Althouse: Goodbye to Roberta Flack.

February 24, 2025

Goodbye to Roberta Flack.

"Roberta Flack... one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 88. She died en route to a hospital...." (NYT).

26 comments:

Kevin said...: It's not a good time to be a flack.; 2/24/25, 10:20 AM
Aggie said...: R.I.P. Her voice was something special.; 2/24/25, 10:21 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Her two biggest hits are in my top 20 favorite songs. RIP, Ms. Flack.; 2/24/25, 10:22 AM
TML said...: Just beautiful.; 2/24/25, 10:25 AM
rehajm said...: …a revival as the foundation of yacht rock lists. Man did that one get play on AM back in the day…; 2/24/25, 10:30 AM
Breezy said...: Such a beautiful voice... RIP.; 2/24/25, 10:32 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Amazing life. School teacher who wanted to get into Opera and then became a great Pop singer. She must have been about 30 or so when she started to have hit records.; 2/24/25, 10:52 AM
Big Mike said...: I saw her in concert. Wonderful.; 2/24/25, 11:26 AM
Political Junkie said...: Her song added a lot to Play Misty for Me. I think this is one of Clint's underappreciated films.; 2/24/25, 11:44 AM
Iman said...: An icon of the 70’s. RIP.; 2/24/25, 11:50 AM
Lexington Green said...: All kinds of older music have enjoyed revivals, but Roberta Flack, who had several big hits, seems to have been completley forgotten. Too bad. She was a good singer.; 2/24/25, 11:56 AM
Clyde said...: That song takes me back to 1973, my 7th grade year when it could be heard everywhere. This was back when all sorts of music could be heard on the AM radio Top 40 stations. It didn’t matter your race or age or any other demographic factor, if you listened to Top 40, you would hear Roberta Flack and enjoy her music. Nowadays, music is much more fragmented and narrowcasted to smaller audiences, with far more choices available, which is good; still, I miss the days of a common culture.; 2/24/25, 12:20 PM
MadisonMan said...: @Lexington, not quite forgotten. Killing me Softly was released by some artist that sampled Ms Flack. At least that's what it seemed like when I heard it on the radio. One of my favorites.; 2/24/25, 12:22 PM
Michael said...: In 1993 at a community festival, a band with a female vocalist on stage. She covered Killing me softly. Her voice was so sweet and beautiful that I waited till the end of the set and went over to ask her on a date. Turns out she was already engaged. Never ran into her again after that night. Her name was Julie. Three decades on I think about her when I hear this song. Funny how some memories are so sticky.; 2/24/25, 12:29 PM
loudogblog said...: MadisonMan said...
" Killing me Softly was released by some artist that sampled Ms Flack. At least that's what it seemed like when I heard it on the radio. One of my favorites."

I think you're thinking about the Fugees remake of this song. They had a great female vocalist, but I didn't like the sitar and the addition of "one time" "two time" by the male vocalist. You have to ba careful when remaking classics.; 2/24/25, 12:33 PM
john mosby said...: And of course there was the performance of Killing Me Softly in About A Boy.

JSM; 2/24/25, 12:56 PM
Tina Trent said...: I tried to listen to this twice. Both times, my cattle dogs began howling joyfully with her. Happy howling, not danger howling.

I've never seen them react to music like this, and I like the Gladys Knight/Quiet Storm stuff. She must have had something in her voice that calls to canines. Impressive.; 2/24/25, 1:01 PM
WhoKnew said...: Thanks for the video link. That live version is much better than I remember the hit single being. Great voice.; 2/24/25, 1:46 PM
Wince said...: Beautiful voice. RIP

Not sure I understand the "killing me" lyric.

Did Bill O'Reilly co-write a book about her?; 2/24/25, 2:14 PM
FormerLawClerk said...: Not even her song. It was written and recorded by Lori Lieberman after witnessing a concert by Don McLean (of American Pie fame).; 2/24/25, 2:26 PM
William said...: I mean her no disrespect, when I say she didn't have a fabulous life. She achieved success at a reasonably young age and got to live in Dakota just down the hall from the Lennons. Her marriages were not abusive or exploitative. She was good looking rather than beautiful or homely. She had a fabulous voice but not a fabulous life. She had a fine talent and received her just desserts.; 2/24/25, 2:29 PM
Jael Gone Windwalking said...: Love; 2/24/25, 3:42 PM
Dagwood said...: A great singer. Loved "First Time Ever" when it came out. Also among my favorite Flack songs was one written by Janis Ian called "Jesse."

RIP; 2/24/25, 9:27 PM
Jamie said...: I remember my parents going to her concert in Phoenix when I was about 5 and coming home with the album. I loved her voice but, at that age, couldn't figure out the lyrics to Killing Me Softly - I just thought it was inexplicably exciting, this singing about death. Shortly thereafter, I started listening or my parents' reel-to-reel recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, on headphones, obsessively. I suppose I had a dark side; 2/25/25, 6:56 AM
BudBrown said...: I remember first time I heard Flack. I'd crashed at a sisters in DC who worked at a Senate office and let me borrow her car after we drove to the Hill and I was on Mass Ave in rush hour traffic thinking this is absolutely not possible to survive when First Time came on the radio. I hear traffic is worse now.; 2/25/25, 7:06 AM
baghdadbob said...: Her cover of that Fugees song was quite good.; 2/25/25, 8:36 AM