Elaine Schock, Flacks representative, confirmed the singers death from cardiac arrest.
Roberta broke boundaries and records.
She was also a proud educator, a statement read.
Roberta Flack in 1969Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In 2022, Flack was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and lost her ability to sing.
She sang reveries as much as exclamations, and yet her stillness electrified the soul.
In fact, her influence has never stopped reverberating.
I found in it wonderful melodies and harmonies that were the vehicles through which I could express myself.
WhileFirst Takewould eventually assume its rightful place as a widely recognized masterpiece, success was not immediate.
She scored her third Number One single the following year with the friskier Feel Like Makin Love.
My music is inspired thought by thought, and feeling by feeling, she once wrote.
Not note by note.
Flack was also deeply involved in political movements of the post-Civil Rights era.
She befriended Angela Davis and the Rev.
It was overwhelming and breathtaking to be there, Flack said of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Correction: A previous version of this story contained the wrong year and birthplace.
Flack was born in Black Mountain in 1937.
