Grammy Awards Winner Roberta Flack Dies Aged 88

On Monday February 24th, 2025 afternoon ,the Grammy winner - Roberta Flack's team confirmed that Roberta had died earlier that day aged 88.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, 24 February 2025. She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.” Her Publicist Elaine Schock announced.

In 2022 it was announced that Flack had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological condition that had made it “impossible” for her to sing.

Her debut album, First Take, was released in 1969 and featured a blend of gospel, soul, flamenco and jazz.

One of the songs from the album, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, catapulted her to stardom after Clint Eastwood used the song as the soundtrack for a love scene in his film Play Misty For Me.

It also won the Grammy for record of the year in 1973 and a year later her song Killing Me Softly With His Song won the same gong and Flack won best female pop vocal performance.

Roberta Flack was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy in 2020.

In 2022, a feature-length documentary about the soul singer, called Roberta, told of her rise to stardom against the backdrop of America’s civil rights movement.