Roberta Flack Biography
Roberta Flack (Roberta Cleopatra Flack) is an American singer. She is well known for her 1st singles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, and for “Where Is the Love” and “The Closer I Get to You”, two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway.
Cleopatra Flack was born on February 10, 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Her father Laron Leroy Flack was a self-taught jazz pianist and her mother, Irene Flack, was church pianist. At the age of nine her family moved to Arlington, Virginia. There she began to take piano lessons and broaden her appreciation of musical genres from R&B and Jazz to Blues and Pop. By the age of 13 she was already displaying her range of musical talent when she won second place honors with her performance of a Scarlatti sonata in a statewide contest for African American students.
Other Personalities: Eric Flack
In 1952 at the age of 15 she enrolled at Howard University on a full music scholarship. In doing so she became one of the youngest students to enroll in that institution in the 20th Century. Within a year, she was conducting her sorority’s (Delta Sigma Theta) vocal quartet and accompanying pop, jazz, and opera singers.
After switching her major from music to music education, Flack graduated in 1958. She continued her studies at Howard, working toward a master’s degree, but the death of her father in 1959 caused her to put school on hold. Flack returned to North Carolina, where she got a job teaching music in public schools. A year later she found a similar job in Washington, teaching music and English in the District of Columbia’s junior high schools.
Roberta Flack Age
Roberta was born on 10th of February 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She is 82 years old. In August of 1973, Flack released the album, Killing Me Softly whose title track is her best-known recording. She had a string of hits during the rest of the 1970s. Her cool, husky vocals and slow, sensual versions of songs helped usher in a new style of soulful pop.
Roberta Flack Family | Young
Roberta Flack Husband | Son
Flack was married Steve Novosel in 1966 and later the pair divorced him in 1972. The pair has one son named Bernard Wright, who became a rhythm and blues musician. there is no much information about her personal life.
Roberta Flack Education
She was a classical piano as a young teenager and the Howard University awarded her a music scholarship. She was one of the youngest students to enter the university at the age of 15. She later changed her major to voice from the piano. She also served as an assistant conductor and received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty for her direction of ‘Aida’. She graduated from Howard University at the age of 19. She as well got enrolled for further studies but had to drop out and take up a teaching job in North Carolina due to her father’s sudden death. She later relocated to Washington, D.C. and taught at Browne Junior High and Rabaut Junior High.
Roberta Flack Career
Robbert began his career performing at Washington, D.C. nightclubs. Her voice teacher, Frederick ‘Wilkie’ Wilkerson, advised her to pursue a career in pop music instead of classical. She later followed her teacher’s advice and began getting attention. In 1968, she was hired to perform at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant in Washington, DC. The locals appreciated her singing and people from other towns also came to listen to her performance.
She later appeared in an audition where she played 42 songs in three hours and was promptly signed. She recorded her debut album ‘First Take’ in ten hours for Atlantic Records. When filmmaker Clint Eastwood used one of the tracks ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ from the album in his 1971 film ‘Play Misty for Me’, the song became a chartbuster. He paid $2,000 to use the song. She then began singing duets with singer and friend Donny Hathaway. Both the duets ‘Where Is the Love’ from their album ‘Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway’ in 1972 and ‘The Closer I Get to You’ from her album ‘Blue Lights in the Basement’ in 1978 sold over a million copies each and were certified gold. In 1974, she sang the lead song ‘Freedom’ in the movie ‘Huckleberry Finn’. With Hathaway’s sudden death in 1979, she started looking for a new partner. Eventually, she teamed up with R&B and soul singer Peabo Bryson in 1980.
Her solo hit song ‘Making Love’ in 1982 was used as the title track of the film with the same name. Her first duet with Peabo Bryson was ‘Tonight, I Celebrate My Love’ in 1983. The song, however, did not enjoy much success, reaching only number 5 on the R&B chart. The next two duets with Bryson, ‘You’re Looking Like Love To Me’ and ‘I Just Came Here To Dance,’ did better on AC radio than on pop radio. In 1983, she recorded music for Dirty Harry’s film ‘Sudden Impact’. In 1986, she sang ‘Together Through the Years’ for NBC series ‘Valerie’. The theme song was used in the show across six seasons.
With her 1988 album, ‘Oasis’ dint raised much commercial success but the title track reached number 1 on the R&B chart. In 1991, her single ‘Set the Night to Music’, a duet with English singer Maxi Priest became a super hit. Over the next ten years, her career slowed down. She later released the album ‘Roberta’ in 1994 and ‘The Christmas Album’ in 1997. Her albums couldn’t register any considerable impact. The 2003 album ‘Holiday’ was just a re-release of her 1997 Christmas album. In 2012, the album ‘Let it Be Roberta’ featuring the Beatles’ covers was released.
Her song ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1972 and stayed there for six weeks. It got to be ranked 14th on the UK singles chart. Its parent album, ‘First Take,’ released on Atlantic Records, also got ranked 1st on the US albums chart. The single ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ was another major success in her career. His album was certified double platinum. In 1974, she later released the single ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ a few months before the release of the parent album of the same name. It was her last song that reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It stayed at the top for one week. The success of this song also made her the first female vocalist to top the chart for three consecutive years.
Roberta Flack Net Worth
Flack’s has an estimated Net Worth of $20 million, her net worth has growing significantly. However, we do not have exact net worth details on how it has been growing.
Roberta Flack Songs
Back Together Again (Roberta Flack song)
The Closer I Get to You
Feel Like Makin’ Love (Roberta Flack song)
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
For All We Know (1934 song)
I Just Came Here to Dance
If Ever I See You Again
Just When I Needed You
Killing Me Softly with His Song
Let It Be Me (The Everly Brothers song)
Making Love (song)
Oasis (Roberta Flack song)
SSet the Night to Music
Tonight, I Celebrate My Love
Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)
Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song)
You’ve Got a Friend
Roberta Flack Grammy
14TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1971)
15TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1972)
16TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1973)
17TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1974)
21ST ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1978)
23RD ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1980)
37TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (1994)
Roberta Flack Albums
1969-first Take (not a hit album until 1972)
1970-Chapter Two
1971-Quiet Fire
1972-Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
1973-Killing Me Softly
1975-Feel Like Makin’ Love
1977-blue Lights in the Basement
1978- oberta Flack
1980-Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway
1982-I’m the One
1983-Born to Love (with Peabo Bryson)
1988- Oasis
1991- Set the Night to Music
1992- Stop the World
1994-Roberta
1997-The Christmas Album
1999-Friends: Roberta Flack Sings Mariko Takahashi
2003-Holiday
2012-Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles
2018-Running
Roberta Flack Tour
Roberta Flack Killing Me Softly
Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, released on August 1, 1973, by Atlantic Records. She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months. Killing Me Softly reached number three on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape and number two on the Soul LPs chart. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold on August 27, 1973, and double platinum on January 30, 2006, denoting shipments of two million copies in the United States. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which it lost to Stevie Wonder’s 1973 album Innervisions. The album’s title track was released as a single and topped the Billboard Hot 100. It won the 1974 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Roberta Flack Where Is The Love
“Where Is the Love” is a popular song written by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, and recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Released in 1972 from their album, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and spent a week each at number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart (July 1972) and R&B chart (August 1972). Billboard ranked it as the No. 58 song for 1972. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Roberta Flack The First Time
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to Joan Littlewood. Seeger sang the song when the duo performed in folk clubs around Britain. During the 1960s, it was recorded by various folk singers and became a major international hit for Roberta Flack in 1972, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the number one Hot 100 single of the year for 1972.
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