Roberta Cleopatra Flack was an American singer who grew 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. When Flack was nine, she took an interest in playing the piano. During her early teens, Flack excelled at classical piano and Howard University awarded her a full music scholarship.
Before becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack returned to Washington, D.C., and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools. 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 Washington-area night spots. At the Tivoli Club, 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.
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, and others. The U.S. delegation of musical artists featured in the film was invited to perform for the 14th anniversary of African independence in Ghana. Flack’s cover version of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” hit number 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 sound track 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. It 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, 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.
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. On her own Flack scored her second No. 1 hit in 1973, “Killing Me Softly with His Song” written by Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel, and Lori Lieberman. 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.
Flack 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. 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. In 1999, a star with Flack’s name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 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. In 2010, she appeared on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, singing a duet of “Where Is The Love” with Maxwell.
Flack died on February 24, 2025, at the age of 88. Initial reports stated that she died at home among her family. However, her manager, Suzanne Koga, stated she died from cardiac arrest on her way to the hospital in Manhattan,
