The soul and jazz community lost a true diamond in the rough as Roberta Flack passed away on Feb. 24 at the age of 88. Flack, also known as “Rubina Flake”, once said in an interview with NPR that, “Music reaches beyond age, race, nationality and religion to touch [peoples] heart.” This message reigns true especially in regard to her extensive and versatile music career. Flack went from first playing classical piano and singing opera at her church in Arlington, Virginia, to being granted a full scholarship to Howard University at 15 years old.
As a young girl, Flack wanted to become an opera singer, but due to a suggestion bestowed upon by her vocal coach to take a different approach, she instead found inspiration to become a soul singer by singing leisurely in nightclubs. In 1968, one night singing in a nightclub in Washington D.C., Flack caught the attention of Les McCann, an American jazz pianist and vocalist, who helped her get signed with Atlantic Records.
Producing under her alter ego “Rubina Flake” — which is often referred to as Flack’s second soul was her stage name at her debut performance at Carnegie Hall in 1971. Ann Powers details in an excerpt from the narrated film “Roberta Flack: Virtuoso” that, “Her alter ego helped her feel glamorous and capable when others told her she was imperfect. Rubina had no need to respect others’ restrictions.”
Some of her mentors include Donny Hathaway, Luther Vandross and Peabo Bryson. Flack and Hathaway have created an extensive discography together collaborating on the songs “Where is the love” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” They created a harmonious relationship that caught the attention of Clint Eastwood, leading him to put one of their songs in his directorial debut “Play Misty for me.”
Flack found her commercial success in 1973 with the album “Killing Me Softly.” The famous title album song was then covered by the Fugees in 1996, which led to Lauryn Hill and Flack singing a duet together on MTV. If it were not for Flack’s depth of lyrics and intuitive storytelling, “Killing me softly” would not have gotten the attention of generations beyond her. Hill in a memorial post on Instagram speaks on Flack’s behalf and describes her “as an artist, a singer-songwriter, a pianist and composer who moved me and showed me through her own creative choices and standards what else was possible within the idiom of Soul.”
Quincy Jones, a fellow friend, helped promote the song that “catapulted [Hill] and the Fugees into a household phenomenon.” The song, originally written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, caught the attention of Flack during her flight from L.A. to N.Y. in 1972. She called Jones after being struck with inspiration and asked to meet Charles Fox at his house. Flack then went on to perform the song for the first time opening for Jones at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. She soon recorded the song after an overwhelming standing ovation from the performance.
Flack then obtained 14 Grammy nominations and 4 awards, mostly spanning from ‘73 to ‘95. “Killing Me Softly” was nominated for record of the year in 1974 and then “Feel Like Makin’ Love” won record of the year the following year. This led Flack to be the first artist in history to win Record of the Year for two consecutive years. In 2020, she achieved the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
She graced people’s souls and was such a profound lyricist that her lyrics will carry on her legacy with dignity forever connecting with people’s lives in an intimate way.
