Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " Where Is the Love" and " The Closer I Get to You", the latter two duets with

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

. Flack is also noted for her influence on the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, along with her interpretations of songs by various songwriters, such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles. Flack was the first artist to win the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

in two consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" won in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Early life

Flack was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to parents Laron Flack, a Veterans Administration draftsman, and Irene (Council) Flack a church organist, on February 10, 1937 (some sources have cited 1939 but the 1940 Census gives Roberta's age as 3 years old) and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Growing up in a large, musical family, she often accompanied the choir of Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church by playing hymns and spirituals on piano, but she also enjoyed going to the " Baptist church down the street" to listen to contemporary gospel music, such as that performed by Mahalia Jackson and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

. When Flack was nine, she started taking an interest in playing the piano, and during her early teens, Flack so excelled at classical piano that Howard University awarded her a full music scholarship. By age 15, she entered Howard University, making her one of the youngest students ever to enroll there. She eventually changed her major from piano to voice and became an assistant conductor of the university choir. Her direction of a production of '' Aida'' received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty. Flack became a student teacher at a school near

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...

. She graduated from Howard University at 19 and began graduate studies in music, but the sudden death of her father forced her to take a job teaching music and English in Farmville, North Carolina.

Career

Early career

Before becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack returned to Washington, D.C., and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools. She also taught private piano lessons out of her home on Euclid St. NW. During this period, her music career began to take shape on evenings and weekends in Washington, D.C. area night spots. At the Tivoli Club, she accompanied opera singers at the piano. During intermissions, she would sing

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, folk, and pop standards in a back room, accompanying herself on the piano. Later, she performed several nights a week at the 1520 Club, again providing her own piano accompaniment. Around this time, her voice teacher, Frederick "Wilkie" Wilkerson, told her that he saw a brighter future for her in pop music than in the classics. She modified her repertoire accordingly and her reputation spread. Flack began singing professionally after being hired to perform regularly at Mr. Henry's Restaurant, on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

, Washington, D.C., in 1968.

1970s

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (born September 23, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and vocalist.Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 448. Oxford University Press. Early life Les McCann was born in ...

discovered Flack singing and playing jazz in a Washington nightclub. He later said on the liner notes of what would be her first album ''First Take'' noted below, "Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I've ever known. I laughed, cried, and screamed for more...she alone had the voice." Very quickly, he arranged an audition for her with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, during which she played 42 songs in 3 hours for producer Joel Dorn. In November 1968, she recorded 39 song demos in less than 10 hours. Three months later, Atlantic reportedly recorded Flack's debut album, '' First Take'', in a mere 10 hours. In 1971, Flack participated in the legendary ''Soul to Soul'' concert film by Denis Sanders, which was headlined by Wilson Pickett, along with Ike & Tina Turner,

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, The Staple Singers,

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

The Voices of East Harlem The Voices of East Harlem was an African-American vocal ensemble of up to 20 singers, aged between 12 and 21. Founded as a community initiative in 1969, the group performed with top soul and R&B musicians and recorded four albums in the early and ...

, and others. The U.S. delegation of musical artists was invited to perform for 14th anniversary of African independence in Ghana. The film was digitally reissued on DVD and CD in 2004 but Flack declined permission for her image and recording to be included for unknown reasons. Her

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

performance of the traditional spiritual " Oh Freedom" retitled "Freedom Song" on the original ''Soul to Soul'' LP soundtrack is only available in the VHS version of the film. Flack's cover version of " Will You Love Me Tomorrow" hit number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Her Atlantic recordings did not sell particularly well, until actor/director

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

chose a song from ''First Take'', " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" written by

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

, for the sound track of his directorial debut '' Play Misty for Me''; it became the biggest hit of the year for 1972, spending six consecutive weeks at #1 and earning Flack a million-selling Gold disc. It finished the year as

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's top song of 1972. The ''First Take'' album also went to #1 and eventually sold 1.9 million copies in the United States. Eastwood, who paid $2,000 for the use of the song in the film,McGilligan (1999), p.194 has remained an admirer and friend of Flack's ever since. It was awarded the

in 1973. In 1983, she recorded the end music to the Dirty Harry film ''

Sudden Impact ''Sudden Impact'' is a 1983 American vigilante action thriller film, the fourth in the ''Dirty Harry'' series, directed, produced by and starring Clint Eastwood (making it the only ''Dirty Harry'' film to be directed by Eastwood himself) and co ...

'' at Eastwood's request. In 1972, Flack began recording regularly with

, scoring hits such as the Grammy-winning " Where Is the Love" (1972) and later " The Closer I Get to You" (1978), both million-selling gold singles. Flack and Hathaway recorded several duets together, including two LPs, until Hathaway's 1979 death. On her own, Flack scored her second #1 hit in 1973, " Killing Me Softly with His Song" written by Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel and

Lori Lieberman Lori Lieberman (born November 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on guitar and piano. She first came to public attention in the early 1970s with a series of albums on Capitol Records, the first of which featured t ...

. It was awarded both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1974

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Its parent album was Flack's biggest-selling disc, eventually earning double platinum certification. In 1974, Flack released " Feel Like Makin' Love," which became her third and final #1 hit to date on the Hot 100. That same year, Flack sang the lead on a

Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades in ...

song called "Freedom", which featured prominently at the opening and closing of the movie '' Huckleberry Finn''. That same year, she performed "When We Grow Up" with a teenage Michael Jackson on the 1974 television special, '' Free to Be... You and Me''.

1980s

Flack had a 1982 hit single with " Making Love", written by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

(the title track of the 1982 film of the same name), which reached #13. She began working with Peabo Bryson with more limited success, charting as high as #5 on the R&B chart (plus #16 Pop and #4 Adult Contemporary) with " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" in 1983. In 1986, Flack sang the theme song entitled "Together Through the Years" for the NBC television series ''Valerie'', later known as '' The Hogan Family''. The song was used throughout the show's six seasons. In 1987, Flack supplied the voice of Michael Jackson's mother in the 18-minute short film for "

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

". ''

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

'' was released in 1988 and failed to make an impact with pop audiences, though the title track reached #1 on the R&B chart and a remix of " Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)" topped the

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

chart in 1989. Flack found herself again in the US

Top 10 A top ten list is a list of the ten highest-ranking items of a given category. Top Ten or Top 10 may also refer to: Media *Top 10, a common record chart for the ten most popular songs of the week in the musical chart of a country *''America's Top ...

with the hit song "Set the Night to Music", a 1991 duet with Jamaican vocalist Maxi Priest that peaked at #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts and #2 AC.

Later career

In 1999, a star with Flack's name was placed on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

. That same year, she gave a concert tour in South Africa; the final performance was attended by President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. In 2010, she appeared on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, singing a duet of "Where Is The Love" with Maxwell. In February 2012, Flack released ''Let it Be Roberta'', an album of

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

covers including "

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' first release o ...

" and "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

". It was her first recording in over eight years. Flack knew John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as both households moved in 1975 into

The Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a Housing cooperative, cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street (Manhattan), 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was construc ...

apartment building in New York City, and had apartments across the hall from each other. Flack has stated that she has already been asked to do a second album of Beatles covers. In 2013, she was reported to be involved in an interpretative album of the Beatles' classics. At age 80, Flack made her most recent recording,
Running
', the closing credits song of the 2018 feature documentary '' 3100: Run and Become'' with music and lyrics by

Michael A. Levine Michael A. Levine (born 20 February 1964 in Tokyo, Japan) is an American composer, music producer and screenwriter born in Japan and currently based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his work in film and television. Early career Trained as ...

Critical reputation

Flack's minimalist, classically trained approach to her songs was seen by a number of critics as lacking in grit and uncharacteristic of soul music. According to music scholar Jason King, her work was regularly described with the adjectives "boring", "depressing", "lifeless", "studied", and "calculated"; in contrast, AllMusic's Steve Huey said it has been called "classy, urbane, reserved, smooth, and sophisticated". In 1971, '' Village Voice'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

reported that "Flack is generally regarded as the most significant new black woman singer since

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, and at moments she sounds kind, intelligent, and very likable. But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you'd expect of someone who says 'between you and I'." Reviewing her body of work from the 1970s, he later argued that the singer "has nothing whatsoever to do with rock and roll or rhythm and blues and almost nothing to do with soul", comparing her middle-of-the-road aesthetic to

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

but with better taste, which he believed does not necessarily guarantee more enduring music: "In the long run, pop lies are improved by vulgarity." Writer and music critic Ann Powers argued in a 2020 piece for NPR that "Flack's presence looms over both R&B and indie "bedroom" pop as if she were one of the astral beings in Ava DuVernay's version of ''A Wrinkle In Time.''" Jason King argued that she occupies a complex place in popular music, as "the nature of her power as a performer — to generate rapturous, spellbinding mood music and to plumb the depths of soulful heaviness by way of classically-informed technique — is not too easy to claim or make sense with the limited tools that we have in music criticism."

Personal life

Flack is a member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, which advocates the right of artists to control their creative properties. She is also a spokeswoman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; her appearance in commercials for the ASPCA featured "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". In the Bronx section of New York City, the Hyde Leadership Charter School's after-school music program is called "The Roberta Flack School of Music" and is in partnership with Flack, who founded the school, which provides free music education to underprivileged students. Between 1966 and 1972, she was married to

Steve Novosel Steven (Steve) Novosel (born 1940) is an American professional jazz bassist and educator whose 40-plus year career has spanned numerous genre, from traditional jazz to swing, bebop, mainstream and avant garde. Early life and musical development ...

. Flack is the aunt of professional ice skater Rory Flack. She is also the godmother of musician Bernard Wright, who died in an accident on May 19, 2022. According to DNA analysis, she is of Cameroonian descent.

Health

On April 20, 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

at a benefit for the

Jazz Foundation of America The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York that was founded in 1989. Its programs seek to help jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunitie ...

. She became ill, left the stage, and was rushed to the Harlem Hospital Center. In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had suffered a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was "doing fine" and being kept overnight for

medical observation Medical observation is a medical service aimed at continued care of selected patients, usually for a period of 6 to 24 (sometimes more) hours, to determine their need for inpatient admission. This service is usually provided in emergency departmen ...

. On November 14, 2022, it was announced by a spokesperson that Flack had been diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

and had retired from performing, due to the disease making it "impossible to sing", according to a spokesperson.

In popular culture

Flack’s collaboration with

is mentioned in the song " What A Catch, Donnie" on

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

's fourth studio album, ''

Folie à Deux Folie à deux ('folly of two', or 'madness haredby two'), also known as shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder (SDD), is a collection of rare psychiatric syndromes in which symptoms of a delusional belief, and sometimes hallucinations, ...

''. American experimental producer

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, Disc jockey, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flyi ...

had a song named after her ("RobertaFlack") on his '' Los Angeles'' album. In 1991, Hong Kong singer

Sandy Lam Sandy Lam (; born 26 April 1966), is a Hong Kong singer, actress and album producer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as a Cantopop diva, before expanding her fan base significantly in Asia, releasing more than 30 stylistically diverse albums in C ...

recorded a cover version of "And So It Goes" called "微涼" on the album "夢了、瘋了、倦了". Although it was not officially promoted by the record company, it was played by many DJs. In the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "My Lovely Man", on the album '' Blood Sugar Sex Magik'',

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...

sang "I listen to Roberta Flack, but I know you won't come back." She is a favorite singer of Vic Wilcox, in David Lodge's novel ''Nice Work'', winner of the ''Sunday Express'' Book of the Year award in 1988. In the 2014 Marvel movie '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', her hit "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is playing when Hugh Jackman's character, Wolverine's consciousness initially arrives back in 1973. The song also appears in Marlon Riggs's 1989 experimental documentary ''

Tongues Untied ''Tongues Untied'' is a 1989 American experimental documentary film directed by Marlon T. Riggs, and featuring Riggs, Essex Hemphill and Brian Freeman. The film seeks, in its author's words to, "...shatter the nation's brutalizing silence on matt ...

''. Her song "Compared to What" plays over the opening credits to the 2015 movie '' The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' The song also appears in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic fil ...

''.

Accolades

On May 11, 2017, Roberta Flack received an honorary Doctorate degree in the Arts from

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

. Flack was inducted into the

North Carolina Music Hall of Fame The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization and museum in Kannapolis, North Carolina that was created to honor musicians, composers and artists with ties to North Carolina that have made significant impact in the music indus ...

in 2009. On March 12, 2022, Flack was honored with the DAR Women in American History Award and a restored fire callbox in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington DC commemorating her early-career connection to nearby Mr. Henry's neighborhood bar.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Flack has received four awards from thirteen nominations. , - , , , "

You've Got a Friend "You've Got a Friend" is a 1971 song written by American singer, songwriter, and musician Carole King. It was first recorded by King and included on her second studio album, ''Tapestry'' (1971). Another well-known version is by James Taylor fr ...

" (with

) , , Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group , , , - , rowspan="3", , , " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" , , Record of the Year , , , - , " Where Is the Love" (with Donny Hathaway) , , Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus , , , - , '' Quiet Fire'' , , Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female , , , - , rowspan="3", , , '' Killing Me Softly'' , ,

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, , , - , rowspan="2", " Killing Me Softly with His Song" , , Record of the Year , , , - , Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female , , , - , rowspan="2", , rowspan="2", " Feel Like Makin' Love" , , Record of the Year , , , - , Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female , , , - , , , , " The Closer I Get to You" (with Donny Hathaway) , , Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group , , , - , rowspan="2", , , '' Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway'' , ,

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

, , , - , "Back Together Again" (with Donny Hathaway) , , Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal , , , - , , , , '' Roberta'' , ,

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album is an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented ...

, , , - , , , Roberta Flack , ,

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award that is awarded by The Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording." ...

, , , -

American Music Awards

The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. Flack has received one award from six nominations. , - , rowspan="3", , , , , , Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock) , , , - , , , Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) , , , - , , " Killing Me Softly with His Song" , , Favorite Single (Pop/Rock) , , , - , rowspan="2", , , , , , Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) , , , - , , " Feel Like Makin' Love" , , Favorite Single (Soul/R&B) , , , - , , , , , , , Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B) , ,

Discography

* '' First Take'' (1969) * '' Chapter Two'' (1970) * '' Quiet Fire'' (1971) * '' Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway'' (1972) * '' Killing Me Softly'' (1973) * '' Feel Like Makin' Love'' (1975) * '' Blue Lights in the Basement'' (1977) * '' Roberta Flack'' (1978) * '' Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway'' (1980) * '' I'm the One'' (1982) * '' Born to Love'' (1983) * ''

'' (1988) * ''

Set the Night to Music "Set the Night to Music" is a song written by Diane Warren and recorded by Starship on their LP, '' No Protection'' (1987). It became a major hit for Roberta Flack in 1991. Starship's original version became a Top 10 hit on the U.S. ''Billboar ...

'' (1991) * '' Stop the World'' (1992) * '' Roberta'' (1994) * '' The Christmas Album'' (1997) * ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

'' (2003) * ''Let It Be Roberta'' (2012) * ''Running'' (2018)

Citations

General bibliography

* *

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flack, Roberta 1937 births Living people 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American pianists 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 429 Records artists African-American women singer-songwriters African-American pianists American contraltos American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American jazz pianists American jazz singers American people of Cameroonian descent American pop pianists American rhythm and blues keyboardists American rhythm and blues singers American soul keyboardists American soul singers American women jazz singers American women pianists Angel Records artists Atlantic Records artists Ballad musicians Capitol Records artists Delta Sigma Theta members Grammy Award winners Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Howard University alumni Jazz musicians from North Carolina People from Black Mountain, North Carolina People with motor neuron disease Rhythm and blues pianists Singer-songwriters from North Carolina Sony Music Publishing artists