File:Roberta_Flack_1976.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Roberta Flack was an American female vocalist whose career spanned from 1968 to 2022. Born on February 10, 1937, she passed away on February 24, 2025. Her musical output included genres such as soul, jazz, pop, adult contemporary, house, pop soul, and quiet storm. Notable works associated with her include "Killing me softly," "Green Piano," "Oasis," and "The Best of Roberta Flack."
Flack’s music has been categorized under tags including female vocalists, 70s, and rnb. She maintained an official website and had 194,000 social media followers. On Last.fm, her music recorded 8,199,429 plays from 970,577 listeners. Her bibliography includes four to five works, and she is referenced by 1,173 other encyclopedia articles. A quote attributed to her states, "I hope that one day we will be seen for the people we are, not for our race, gender, age or nationality."
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Crossref, Wikiquote, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Born
- Roberta Cleopatra Flack , ( 1937-02-10 ) February 10, 1937, Black Mountain, North Carolina , U.S.
- Died
- February 24, 2025 (2025-02-24) (aged 88), New York City, U.S.
- Other name
- Rubina Flake
- Occupations
- Singer songwriter musician
- Spouse
- Steve Novosel ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1966 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1972 )
- Relatives
- Rory Flack (niece) Bernard Wright (godson)
- Genres
- Jazz soul R&B
- Instruments
- Vocals keyboards
- Works
- Full list
- Years active
- 1968–2022
- Labels
- Atlantic (1968–1996) Angel / Capitol (1997) RAS / 429 / Sony/ATV (2011–2018)
- Website
- robertaflack .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Roberta
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Black Mountain
- Place of death
- New York City
- Occupation
- recording artist
- Educated at
- University of Massachusetts
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Notable work
- The Closer I Get to You
- Field of work
- singing
- Hair colour
- black hair
- Genre
- rhythm and blues
- Instrument
- electronic keyboard
- Official website
- www.robertaflack.com
- Image
- Roberta Flack 1976.jpg
- Voice type
- contralto
Show 16 more facts
- end of work period
- 2022-00-00
- birth name
- Roberta Cleopatra Flack
- cause of death
- cardiac arrest
- sexual orientation
- heterosexuality
- start of work period
- 1968-00-00
- Commons category
- Roberta Flack
- date of birth
- 1937-02-10
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- name in native language
- Roberta Flack
- social media followers
- 194000
- medical condition
- ALS
- significant person
- Les McCann
- date of death
- 2025-02-24
- manner of death
- natural causes
- place of burial
- Oak Hill Cemetery
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm radio format. Her commercial success included the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", and "Feel Like Makin' Love". She became the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years.
Flack frequently collaborated with Donny Hathaway, with whom she recorded several hit duets, including "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You". She was one of the defining voices of 1970s popular music and remained active in the industry, later finding success with duets such as "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Peabo Bryson (1983) and "Set the Night to Music" with Maxi Priest (1991). Across her decades-long career, she interpreted works by songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles. In 2020, Flack received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Roberta Flack” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.