Roberta Flack was the first artist to win back-to-back ‘Record of the Year’ Grammy’s. The music legend passed away today peacefully surrounded by her family at age 88.
Roberta was born on February 10th, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She became a music teacher in D.C. and began playing piano in nightclubs which led to her discovery by jazz musician Les McCann, who helped Roberta land a record deal in 1969.
Roberta’s career got a big boost when her song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was used over the closing credits in the Clint Eastwood movie “Play Misty For Me.”The song would go on to spend six weeks at number one, and that earned Roberta her Grammys for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’ in 1972.
She followed that success up with “Killing Me Softly With His Song” in 1973, which once again won Roberta the “Record of the Year’ Grammy. That song also won a “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ Grammy.
Roberta Flack received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2020. She was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2022. We’re remembering Roberta on our new and improved iHeartRadio app. Search for Roberta Flack. We’ll also pay tribute on The Big Show on Tuesday morning.