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Roberta Flack, 1970s ‘Killing Me Softly’ R&B Superstar, Dies at 88
Roberta Flack, the 1970s R&B superstar best known for songs such as 'Killing Me Softly' and 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' had died at 88.
A classically trained pianist from an early age, Flack received a music scholarship at 15 to attend Howard University and was soon discovered singing at Washington, D.C. nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz great Les McCann, which led to her signing with Atlantic Records. A master of the “quiet storm” style, Flack’s effortless, soothing vocals soon became a staple of R&B and pop radio, leading to a two-decade run of chart hits. She learned to play piano on a funky junkyard instrument her father — a jazz pianist himself — found and restored for her, on which she practiced Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, as well as Mozart’s Requiem.
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