Roberta Flack Passes Away at Age 88

According to a statement from one of her representatives, Roberta Flack has passed away at the age of 88. “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,” the statement reads. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.” No cause of death has been released. She is survived by her son, Bernard Wright.

Flack was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina in February 1937. She began studying piano at age nine, enrolling at Howard University on a full scholarship just six years later. She would become a teacher in North Carolina and Washington, D.C., as well as a nightspot performer at Mr. Henry’s. It was there that she caught the eyes of Atlantic Records’ Les McCann, who helped get her signed to the label in the late 1960s. She’d find popularity on the R&B chart, thanks to her cover of James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend.”

But Flack was one of the greatest pop and R&B vocalists of her generation, best known for her #1 hit songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” both of which propelled her into the mainstream in the 1970s. She won Record of the Year in back-to-back years at the Grammys, a feat that went unmatched until the early 2000s when U2 won the award twice in 2001 and 2002. In 1974, Flack again found success when “Where is the Love” reached #1 on the Hot 100. During her time with us, Flack had an especially fruitful partnership with vocalist Donny Hathaway. Her duet with Hathaway, “Back Together Again,” became a Top 10 hit after Hathaway’s suicide in January 1979.