Killing Me Softly With His Song singer Roberta Flack dies aged 88
Roberta Flack has died (zixia/Alamy Stock Photo/PA)
Grammy-winning US singer Roberta Flack has died aged 88, her publicist has confirmed.
She was known for songs including 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face', originally by Ewan MacColl, and 'Killing Me Softly With His Song', written by Lori Lieberman and Norman Gimbel.
Publicist Elaine Schock said: “We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025. She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
Flack was born on February 10, 1937 in North Carolina but grew up in Virginia and started classical piano lessons at the age of nine.
She was awarded a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington DC aged 15 and was assistant conductor of the university choir for a while before returning to North Carolina following her father’s death in 1959, returning to the capital a year later.
In 2020 she won a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys.
