# Roberta Flack dies at age 88 **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735 **Category:** Cafe Society **Tags:** music **Created:** [February 24, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735 "2025-02-24T16:59:40Z") **Posts on this page:** 9 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/1 "2025-02-24T16:59:40Z")
One of the iconic voices of our time has died of cardiac arrest. Sing it softly, sweetie. ---
### Author: ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/2 "2025-02-24T17:01:03Z")
Old thread from 2022 about her illness. RIP > [@"Roberta Flack announces she has ALS"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-announces-she-has-als/974914): > > Damn. “…“impossible to sing and not easy to speak”…” cry Hard to believe she’s 85. ---
### Author: ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/3 "2025-02-24T17:01:38Z")
Should probably include this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mrudT410TAI/maxresdefault.jpg "Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrudT410TAI) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/d8_fLu2yrP4/hqdefault.jpg "Roberta Flack - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 1972") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8_fLu2yrP4) ---
### Author: ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/4 "2025-02-24T17:02:55Z")
Mr. Softly can retire now. He got Roberta. _Killing Me Softly_ is a iconic song. It was composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. ---
### Author: ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/5 "2025-02-24T18:44:39Z")
RIP, Queen. ---
### Author: ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/6 "2025-02-24T19:48:35Z")
I was 10 or 11 when she was putting out songs like Killing Me Softly and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. I was just starting to get music but I knew right away she had something special. The songs she did in the early '70s are seared on my soul. ---
### Author: ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/7 "2025-02-24T20:03:52Z")
This one hits in the guts. I did not know she was ill and couldn’t sing. I love her music and immediately learned _Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye_ to sing and play on my guitar when it came out. Her hits were few, but they ring strong in memory throughout these many years. Rest in Peace, lovely lady. ---
### Author: ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/8 "2025-02-24T20:18:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > _Killing Me Softly_ is a iconic song. It was composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. … and originally released by Lori Lieberman. That has to be good for winning a bar bet, right? ---
### Author: ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies) #### Post date: [February 24, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberta-flack-dies-at-age-88/1014735/9 "2025-02-24T20:43:19Z")
> When Clint Eastwood first heard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” he found himself “driving off the side of the freeway,” according to Roberta Flack. Enamored with the song, the director used it in a pivotal moment in his film “Play Misty for Me,” and it subsequently gained new fame. [**SOURCE**](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/clint-eastwood-loved-first-time-ever-i-saw-your-face-odrbhz/25155/) [Contains a 2m42s video worth watching] What an amazing songstress.