Roberta Flack, 88, internationally known as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, died Monday, February 24, 2025, at home in New York just ahead of Women’s History Month in March.
“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,” publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
The Grammy-winning singer and pianist told stories that integrated love, culture and politics through her broad landscape of music. Flack could no longer sing, due to Lou Gehrig’s disease. Although Flack retired from touring in 2018, Flack received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
“She is the only solo artist to win the GRAMMY Award Record of the Year for two (2) consecutive years: ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ won the 1973 GRAMMY and ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ won the 1974 GRAMMY,” according to RobertaFlack.com.
Flack was a classically trained pianist from an early age. The then 15-year-old earned a music scholarship to attend Howard University. Les McCann, a jazz musician, reportedly discovered the songstress who sang at the Washington, DC nightclub, Mr. Henry’s.
“She was immediately signed to Atlantic Records,” according to RobertaFlack.com.
“Where Is the Love” (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway); “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “The Closer I Get to You,” “Tonight I Celebrate My Love,” are other well-known songs that are a part of Flack’s musical repertoire.
Flack was also a humanitarian who founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School, located in the Bronx. It provided a music education program to underprivileged students free of charge. Additionally, Flack founded The Roberta Flack Foundation in 2010 to support animal welfare and music education.
Flack’s rich legacy transcended race, cultures, and generations. Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon, who are John Lennon’s children, used social media to express his condolences about Flack’s passing.
Sean provided a YouTube link to Roberta Flack singing “Goodbye Sadness” with her smooth, relaxing voice.
Julian added, “Roberta Flack was a neighbor of Dad’s in New York City, and a dear friend of our family. Very sad to hear of her passing. Deepest condolences to all who loved her,” Julian Lennon also wrote on X.
Kevin Gore, President, Global Catalog, Warner Music Group also weighed in on Flack’s musical contributions and death.
“Roberta Flack was a milestone artist in the history of Atlantic Records and Warner Music. An unparalleled and truly original song stylist and arranger, she bridged multiple genres with grace, intelligence, and sophistication. A four-time Grammy Award winner, 14-time Grammy nominee, and the only solo artist ever to win two consecutive Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, she received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Roberta was one of the most popular, honored, and beloved artists of her time, possessing a one-of-a-kind voice that was both majestic and intimate, whether in moving ballads or deep grooves. Today is a sad day for her family, friends, and countless fans around the world. She will be deeply missed, but her music and her influence will certainly endure. All of us in the Warner Music family are proud to be a part of Roberta’s extraordinary legacy,” Gore stated.
Luther Vandross once sang background for Flack.
“She more than anybody encouraged me to make my own record and have my own career, and I owe her a lot,” someone posted on the late Vandross’ X account.
A clip showed him singing “Killing Me Softly with His Song.” Then, Vandross’s voice played as highlights displaying his affection for her.
Vandross’ public display mentioning the songstress underscored Flack’s encouraging spirit that extends beyond what she sang. Flack, once an ambitious teacher who moonlighted as a nightclub singer in Washington, D.C. had dreams of her own that were interrupted.
“Flack graduated from Howard with dreams of becoming an opera singer. Discouragement from a vocal coach led her to reconsider and turn toward music education as a career and popular music as an avocation. She taught in rural North Carolina and at several Washington, D.C.- area schools, eventually establishing herself as a nightclub performer on the side,” according to NPR.
Flack ended up becoming a “sensation at Capitol Hill’s Mr. Henry’s, where she played up the classical elements in folk revival ballads and Motown hits.”
NPR also reported that Flack reflected on her career in an emailed statement.
“I always say that ‘love is a song’ — meaning that music reaches beyond age, race, nationality and religion to touch our hearts,” she once said.