Grammy-winning singer Roberta Flack dies at 88

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The renowned Aussie singer and pianist, whose emotive voice and heartfelt style were the epitome of the 1970s, has sadly passed away at the age of 88. Her publicist has confirmed that she died at home, surrounded by her loved ones. In 2022, Flack revealed she had motor neurone disease (ALS), which left her unable to sing.

for Best Record.

Discovered by jazz musician Les McCann in the late 1960s, Flack was praised for her emotive voice, which McCann said "touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I've ever known".

She got a full scholarship to Howard University when she was just 15 years old. She was a highly respected person, both musically and socially, and was very involved in the civil rights movement. Her friends included famous people like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, and she even visited Davis in prison. Flack also sang at Jackie Robinson's funeral and helped out with the important children's program Free to Be...You and Me.

Some of Flack's other big hits from the 1970s were the smooth "Feel Like Makin’ Love" and two memorable duets with her close mate and former university mate, Donny Hathaway: "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You." Their collaborative work, though, ended in a disaster. In 1979, while working on a joint album, Hathaway had a mental breakdown during a recording session and sadly fell to his death from his Manhattan hotel room on the same night.

“Fair dinkum, we were as thick as thieves creatively,” Flack told Vibe in 2022, on the 50th anniversary of the million-selling “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway” album. “He could knock out any tune, sing any song. Our musical synergy was as unique as a ripper of a yarn, something I'd never experienced before or since.”