Roberta Flack was a famous singer and pianist, best known for her ballads that blended genres, most commonly R&B, jazz, folk, and pop. Her work is also known for its heavy influence on the Quiet Storm radio format. She made history by becoming the first artist to win consecutive Record of the Year Grammy Awards. 

Flack was born on February 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, NC. Her family later moved to Arlington when she was 5 years old. Her father, Laron Flack, was a jazz pianist, and her mother, Irene, was a music teacher, choir director, and organist at the family’s church. Following in her parents’ footsteps, Flack got started in music through her church, where she would provide piano accompaniment for the choir. She would soon start participating in classical piano competitions, and in 1952, at 15, she won a full music scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC. 

After graduating, Flack worked as a junior high school music teacher in Washington, DC, and gave private piano lessons. It was her performances on evenings and weekends at nightclubs that launched her music career. In 1968, Flack got her big break after her performance at a benefit concert was seen by famous jazz singer Les McCann. He arranged an audition for Flack with his record label, Atlantic Records. After hearing her perform, she was immediately signed. 

Her first album, First Take, was released in 1969, with her second album, Chapter Two, being released a year later. In 1971, Flack performed in Denis Sanders’ Soul to Soul concert film. Sales of her records were low until Clint Eastwood used her cover of Ewan MacColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from her first album in his directorial debut, Play Misty for Me. The song shot to the top of Billboard’s top list, and nearly 2 million copies of the album were sold. Flack won the 1973 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. 

She continued to see massive success with her songs, Where Is the Love, The Closer I Get to You, Killing Me Softly with His Song, and Feel Like Makin’ Love. She won the Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance in 1974. In total, Flack released 17 albums, including a Christmas one in 1997. 

After she was diagnosed with ALS in late 2022, Flack retired from performing. She died on February 24, 2025, at the age of 88 from a cardiac arrest. Shortly before her death, Flack received the 2022 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.