ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
A legend of R&B has died. Singer and pianist Roberta Flack was 88 years old and died peacefully surrounded by her family, according to a statement from her publicist. Flack had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The Grammy-winning artist is best known for the songs "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song." NPR's Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: Roberta Flack sang with clarity and tenderness.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG")
ROBERTA FLACK: (Singing) Strumming my pain with his fingers. Singing my life with his words. Killing me softly with his song. Killing me softly with his song. Telling my whole life with his words. Killing me softly with his song.
BLAIR: Her influence on musicians is enormous. Adele said she learned control from listening to Flack's voice. Alicia Keys said watching Flack make a career as both a singer and a pianist gave her life and direction. Roberta Flack was 15 when she received a full music scholarship to Howard University. Her dream was to become a concert pianist. But Flack's teachers knew racism would make that difficult in the white world of classical music. Here's Flack talking to NPR in 2012.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
FLACK: My real ambition was to be a concert pianist and to play Schumann and Bach and, you know, Chopin - the romantics. Those were my guys. And I was really sad that I had not reached my goal, which was to play at Carnegie Hall. I got there, but I got there by playing songs like "Here, There And Everywhere."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE")
FLACK: (Singing) Here, making each day of the year. Changing my life with a wave of his hand.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
LES MCCANN: Roberta Flack - now that is a person with a voice.
BLAIR: Pianist and vocalist Les McCann told NPR he first heard Roberta Flack in 1968 at a club in Washington, D.C.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
MCCANN: It just blew my mind, and I called up the record company to tell them about it, and they said they didn't want to hear it. So I got my tape recorder and my - all my mics and set it up and recorded it myself. And then we took the tape in. They said, oh, is this who you were talking about? We changed our minds, you know?
BLAIR: And that's how Roberta Flack got a record deal.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMPARED TO WHAT")
FLACK: (Singing) Looks like we always end up in a rut, trying to make it real but compared to what?
BLAIR: "First Take" was released in 1969, but the album didn't really become a hit until a few years later when Clint Eastwood used this song in the movie "Play Misty For Me."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE")
FLACK: (Singing) The first time ever I saw your face...
BLAIR: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was written by folk musician Ewan MacColl. It's been covered by a lot of singers, but NPR music critic Ann Powers says Roberta Flack made the song an exquisite suspension of time.
ANN POWERS, BYLINE: It reduces your blood pressure (laughter). It changes your equilibrium. It has an effect on the body.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE")
FLACK: (Singing) I felt the earth move in my hand.
BLAIR: Roberta Flack was a superstar in the 1970s. She became the first artist to win the Grammy for record of the year two years in a row. But Ann Powers says Flack didn't always get the critical respect she deserved because she was performing at a time when songwriters were getting most of the attention.
POWERS: The idea that you had to write your own material was held up as the gold standard. For much longer, interpreters were the greats. And Roberta Flack stands with Sinatra, with Ella Fitzgerald, with so many great interpreters of the 20th century, as someone who made every song she approached original.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROBERTA FLACK SONG, "TRADE WINDS")
BLAIR: Roberta Flack went on to win five Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award. She used her fame to elevate humanitarian causes and celebrate Black excellence. She championed Black artists, including Luther Vandross and Peabo Bryson. She was one of the first investors in Black radio.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
FLACK: Dedication is the keyword.
BLAIR: Roberta Flack, talking to NPR in 1989.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
FLACK: Dedication and devotion - because you may study voice for years and never get a chance to find - as my voice teacher said to me years ago - that light. He used to say to me Roberta, find your light. Where's your light? Pretend you're underneath it. Find the light.
BLAIR: Roberta Flack found the light and shared it. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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