Roberta flack has died age 88 R.I.P.

[milven]

Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning soul singer best known for her celebrated interpretations of romantic ballads like “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” as well as her professional collaborations and social activism, has died, according to a statement from her publicist

She was 88.

Flack died at home surrounded by her family, Elaine Schock, her publicist, told CNN. Her death followed several years of health challenges, including a diagnosis, revealed publicly in late 2022, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The progressive condition, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, made it impossible for Flack to sing, her representatives said at the time.


https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/enter...ath/index.html

[reese]

Gosh, it has been a sad few days for losing legends. May Roberta R.I.P. She has left us a wonderful body of work to enjoy.

[lucky2012]

Rest in Peace, dear Songstress. ❤ [I have Making Love on repeat] :[[

[daviddesper]

"If Ever I See You Again" I will love your music as much as I did the first time around. Her version of Jesse was always the definitive version for me also.

[sansradio]

My IG post [set to the tune of her version of "Gone Away"]:

She was, I'm told, my first concert at about 18 months old--my parents took me along when they went to see her at a jazz festival in Detroit. Her sound--voice and piano--was a major panel in the crazy quilt that was the soundtrack of my growing up. What an incredibly sad day. Thank you for your truth and majesty, Miss Flack--take your well deserved rest.

[sophisticated_soul]

Rest In Peace Roberta Flack. Thank you for the music.

[Boogiedown]

Like no one else. As a teenager listening to the bombardment of pop music , she taught me the value in listening...absorbing, taking it in slowly. That calm water in a sea of turbulence. The word I'd use is patience.

Thank You Roberta Flack
RIP

[Motown Eddie]

Another Terrible Loss in the world of Classic Soul Music. Roberta was one the all-time Greats. Rest In Music, Power & Peace Roberta Flack.

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

Sad news.

I saw her live once in the 80s and she put on a fine show.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

RIP, Roberta. You and your music are remembered fondly.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Man, this has been a very tough week, losing these legends. May they all RIP.

[Guy]

RIP, Roberta Flack. I was so sorry to learn she suffered from ALS. It is a horrible affliction. I know that any suffering has come to an end for Roberta. 88 years is a long life and it has blessed us with exquisite music that will endure for centuries. Roberta was an exceptional artist and musician.

[mr_june]

One of the best ever. Add to her list of songs, her version of the Stylistics "God Bless You."

[telekin]

This was a great, but sadly not unexpected loss. I've been enjoying taking the time to revisit her catalogue over the past week, both the records I know and the ones I didn't. Throughout all of that, her voice had a warmth which never failed to move me. I found her voice had the ability to unlock a tenderness within me like few others could...

May she rest in peace.

[telekin]

Janis Ian posted this on her Facebook page on the 25th:

https://www.facebook.com/janisianpag...sJKX8w18xUkhwl

Janis Ian
February 25 at 7:06 AM

I was almost 22 when I got a contract with Frank Loesser's publishing company. Burt Haber had heard my song "Jesse", and despite people who told him I had been a one hit wonder and wasn't worth putting money into, he thought I had potential.

He and Milt Kramer convinced Frank to give me a small stipend and a writing room with a piano.. Their faith in me and my work gave me a great deal of self-confidence at a time when no one in the world seem to believe in me.

They were convinced that "Jesse" was a hit for someone, despite it being too long and too slow for radio. And unlike publishers of today, who spend most of their time licensing old songs their companies have acquired through catalog purchases, sitting around waiting for the next license to come in, they took the demos of my vocal in guitar version and pounded the streets. They must have contacted every female singer in a 3,000 mile radius, asking them to listen and consider recording the song.

You have to remember that at that point I was nothing. "Societies Child" had come and gone. A 5-year career gap in those days was pretty much the end of you. I couldn't get work as a singer, I couldn't get work as a player, all I could do was write,and hope for the best.

Somewhere in there, while they were still pitching the song, my manager and I met with Brooks Arthur at the Woodstock home of Janey Street. Brooks had been the engineer on "Society's Child", and along with a few other engineers he owned 914 studios in Blauvelt New York. He was ready to branch out and start producing, and he heard four or five songs and got excited. He agreed to produce an album and lend his studio time if we could come up with a very minimal budget.

Herb Gart, at the time Don McLean's manager, also believed in me. He was on his way to Australia, where he managed to convince Festival Records' Alan Healy to put up a small amount so we could begin making the album. He also personally loaned me enough money to move my instruments and furniture from Los Angeles and put it down payment on a little apartment over a single family home near the studio. So I flew to New York with my then partner, started to work at Frank's offices, while my dad prove a trailer and my car filled with furniture and my guitar up to the new place.

Peter Cunningham, whose photography you may be familiar with, came up and helped us move the piano up a flight of stairs. It was a small upright but I remember vividly that it took four of us to get it up and in place.

Then one day Burt called with amazing news. Roberta Flack had fallen in love with my song and wanted to record it. Unfortunately it was going to take a while, but she said it was a no-brainer, it would be a hit for her and a standard for years to come. I cannot begin to tell you what that meant to me.

It did take a while for her version to come out, following on the heels of her mega hit "The first time ever I saw your face". "Jesse" was released sometime around when we were finishing up my Stars album, and suddenly, I was worthy of respect again.

I owe her more than I can possibly say.

Fast forward many years and I'm sitting around with Pat, talking about music. We'd only known each other a month or two when she told me about this great singer she used to see at a nightclub in Washington DC, when she lived there. The singer's name was Roberta Flack, and Roberta had written an incredible song called "Jesse".

"I wrote that song," I said.

"No you didn't. Roberta Flack wrote that song."

"No Pat, I wrote that song."

Pat looked at me in utter disbelief and smiled. It was the kind of smile that says without words "You don't need to impress me, I'm already impressed." It really irritated me.

"Pat, I wrote that song. I swear to you I wrote that song. That's what I do. I'm a songwriter. Roberta is not a songwriter! Great singer, yes, but not a songwriter."

In the end I had to hunt through my records to find a copy of Roberta's album and show Pat the credit. And even though she said she believed me after seeing the credit, I'm not sure she was telling the truth.

Roberta had a stroke in 2016 and was diagnosed with ALS in 2022. She supplied the photographs of herself used in Varda Bar-Kar's film, But because she was so ill, she could not participate despite wanting to. She was a class act from start to finish, a wonderful singer with distinctive phrasing all her own. And she gave my career new life.

I am forever grateful. RIP.

[Motown Eddie]

Roberta Flack “Celebration of Life” to be live streamed.


From Soultracks.com-

The Memorial Celebration of Life for the legendary Roberta Flack will be held on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 4:00pm, ET, at The Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 West 138th St., New York, NY 11030.

The service will be Live Streamed at

RobertaFlack.com

Roberta Flack "Celebration of Life" to be live streamed - SoulTracks

[sansradio]

Roberta Flack “Celebration of Life” to be live streamed.


From Soultracks.com-

The Memorial Celebration of Life for the legendary Roberta Flack will be held on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 4:00pm, ET, at The Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 West 138th St., New York, NY 11030.

The service will be Live Streamed at

RobertaFlack.com

Roberta Flack "Celebration of Life" to be live streamed - SoulTracks

I scheduled a half day off work to attend this.

[daviddesper]

I loved Janis Ian's delightful post above. As I had previously commented, Roberta's version of that song was awesome but we owe it to Janis for bringing it to us, even if she had to prove herself over and over again. The songwriter can indeed be forgotten and under-appreciated at times.