437/|title=Roberta Flack Timeline − Season 37 Episode 1|date=January 17, 2023|publisher=American Masters (PBS)|access-date=March 13, 2024}}</ref> On May 13, 2023, Flack received an honorary doctorate from [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/usher-roberta-flack-doctorate-degrees-berklee/|title=Usher And Roberta Flack Now Have Doctorate Degrees|author=Browley, Jasmine|date=April 24, 2024|publisher=[[Essence (magazine)|Essence]]|website=essence.com}}</ref>

===Grammy Awards===
The [[Grammy Award]]s are awarded annually by the [[National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences]]. Flack received four awards from thirteen nominations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/roberta-flack/11487|title=Roberta Flack|publisher=Grammy Awards|access-date=November 11, 2012|archive-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314155612/https://www.grammy.com/artists/roberta-flack/11487|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{awards table}}
|-
|{{grammy|1972}} || "[[You've Got a Friend]]" <small>(with [[Donny Hathaway]])</small> || [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group]] || {{Nominated}}
|-
|rowspan="3"| {{grammy|1973}} || "[[The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face]]" || [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]] || {{Won}}
|-
| "[[Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song)|Where Is the Love]]" <small>(with Donny Hathaway)</small> || [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus]] || {{Won}}
|-
| ''[[Quiet Fire (Roberta Flack album)|Quiet Fire]]'' || [[Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance|Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female]] || {{Nominated}}
|-
|rowspan="3"| {{grammy|1974}} || ''[[Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack album)|Killing Me Softly]]'' || [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] || {{Nominated}}
|-
|rowspan="2"| "[[Killing Me Softly with His Song]]" || Record of the Year || {{Won}}
|-
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female || {{Won}}
|-
|rowspan="2"| {{grammy|1975}} 
|rowspan="2"| "[[Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song)|Feel Like Makin' Love]]" || Record of the Year || {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female || {{Nominated}}
|-
|| {{grammy|1979}} || "[[The Closer I Get to You]]" <small>(with Donny Hathaway)</small> || Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || {{Nominated}}
|-
|rowspan="2"| {{grammy|1981}} || ''[[Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway]]'' || [[Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance|Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female]] || {{Nominated}}
|-
| "Back Together Again" <small>(with Donny Hathaway)</small> || Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || {{Nominated}}
|-
|| {{grammy|1995}} || ''[[Roberta (album)|Roberta]]'' || [[Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album|Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance]] || {{Nominated}}
|-
| {{grammy|2020}} || Roberta Flack || [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] || {{Won}}
|-
{{end}}

===American Music Awards===
The [[American Music Award]]s is an annual awards ceremony created by [[Dick Clark]] in 1973. Flack won the award for [[American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist|Best Soul/R&B Female Artist]] at the [[American Music Awards of 1974|inaugural show in 1974]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Roberta Flack |url=https://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/robertaflack/ |website=Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center |access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref><ref name=ama_1974_win>{{cite AV media |title=Roberta Flack Wins Soul/R&B Female Artist - AMA 1974 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPZi-8QjZ0 |date=1974 |via=YouTube |publisher=American Music Awards}}</ref>
{{Awards table}}
|-
|rowspan="3"| {{American Music Awards link|1974}} |||  || [[American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist|Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock)]] || {{Nominated}}<ref name=press_democrat_02151974>{{cite news|title=American music awards Tuesday|date=February 15, 1974|newspaper=The Press Democrat|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat/166738291/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
|-
|  || [[American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist|Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B)]] || {{Won}}<ref name=ama_1974_win/>
|-
| | "[[Killing Me Softly with His Song]]" || [[American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Song|Favorite Single (Pop/Rock)]] || {{Nominated}}<ref name=press_democrat_02151974/>
|-
|rowspan="2"| {{American Music Awards link|1975}} |||  || Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) || {{Nominated}}<ref name=billboard_02081975>{{cite magazine|title=American Music Awards: Rich Grabs 6 Nominations|magazine=Billboard|date=February 8, 1975|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MREEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA41|via=Google Books|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
|-
| | "[[Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song)|Feel Like Makin' Love]]" || [[American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Song|Favorite Single (Soul/R&B)]] || {{Nominated}}<ref name=billboard_02081975/>
|-
|| {{American Music Awards link|1979}} |||  || Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) || {{Nominated}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Music award nominees|date=January 2, 1979|newspaper=The Press Democrat|page=3D|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat/166738313/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
{{End}}

==Discography==
{{Main|Roberta Flack discography}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[First Take (album)|First Take]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Chapter Two (Roberta Flack album)|Chapter Two]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Quiet Fire (Roberta Flack album)|Quiet Fire]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway]]'' <small>(with [[Donny Hathaway]])</small> (1972)
* ''[[Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack album)|Killing Me Softly]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Feel Like Makin' Love (album)|Feel Like Makin' Love]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Blue Lights in the Basement]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Roberta Flack (album)|Roberta Flack]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway]]'' (1980)
* ''[[I'm the One (Roberta Flack album)|I'm the One]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Born to Love (Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack album)|Born to Love]]'' (1983) <small>(with [[Peabo Bryson]])</small> (1983)
* ''[[Oasis (Roberta Flack album)|Oasis]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Set the Night to Music (album)|Set the Night to Music]]'' (1991)
* ''Stop the World'' (1992)
* ''[[Roberta (album)|Roberta]]'' (1994)
* ''[[The Christmas Album (Roberta Flack album)|The Christmas Album]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Let It Be Roberta]]'' (2012)
{{div col end}}
Source:<ref>{{cite web|title=Robert Flack Discography|work=RobertaFlack.com|url=http://www.robertaflack.com/discography.php|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{noteslist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* {{Cite book |last1=Bryan |first1=Sarah |author2=Beverly Patterson |year=2013 |chapter=Roberta Flack |title=African American Trails of Eastern North Carolina |publisher=North Carolina Arts Council |page=92 |isbn=978-1469610795}}
<!--already in refs* {{Cite book |last=McGilligan |first=Patrick |year=1999 |title=Clint: The Life and Legend |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=0-00-638354-8}}-->

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Roberta Flack}}
* [http://www.robertaflack.com/ Official website]
* {{IMDb name|id=0280808|name=Roberta Flack}}
* {{discogs artist|Roberta Flack}}

{{Roberta Flack}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Roberta Flack
|list =
{{American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist}}
{{Grammy Award for Record of the Year}}
{{Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Billboard Year-End number one singles 1960–1979}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flack, Roberta}}
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