Skip To...
Grammy-winning singer Roberta Flack is dead after a memorable music career. The icon, notable for her interpretation of love ballads like He’s Killing Me Softly With His Song among others dominated the music scenes in the seventies as one of the top performers, scoring 14 Grammy nominations and winning five throughout her career. While her voice made her stand out with various smash hits in her name, the star’s penchant for tackling pressing societal issues through her songs cemented her as a music industry legend for decades. Her outstanding career earned her the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Grammys.
Five years after her grand recognition, Flack has hung her coat for good, having made an indelible mark on Earth. The singer passed away on Monday, February 24, following prolonged health challenges. Roberta Flack’s publicist Elaine Schock confirmed her dead in a statement to CNN, revealing she spent her last moments at her home surrounded by her family. She was 88. The statement read,
“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025. She died peacefully surrounded by her family, Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
Roberta Flack Dead at 88 After Recurring Health Concerns
Prior to her death, the North Carolina-born singer had battled a handful of dilapidating health challenges, that slowly degraded her health condition until her demise years later. The public witnessed the first sign of her failing health in 2018 when the crooner had a medical emergency mid-performance and was rushed to a hospital upon leaving the stage. Her team attributed the illness to a stroke she suffered years prior and was still recovering from. Again in 2022, a spokesperson went public with Flack’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis. The progressive condition, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease eventually caused Flack to lose her voice, making it impossible for her to sing. She retired from performing as a result.
Sadly, Roberta Flack wound up dead three years later after another medical upheaval. Contrary to the initial report from her publicist claiming the star passed away at home surrounded by family, her friend and manager Suzzaner Koga revealed she suffered a cardiac arrest on her way to a Manhattan hospital on Monday.
Flack’s Career and Rise to Fame
Roberta Flack, born in Black Mountain, North Carolina in 1937, grew up in Arlington, Virginia. Growing up in a musical family, the icon embraced music at a young age, performing alongside her church choir. She nurtured her interest in the piano from age nine, eventually snagging a full music scholarship to Howard University by fifteen. She switched her major from piano to voice, graduating from the institution in 1958, at the age of nineteen. Flack had a stint as a music and English tutor in Farmville. She commenced her professional singing career in 1968, performing at a Capitol Hill restaurant in Washington DC.
Eventually, the singer Roberta Flack snagged her big break when jazz musician Les McCamm discovered her singing at the restaurant and gave her the nudge she needed to become a beloved artist. Despite releasing several tracks afterward, including her debut record, First Take, she only attained global stardom after Clint Eastwood used a recording of her track First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, in his 1971 film Play Misty For Me.
More hits followed, including He’s Killing Me Softly, which topped the Billboard chart for five weeks and earned her two of her glowing Grammy Awards in 1974. She interpreted several other iconic tracks throughout her career. Some of Roberta Flack’s most notable songs include Compared to What, Feel Like Makin’ Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tryin’ Times and Tonight I Celebrate My Love. Even in death, Flack’s legacy continues to live on through her soul-touching tracks that helped shape the world of music across 5 decades.
