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.
Roberta Flack | |
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![]() Flack in 1976 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Roberta Cleopatra Flack |
Also known as | Rubina Flake[1] |
Born | Black Mountain, North Carolina, U.S. | February 10, 1937
Died | February 24, 2025 New York City, U.S. | (aged 88)
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1968–2022 |
Labels | |
Spouse | |
Website | robertaflack |
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.[2] In 2020, Flack received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[3]
Early life and education
editFlack was born on February 10, 1937,[4][a] in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to parents Laron Flack, a U.S. Veterans Administration draftsman,[6] and Irene (née Council) Flack[4][7] a high-school cook and church organist.[8] Her family moved to Richmond, Virginia,[8] before settling in Arlington, Virginia, when she was five years old.
Growing up in a large, musical family, she often accompanied the choir of Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church by playing hymns and spirituals on piano, but she also enjoyed going to the "Baptist church down the street" to listen to contemporary gospel music including songs performed by Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke.[9]
When Flack was nine, she took an interest in playing the piano.[7] During her early teens, Flack excelled at classical piano, finishing second in a statewide competition for Black students aged 13,[8] and earning a full music scholarship to Howard University.[10]
Flack entered Howard at the age of 15, making her one of the youngest students ever to enroll there. She eventually changed her major from piano to voice and became an 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.[11]
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 the sudden death of her father forced her to take a job teaching music and English at a small, segregated high school in Farmville, North Carolina,[12] for which she was paid $2,800 a year.[13]
Career
editEarly career
editBefore becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack returned to Washington, D.C., and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools.[14][15][16][17] She also taught private piano lessons out of her home on Euclid Street, NW, in the city. During that time, her music career began to take shape on evenings and weekends in nightclubs.[18]
At the Tivoli Theater, she accompanied opera singers at the piano. During intermissions, she would sing blues, folk, and pop standards in a back room, accompanying herself on the piano. Later she performed several nights a week at the 1520 Club, again 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 when she was hired to perform regularly at Mr. Henry's Restaurant, located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.[19][20][21]
1970s
editIn the 1970s, Flack sang and played jazz in a Washington, D.C. nightclub. American jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann attended one of these sessions,[7] and later wrote in the liner notes of what would be her first album First Take: "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." Very quickly, he arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records, during which she played 42 songs in three hours for producer Joel Dorn. In November 1968, she recorded 39 song demos in less than 10 hours. Three months later, Atlantic reportedly recorded Flack's debut album, First Take, in a mere 10 hours.[22]
In 1971, Flack participated in the legendary Soul to Soul concert film by Denis Sanders, which was headlined by Wilson Pickett along with Ike & Tina Turner, 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 of Ghana.[23][24] The film was digitally reissued on DVD and CD in 2004 but Flack declined permission for her image and recording to be included for unknown reasons. Her a cappella performance of the traditional spiritual "Oh Freedom", retitled "Freedom Song" on the original Soul to Soul LP soundtrack, is only available in the VHS version of the film.[25]
Flack's cover version of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" hit No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Her Atlantic recordings did not sell particularly well, until actor/director Clint Eastwood chose 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; it became the biggest hit of the year for 1972, spending six consecutive weeks at No. 1 and earning Flack a million-selling gold disc.[26] "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" finished the year as Billboard's top song of 1972. The First Take album also went to No. 1 and eventually sold 1.9 million copies in the United States. Eastwood, who paid $2,000 for the use of the song in the film,[27] remained an admirer and friend of Flack's ever after. It was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1973. In 1983, she recorded the end music to the Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact, at Eastwood's request.[22]
In 1972, Flack began recording regularly with Donny Hathaway, scoring hits such as the Grammy-winning "Where Is the Love" (1972) and later "The Closer I Get to You" (1978), both million-selling gold singles.[26] Flack and Hathaway recorded several duets together, including two LPs, until Hathaway's 1979 death.[28] After his death, Flack released their final LP as Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway.[29]
On her own Flack scored her second No. 1 hit in 1973, "Killing Me Softly with His Song" written by Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel l, and Lori Lieberman.[30] It was awarded both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1974 Grammy Awards. Its parent album was Flack's biggest-selling disc, eventually earning double platinum certification. In 1974, Flack released "Feel Like Makin' Love", which became her third and final No. 1 hit to date on the Hot 100; she produced the single and her 1975 album of the same name under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.[1] In 1974, Flack sang the lead on a Sherman Brothers song called "Freedom", which featured prominently at the opening and closing of the movie Huckleberry Finn.[31] 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,[32] 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.[33][34]
1980–1991
editFlack had a 1982 hit single with "Making Love", written by Burt Bacharach (the title track of the 1982 film of the same name), which reached No. 13. She began working with Peabo Bryson, charting as high as No. 2 on the UK charts with "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" in 1983.[18]
In 1986, Flack sang the theme song entitled "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".[35] Oasis was released in 1988 and failed to make an impact with pop audiences, though the title track reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and a remix of "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)" topped the dance chart in 1989, after failing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[36][37]
In 1991, Flack found herself again in the US Top 10 with a cover of the Diane Warren-penned song "Set the Night to Music", performed as a duet with Maxi Priest that peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and No. 2 AC.[38][39]
Later career
editIn 1999, a star with Flack's name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[10] 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.[40] In 2010, she appeared on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, singing a duet of "Where Is The Love" with Maxwell.[41]
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.[42]
In February 2012, Flack released Let It Be Roberta, an album of Beatles covers including "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be". It was her first recording in eight years.[43] 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.[44] In 2013, she was reported to be involved in an interpretative album of the Beatles' classics.[45]
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.[46]
Critical reputation
editIn 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 later argued 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 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."[9]
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."[42] Jason King argued that she occupies 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."[42]
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";[9] in contrast, AllMusic's Steve Huey said it has been called "classy, urbane, reserved, smooth, and sophisticated".[47]
Personal life
editFlack was a member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, which advocates 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.[48] 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."[8]
From 1966 to 1972, she was married to Steve Novosel.[18] Flack was the aunt of professional ice skater Rory Flack.[49][50][51] She was also the godmother of musician Bernard Wright, who died in an accident on May 19, 2022.[52] 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".[53] She also counted among her friends the activists Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis,[3] as well as Maya Angelou, who co-wrote the song "And So It Goes" for Flack's 1988 album Oasis.[54]
According to DNA analysis, Flack was of Cameroonian descent.[55]
Illness and death
editIn 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the Apollo Theater at a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America. She became ill, left the stage, and was rushed to the Harlem Hospital Center.[56] In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was "doing fine" and being kept overnight for medical observation.[57]
In late 2022, it was announced by a spokesperson that Flack had been diagnosed with ALS and had retired from performing,[58] due to the disease making it "impossible to sing".[59]
Flack died of cardiac arrest on February 24, 2025,[60] on her way to a hospital in Manhattan. She was 88 years old.[61][62][4]
Accolades
editOn May 11, 2017, Roberta Flack received an honorary Doctorate degree in the Arts from Long Island University.[63] She was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[64] In 2021, Flack was one of the first inductees into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.[65]
On March 12, 2022, Flack was honored with the 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.[66]
On January 24, 2023, the PBS series American Masters opened its 37th season with an hour-long look at her career.[67] On May 13, 2023, Flack received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.[68]
Grammy Awards
editThe Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Flack received four awards from thirteen nominations.[69]
American Music Awards
editThe American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. Flack won the award for Best Soul/R&B Female Artist at the inaugural show in 1974.[70][71]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1974 | Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock) | Nominated[72] | |
Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) | Won[71] | ||
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" | Favorite Single (Pop/Rock) | Nominated[72] | |
1975 | Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) | Nominated[73] | |
"Feel Like Makin' Love" | Favorite Single (Soul/R&B) | Nominated[73] | |
1979 | Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) | Nominated[74] |
Discography
edit- First Take (1969)
- Chapter Two (1970)
- Quiet Fire (1971)
- Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (with Donny Hathaway) (1972)
- Killing Me Softly (1973)
- Feel Like Makin' Love (1975)
- Blue Lights in the Basement (1977)
- Roberta Flack (1978)
- Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway (1980)
- I'm the One (1982)
- Born to Love (1983) (with Peabo Bryson) (1983)
- Oasis (1988)
- Set the Night to Music (1991)
- Stop the World (1992)
- Roberta (1994)
- The Christmas Album (1997)
- Let It Be Roberta (2012)
Source:[75]
Notes
editCitations
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- ^ Powers, Ann (February 10, 2020). "Why Is Roberta Flack's Influence On Pop So Undervalued?". NPR. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Italie, Hillel (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, Grammy-Winning Singer, Dies at 88". TIME. Associated Press. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Russonello, Giovanni (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Who Ruled the Charts, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
- ^ Betts, Graham (2014). "Roberta Flack & Quincy Jones". Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. ISBN 978-1-311-44154-6. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
- ^ Wansley, Joyce (October 9, 1978). "After Three Years on Tilt, Roberta Flack Is Finally Lighting Up the Charts Again". People. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Roberta Flack page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Russonello, Giovanni (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Behind 'Killing Me Softly,' Dies at 88". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Weisbard, Eric, ed. (2007). Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music. Duke University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0822340416.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Roberta Flack Biography". robertaflack.com. Roberta Flack. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ "Roberta Flack biography and career timeline". Pbs.org. January 17, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "Roberta Flack, Best-Of Edition". News & Notes. Interviewed by Ed Gordon. NPR. April 21, 2006. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
- ^ Rosenthal, Jack (March 29, 1970). "Roberta's a Capital Find". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Kawashima, Dale (August 10, 2020). "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'". SongwriterUniverse. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Cross, Reuben (February 24, 2025). "'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face': the song that defined Roberta Flack". Far Out. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Armstrong, Jenice (October 5, 1989). "Principal takes Junior High even higher". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Siler, Brenda C. (February 7, 2024). "Music Took Roberta Flack from D.C. Classrooms to Mr. Henry's to Worldwide Stages". The Washington Informer. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Bugel, Safi (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, soul and R&B icon behind Killing Me Softly, dies aged 88". The Guardian. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Whiting, Amanda (June 13, 2017). "Roberta Flack Still Goes to the Capitol Hill Bar Where She Got Her Big Break". Washingtonian.
- ^ Brown, Joe (September 27, 1987). "Flack's Song of Thanks". The Washington Post.
- ^ Arlington Public Library (September 27, 1987). "Roberta Flack's Arlington Roots". The Washington Post.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Steve Huey (February 10, 1939). "Roberta Flack | Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ "Soul to Soul (film review)". Time Out London. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
- ^ Thompson, Howard (August 19, 1971). "Rousing 'Soul to Soul'". The New York Times.
- ^ Soul to Soul World Catalog Search Results. OCLC 840123917.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 312. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. Harper Collins. p. 194. ISBN 0-00-638354-8.
- ^ Ruggieri, Melissa (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer of hit 'Killing Me Softly,' dies at 88". Usatoday.com. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack's 11 Essential Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Pond, Steve (June 12, 1997). "Singer's Career Was Softly Killed By Bad Luck And Insecurity". Deseret News. p. C5. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ Rasmussen, R. Kent (September 22, 2020). "MGM's Huckleberry Finn Musical That Never Reached the Screen, Part 2". Mark Twain Journal. 58 (2): 129–202. Retrieved February 24, 2025 – via go.gale.com.
- ^ Bishop, Katie (November 15, 2012). "Hearing 'Free To Be... You And Me' For The Very First Time". Soundcheck. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "Bell System Family Theatre: The Tiny Tree (TV)". Paleycenter.org. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "DePatie-Freleng's 'The Tiny Tree' (1975)". Cartoonresearch.com. December 24, 2014.
- ^ "Bad by Michael Jackson". Songfacts. Songfacts, LLC. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 207.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 100.
- ^ "Roberta Flack | Biography, Music & News". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "Roberta Flack | Biography, Music & News". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "BBC News | Entertainment | Roberta sings softly for Mandela". News.bbc.co.uk. July 29, 1999. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Liss, Sarah (January 31, 2010). "Gaga for Grammys: Lil' Wayne's pants, Pink's stunts and other highlights from music's biggest night". Cbc.ca. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Powers, Ann (February 10, 2020). "Why Is Roberta Flack's Influence On Pop So Undervalued?". NPR. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ Mitchell, Gail (February 18, 2012). "Six Questions With Roberta Flack". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 6. pp. 26–27. ISSN 0006-2510.
On Feb. 7, the Grammy Award winner released her first project in eight years: Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles.
- ^ "Roberta Flack's Long And Winding Road". Weekend Edition Saturday. Interviewed by Scott Simon. NPR. February 18, 2012. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ^ "Roberta Flack Biography". Robertaflack.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ Mitchell, Gail (October 26, 2018). "Roberta Flack Returns With New Song 'Running': Premiere". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ^ Huey, Steve (n.d.). "Roberta Flack". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
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- ^ Jacobson, Robert. "Roberta Flack – Biography". encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (March 23, 1997). "Two Seasoned Voices, Together Raised for a Cause". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ Deliso, Meredith (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, enduring songstress, dies at the age of 88". ABC News. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ Abraham, Mya (May 20, 2022). "Bernard Wright, Funk And Jazz Singer And Godson Of Roberta Flack, Dead At 58". Vibe. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ DeSantis, Rachel (November 16, 2022). "Sean Lennon Recalls Growing Up Next Door to 'Aunt' Roberta Flack: 'Coolest Neighbor in the World'". People Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Feeney, Nolan (May 28, 2014). "Roberta Flack Remembers Maya Angelou: 'We All Have Been Inspired'". TIME. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "Growing Interest in DNA-Based Genetic Testing Among African American with Historic Election of President Elect Barack Obama". Prweb.com. November 27, 2008. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ Haring, Bruce (April 20, 2018). "Roberta Flack Falls Ill At Apollo Theater, Rushed To Hospital". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- ^ Fernandez, Alexia (April 21, 2018). "Singer Roberta Flack Rushed to the Hospital After She Fell Ill at the Apollo Theater". People. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- ^ "Roberta Flack is unable to sing after ALS diagnosis". November 14, 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Roberta Flack has ALS, now 'impossible to sing,' rep says". Associated Press. November 14, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ^ "Statement on the Death of Roberta Flack". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Smithsonian Institution. February 26, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ Morris, Chris (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, '70s R&B Vocalist Known for 'Killing Me Softly,' Dies at 88". Variety. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Italie, Hillel (February 24, 2025). "Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning singer with an intimate style, dies at 88". AP News. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ "Roberta Flack Inspires Graduates at LIU Brooklyn Commencement". Long Island University. May 12, 2017. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ "2009 Inductees". North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ Diop, Arimeta (June 29, 2021). "The Women Songwriters Hall of Fame Has Honored Its First Class of Inductees". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Janezich, Larry (March 13, 2022). "Legendary Song Artist Roberta Flack Honored in Capitol Hill Ceremony – Photo Essay". Capitol Hill Corner. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ "Roberta Flack Timeline − Season 37 Episode 1". American Masters (PBS). January 17, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ Browley, Jasmine (April 24, 2024). "Usher And Roberta Flack Now Have Doctorate Degrees". essence.com. Essence.
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- ^ "Roberta Flack". Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Roberta Flack Wins Soul/R&B Female Artist - AMA 1974. American Music Awards. 1974 – via YouTube.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "American music awards Tuesday". The Press Democrat. February 15, 1974. p. 13. Retrieved February 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "American Music Awards: Rich Grabs 6 Nominations". Billboard. February 8, 1975. p. 41. Retrieved February 26, 2025 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Music award nominees". The Press Democrat. January 2, 1979. p. 3D. Retrieved February 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Robert Flack Discography". RobertaFlack.com. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
General and cited references
edit- Bryan, Sarah; Beverly Patterson (2013). "Roberta Flack". African American Trails of Eastern North Carolina. North Carolina Arts Council. p. 92. ISBN 978-1469610795.
External links
edit- Official website
- Roberta Flack at IMDb
- Roberta Flack discography at Discogs