Roberta Flack was born on February 10, 1939, in Asheville, North Carolina, and revealed her musical talents early in life, both as a pianist and a singer. Mahalia Jackson was a great early influence on her style. She holds a BA degree in music from Howard University in Washington, DC, to which she won a full musical scholarship at the tender age of 15. Flack briefly taught high school Music and English in her home state. Her early career was lackluster, and began with recording for Atlantic Records. In 1969, she recorded “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and two years later it was included on the soundtrack to “Play Misty For Me” and became a number one hit. She and Clint Eastwood, who directed and starred in the movie, are good friends. The song became a number one hit in 1972.
Flack, who is the aunt of professional ice-skater, Rory Flack Burghardt, is known as a singer of integrity whose silvery vocal range includes soulful jazz and pop ballads. Her song, “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” which was a tribute to “American Pie” singer, Don McLean, won the 1974 Grammy for the “Record of The Year.” It had been the title cut from her 1973 album. Her song, “Where Is The Love,” which was also very successful, was one of the many duets she performed with Donny Hathaway. She and Hathaway were a successful recording team until his suicide in 1979 when Roberta Flack then turned to Peabo Bryon as a collaborator. They were successful, notably in 1983 with “Tonight I Celebrate My Love”, but they lacked the unique magic and spontaneity of the Hathaway/Flack ensemble.
Roberta Flack’s heyday may have been during the 1970s, but she has continued to work throughout the years, having had another big hit in 1991 with her song, “Set The Night To Music.” She almost single-handedly set the stage for a new generation of female singers, and empowered a musical public with her beautiful amalgam of soul, gospel and folk music. She continues to tour regularly and is actively involved in the Artist Empowerment Coalition (AEC), which is an advocacy group fighting for artists’ rights and control over their creative properties.
Long live her unique style and many wonderful achievements!