US singer Roberta Flack has died aged 88.
Flack was best known for her recording of the hit Killing Me Softly With His Song, which peaked at No.6 in the UK in 1973.
"We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025," said a statement issued by her representatives. "She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator."
The North Carolina-born R&B singer announced in 2022 that she had motor neurone disease.
Flack was the first artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in consecutive years. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face won in 1973, followed by Killing Me Softly with His Song in 1974. The latter was famously recorded by the Fugees two decades later.
Flack was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 2020.
Her version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, which featured in Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me, became Flack’s first hit when she was in her mid-thirties.
Flack continued to have hits in the 1970s and 1980s, including UK Top 3 singles with Back Together Again (with Donny Hathaway) and Tonight I Celebrate My Love (with Peabo Bryson).
She recorded a Beatles covers album, Let It Be Roberta, in 2012, among her final works.
Flack’s catalogue supplied UK album chart entries in the Top 10 and Top 20 for collections of her songs, including Love Songs in 2011. Her biggest seller was 1994’s Softly With These Songs – The Best Of (Rhino) with sales to date of 302,328 (Official Charts Company).
PHOTO: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET (2017)
