After her initial success, she became associated with the growth of quiet storm, a deep, mature and ruminative offshoot of R&B which later inspired the likes of Erykah Badu, D’Angelo and the Fugees (whose own take on Killing Me Softly would rival Flack’s to be the definitive version).
Much-loved singer known for Killing Me Softly With His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and duets with Donny Hathaway and Peabo Bryson, had suffered a stroke in 2016.
Roberta Flack, the US singer behind a string of hits including Killing Me Softly With His Song, has died aged 88.
With her graceful presence, genre-crossing versatility and ability to give voice to the full range of love’s highs and lows, Flack is widely considered one of soul and R&B’s greatest ever artists.
It took until 1971, however, and a placement on the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me, before her cover of Ewan MacColl’s folk ballad The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face became her first major US hit.
