Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou GehrigB次元官网网址檚 disease, and could no longer sing,

Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used B次元官网网址淭he First Time Ever I Saw Your FaceB次元官网网址� as the soundtrack for one of cinemaB次元官网网址檚 more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film B次元官网网址淧lay Misty for Me.B次元官网网址� The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with FlackB次元官网网址檚 graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.

B次元官网网址淭he record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,B次元官网网址� Flack told The Associated Press in 2018. B次元官网网址淲ith the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.B次元官网网址�

In 1973, she matched both achievements with B次元官网网址淜illing Me Softly With His Song,B次元官网网址� becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.

A classically trained pianist and who at age 15 received a full scholarship to Howard, the historically Black university, Flack was discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that B次元官网网址渉er voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion IB次元官网网址檝e ever known.B次元官网网址� Although versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach, as if curating a song word by word.

For FlackB次元官网网址檚 many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social and civil rights movements of the time, her friends including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges B次元官网网址� for which she was acquitted B次元官网网址� for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, major league baseballB次元官网网址檚 first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist childrenB次元官网网址檚 entertainment project created by Marlo Thomas, B次元官网网址淔ree to Be B次元官网网址� You and Me.B次元官网网址�

FlackB次元官网网址檚 other hits from the 1970s included the cozy B次元官网网址淔eel Like MakinB次元官网网址� LoveB次元官网网址� and two duets with her close friend and former Howard classmate Donny Hathaway, B次元官网网址淲here Is the LoveB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址漈he Closer I Get to YouB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� a partnership that ended in tragedy. In 1979, she and Hathaway were working on an album of duets when he suffered a breakdown during recording and later that night fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan.

B次元官网网址淲e were deeply connected creatively,B次元官网网址� Flack told Vibe in 2022, upon the 50th anniversary of the million-selling B次元官网网址淩oberta Flack and Donny HathawayB次元官网网址� album. B次元官网网址淗e could play anything, sing anything. Our musical synergy was unlike (anything) IB次元官网网址檇 had before or since.B次元官网网址�

She never matched her first run of success, although she did have a hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet B次元官网网址淭onight, I Celebrate My LoveB次元官网网址� and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet B次元官网网址淪et the Night to Music.B次元官网网址� In the mid-90s, Flack received new attention after the Fugees recorded a Grammy-winning cover of B次元官网网址淜illing Me Softly,B次元官网网址� which she eventually performed on stage with the hip-hop group.

Overall, she won five Grammys (three for B次元官网网址淜illing Me SoftlyB次元官网网址�), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her.

B次元官网网址淚 love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, itB次元官网网址檚 our language,B次元官网网址� Flack told songwriteruniverse.com in 2020. B次元官网网址淭hrough music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents, I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.B次元官网网址�

In 2022, Beyonc茅 placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated B次元官网网址淨ueens RemixB次元官网网址� of B次元官网网址淏reak My Soul.B次元官网网址�

Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in ManhattanB次元官网网址檚 Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, B次元官网网址淟et It Be Roberta.B次元官网网址� She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, the daughter of musicians, was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. After graduating from Howard, she taught music in D.C.-area junior high schools for several years in her 20s, while performing after hours in clubs.

She sometimes backed other singers, but her own shows at WashingtonB次元官网网址檚 renowned Mr. HenryB次元官网网址檚 attracted such celebrity patrons as Burt Bacharach, Ramsey Lewis and Johnny Mathis. The clubB次元官网网址檚 owner, Henry Yaffe, converted an apartment directly above into a private studio, the Roberta Flack Room.

B次元官网网址淚 wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,B次元官网网址� she told The Telegraph in 2015. B次元官网网址淚 listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.B次元官网网址�

Flack was signed to Atlantic Records and her debut album, B次元官网网址淔irst Take,B次元官网网址� a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz, came out in 1969. One track was a love song by the English folk artist Ewan MacColl: B次元官网网址淭he First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,B次元官网网址� written in 1957 for his future wife, singer Peggy Seeger. Flack not only knew of the ballad, but used it while working with a glee club during her years as an educator.

B次元官网网址淚 was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, D.C. It was part of the city where kids werenB次元官网网址檛 that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education. I really wanted them to read music. First, IB次元官网网址檇 get their attention. (Flack starts singing a Supremes hit) B次元官网网址楽top, in the name of love.B次元官网网址� Then I could teach them!B次元官网网址� she told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012.

B次元官网网址淵ou have to do all sorts of things when youB次元官网网址檙e dealing with kids in the inner-city,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 knew theyB次元官网网址檇 like the part where (B次元官网网址楾he First Time Ever I Saw Your FaceB次元官网网址�) goes B次元官网网址楾he first time ever I kissed your mouth.B次元官网网址� Ooh, B次元官网网址楰issed your mouth!B次元官网网址� Once the kids got past the giggles, we were good.B次元官网网址�

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press