Roberta Flack, the voice that knew how to kill the world gently with her love, dies

Before becoming a global star and making the planet dance, Roberta Flack, a classically trained pianist, was a teacher in the Washington school system.

Roberta Flack knew how to educate and with her Killing me softly with his song she had the ability to make the world die of love with pleasure. The magnetism of her voice led her to win several Grammys and make even those who did not want to dance. She died this Monday in Manhattan at the age of 88, according to her representative.

The singer of another great hit, The first time ever I saw you , and also an energetic pianist, suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as announced by her family in November 2022. From then on, she did not sing again.

The progression of the disease made it impossible for him to even speak, his manager Suzanne Koga said in a new statement.

Flack was born on February 10, 1937, in North Carolina. The daughter of a church organist, her talent earned her a scholarship at the age of 15 to Howard University in Washington, one of the great centers of African-American culture.

Jazz musician Les McCann claimed to have discovered Flack's extraordinary abilities while she was singing at Mr. Henry's, a club in the US capital.

“Her voice touched you, it captured you, it hit you with every emotion you could ever know,” McCann said. “I laughed, cried and screamed more and more,” she insisted when speaking about this artist.

Initially, it was McCann himself who arranged for the young singer to sign with Atlantic Records, which was a prestigious label in soul music at that time. There she recorded The first time... , a song written by Ewan MacColl.

That song marked Flack's breakthrough once it appeared on her first album, First Take , in 1969.

After being used by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 directorial debut, Night Chill , the song gained popularity. The record label then released a radio version that became a huge hit. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.

And it was in 1973 when the song won the gramophone awards for record of the year and song of the year with Killing me softly... It had the same success in 1974 ( Feel like makin' love ).

It was just the beginning of other hits that also took him to the top of the charts. He recorded those two Grammy-winning songs with his Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway.

The two recorded several songs until Hathaway died in 1979. She jumped from a New York hotel room and it was ruled suicide.

“He was very sensitive and he reacted to things that were happening around him and whatever feelings he had inside. He was a genius and that's why he wasn't satisfied with his own performances, his own creations,” Flack told The Washington Post. “Like all creatives, he had highs and lows,” she lamented.

This loss was a personal and professional blow to her. But she later found a new partner with whom she teamed up, Peabo Bryson, in 1980. The duo recorded the hit Tonight, I Celebrate My Love . Flack spent the rest of that decade touring and returned to the top 10 in 1991 with Set the Night to Music , a duet with Maxi Priest.

Flack's music was introduced to new generations in the nineties thanks to The Fugees, who with the vocal leadership of Lauryn Hill performed a highly praised and globally sold version of Killing me softly with this song . They performed it for the then president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, who is said to have been enthusiastic about it.

In 1999, Flack received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the 20th century, she founded her own music school in the Bronx. Then her health began to deteriorate. She suffered a stroke in 2016 and was hospitalized for a time. She returned to the stage in 2018 at a humanitarian gala.

“It’s not easy to always move to the rhythm of your songs. You have to always be in tune with your songs, not so much with the music, but with the lyrics and their meaning,” she told AP during her last active period. Flack, body and soul of soul.