Rip Legendary RnB singer Roberta Flack (Photo Credit – Instagram)
Legendary RnB singer Roberta Flack tragically passed away. Her publicist Elaine Schock announced Flack’s demise via a statement. The singer, known for hits like Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, had announced in 2022 that she was suffering from motor neurone disease, rendering her unable to sing.
Roberta Flack’s career and legacy
Roberta Flack was born in Carolina and raised in Virginia. She first began her journey in music by becoming a pianist. She received a scholarship to Howard University at 15 and eventually became a teacher. She would moonlight as an opera pianist in the night, and sing pop numbers in between.
Musician Les McCann discovered her singing at a jazz club. He described Flack’s voice as “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known,...
Legendary RnB singer Roberta Flack tragically passed away. Her publicist Elaine Schock announced Flack’s demise via a statement. The singer, known for hits like Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, had announced in 2022 that she was suffering from motor neurone disease, rendering her unable to sing.
Roberta Flack’s career and legacy
Roberta Flack was born in Carolina and raised in Virginia. She first began her journey in music by becoming a pianist. She received a scholarship to Howard University at 15 and eventually became a teacher. She would moonlight as an opera pianist in the night, and sing pop numbers in between.
Musician Les McCann discovered her singing at a jazz club. He described Flack’s voice as “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known,...
- 2/25/2025
- by Koimoi.com Team
- KoiMoi
Roberta Flack, the veteran Grammy-winning soul and R&b vocalist who recorded massive hits with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” died Monday at age 88. Elaine Schock, Flack’s representative, confirmed the singer’s death from cardiac arrest. “Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator,” a statement read.
In 2022, Flack was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als) and lost her ability to sing. The disease, her rep said at the time, “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.
In 2022, Flack was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als) and lost her ability to sing. The disease, her rep said at the time, “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.
- 2/24/2025
- by David Browne and Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Roberta Flack, the fearless singer and pianist who made Grammy history with the sublime No. 1 hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” died Monday in New York. She was 88.
“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning,” according to a statement from her rep. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
In November 2022, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with Als, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. In 2016, she suffered a stroke, and she retired from performing two years later.
The North Carolina native and accomplished classical pianist became the first artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in consecutive years with the haunting “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me...
“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning,” according to a statement from her rep. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
In November 2022, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with Als, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. In 2016, she suffered a stroke, and she retired from performing two years later.
The North Carolina native and accomplished classical pianist became the first artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in consecutive years with the haunting “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me...
- 2/24/2025
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It has taken Peggy Seeger nearly 70 years to bring out a new version of the world famous love song inspired by and written for her.
Peggy, 87, first recorded “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1957, when it was composed by her lover, fellow singer and activist Ewan MacColl. It was later made famous by Roberta Flack. Peggy stopped performing it in 1989 when MacColl, by then her husband, died.
“People would ask me to sing it at concerts, but I just kept breaking down,” she told me when I interviewed her at her home in Oxford. But she has now found novel inspiration to bring out a new version of the song.
Sitting opposite Peggy, sister of fellow American-born radical songwriter Pete Seeger, you can see why she was MacColl’s muse. The luminosity that bewitched him then is as bright now.
Peggy, who has lived in Britain for most of her life,...
Peggy, 87, first recorded “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1957, when it was composed by her lover, fellow singer and activist Ewan MacColl. It was later made famous by Roberta Flack. Peggy stopped performing it in 1989 when MacColl, by then her husband, died.
“People would ask me to sing it at concerts, but I just kept breaking down,” she told me when I interviewed her at her home in Oxford. But she has now found novel inspiration to bring out a new version of the song.
Sitting opposite Peggy, sister of fellow American-born radical songwriter Pete Seeger, you can see why she was MacColl’s muse. The luminosity that bewitched him then is as bright now.
Peggy, who has lived in Britain for most of her life,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Simon Walters
- The Independent - Music
Prince, Sign O’ the Times: Deluxe Edition (Warner)
On this 1987 masterpiece, Prince’s second double LP in less than five years, the R&b futurist responded to the serial crises in his personal life — the end of an affair; the firing of his band, the Revolution; escalating wartime with his label — in a kinetic tour de force of tightly wired pop, exploding bedroom funk, and soaring, redemptive climax. The big-box version of this reissue reveals the depth of Prince’s urgency in three CDs of unreleased studio treasures: diamonds...
On this 1987 masterpiece, Prince’s second double LP in less than five years, the R&b futurist responded to the serial crises in his personal life — the end of an affair; the firing of his band, the Revolution; escalating wartime with his label — in a kinetic tour de force of tightly wired pop, exploding bedroom funk, and soaring, redemptive climax. The big-box version of this reissue reveals the depth of Prince’s urgency in three CDs of unreleased studio treasures: diamonds...
- 12/8/2020
- by David Fricke and Jon Dolan
- Rollingstone.com
Jessie Buckley is laughing. In fact, she’s laughing so hard during the onstage Q&a that follows the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Wild Rose that she practically lists to one side. The 29-year-old Irish actress is trying to seriously answer the questions that are being thrown at her, of course, but a gesture from a friend in the audience — or perhaps the sheer silliness of finding herself in the spotlight — has made her crack up. Sporting a mop of coppery curls and a magenta velvet suit, she comes...
- 6/20/2019
- by Graham Fuller
- Rollingstone.com
The Coen brothers' new film about a 1960s folk singer in Greenwich Village is a reminder of how authenticity became the rod that folk music made for its own back
The new film by the Coen brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis, evokes Greenwich Village at the beginning of the American folk boom. The date is February 1961. Metropolitan young Americans sit in smoky clubs listening reverently to music that they believe is purer, more honest and more heartfelt and therefore more elevating than the commercial mainstream of Sinatra, Buddy Holly and Doris Day. Folk music is still mainly a process of discovery and renewal rather than invention; singers tend to see themselves as curators of tradition. Lines such as: "Here's a song I first heard Leadbelly sing," remain the staple fare of introductions in a form that awaits the great singer-songwriter. Bob Dylan has just arrived in town but is still a...
The new film by the Coen brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis, evokes Greenwich Village at the beginning of the American folk boom. The date is February 1961. Metropolitan young Americans sit in smoky clubs listening reverently to music that they believe is purer, more honest and more heartfelt and therefore more elevating than the commercial mainstream of Sinatra, Buddy Holly and Doris Day. Folk music is still mainly a process of discovery and renewal rather than invention; singers tend to see themselves as curators of tradition. Lines such as: "Here's a song I first heard Leadbelly sing," remain the staple fare of introductions in a form that awaits the great singer-songwriter. Bob Dylan has just arrived in town but is still a...
- 1/18/2014
- by Ian Jack
- The Guardian - Film News
As per Joel Coen, “Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac), is a made up character, with Real music from the time period.” Step into the smoky “Gaslight Cafe” in 1961 where Llewyn is up on stage with a spotlight on him singing, “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me.”
“The Gaslight Cafe” was an American coffee house located in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The Gaslight (alternatively known as “The Village Gaslight”) opened in 1958 and was a well known venue for folk music and other musical acts, until it closed in 1971.
When Llewyn finishes his set, he is told that there is a man wearing a dark suit in the back alley who wishes to meet him. As he approaches him, he gets beat up. Poor Llewyn, he’s down on his luck, and, in my opinion, born a little too early. Perhaps if he had been playing his songs in the late ’60′s, he would probably have been better received, but because it is 1961, most of the other acts, like “Jim and Jean,” still have a Very clean cut look, personality and sound.
Broke, couch-surfing, locked out of the apartment with his friend’s cat, trying to get singing gigs, a manager who doesn’t help him, an ex-girlfriend who wants nothing to do with him, Llewyn is looking for a break.
Funniest scene: Adam Driver’s singing role as Al Cody in “Please Mr. Kennedy.”
Musical Performances
1. Hang Me, Oh Hang Me – Oscar Isaac
(Traditional; Arranged by Oscar Isaac & T Bone Burnett) 3:26
2. Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song) – Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford (Traditional; Arranged by Marcus Mumford, Oscar Isaac, T Bone Burnett) 3:01
3. The Last Thing on My Mind – Stark Sands with Punch Brothers (Tom Paxton) 3:35
4. Five Hundred Miles – Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Stark Sands (Hedy West) 3:27
5. Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver (Ed Rush, George Cromarty, T Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen) 1:59
6. Green, Green Rocky Road – Oscar Isaac (Len Chandler & Robert Kaufman) 3:18
7. The Death of Queen Jane – Oscar Isaac (Music by Dáithí Sproule; Lyrics: Traditional) 3:58
8. The Roving Gambler – The Down Hill Strugglers with John Cohen (Traditional; Arranged and Adapted by The Down Hill Strugglers) 3:05
9. The Shoals of Herring – Oscar Isaac with Punch Brothers (Ewan MacColl)
Small Interviews
Q: Why do you make movies about failures?
A: Joel Coen: “Because all the success stories have all been done.”
A: T-Bone Burnett: “Even if the scene or moment is supposed to be bad, the music has to be great.”
Q: How did you want it to look?
A: We actually shot more in the East Village than the West Village. Some streets in the East Village aren’t as built up as the modern day MacDougal Street. We wanted something to feel more like it would have in 1961. We did shoot a little in the West Village; Village Cigars, Thompson Street, Jones Street, and MacDougal.
A: Our first thought for the film was to shoot in black and white on 16mm, but that idea fell by the wayside when we started designing shots.
Actress in the film Bonnie Rose, Bette Midler’s stand in for The First Wives Club, and Isn’t She Great, and Dodi Gamble in Inside Llewyn Davis, answered the following questions for me.
Q: If you had to describe the Coen Brothers and then Llewyn Davis in one word, what would they be?
A: It is very hard to say one word about the Coen Brothers…..
I would have to use two words about these two men who are iconic.
The Coen brothers are “Authentic Geniuses.”
The character of Llewyn Davis, is “resolute.”
The New York Film Festival (Sept. 27-Oct.13) is going on now. Los Angeles' own Rose Kuo (formerly director of the AFI FIlm Festival) has notched it up this year as our local newspaper L.A. Times has pointed out to us in perhaps a somewhat condescending way. Nyff was never a "quaint afterthought", but it was not what the Lincoln Center Film Society offered the trade with new offerings of films you can see in its spring festival New Directors/ New Directions. But this year, it is on the trade's map of top fall film festivals for the first time since 1984 when Blood Simple of the Coen Brothers made the trade realize its great value. Covering for SydneysBuzz in New York is Sharon Abella, an occasional writer for SydneysBuzz. Editor-in-chief of One World Cinema ,an internationally-minded website about film, music and travel, Sharon Abella holds multiple degrees in the sciences, and she makes the point that this site would not be possible without the help of God, family, friends, and her life partner, Jon Kilik. We are happy to be able to post her articles on SydneysBuzz.
“The Gaslight Cafe” was an American coffee house located in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The Gaslight (alternatively known as “The Village Gaslight”) opened in 1958 and was a well known venue for folk music and other musical acts, until it closed in 1971.
When Llewyn finishes his set, he is told that there is a man wearing a dark suit in the back alley who wishes to meet him. As he approaches him, he gets beat up. Poor Llewyn, he’s down on his luck, and, in my opinion, born a little too early. Perhaps if he had been playing his songs in the late ’60′s, he would probably have been better received, but because it is 1961, most of the other acts, like “Jim and Jean,” still have a Very clean cut look, personality and sound.
Broke, couch-surfing, locked out of the apartment with his friend’s cat, trying to get singing gigs, a manager who doesn’t help him, an ex-girlfriend who wants nothing to do with him, Llewyn is looking for a break.
Funniest scene: Adam Driver’s singing role as Al Cody in “Please Mr. Kennedy.”
Musical Performances
1. Hang Me, Oh Hang Me – Oscar Isaac
(Traditional; Arranged by Oscar Isaac & T Bone Burnett) 3:26
2. Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song) – Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford (Traditional; Arranged by Marcus Mumford, Oscar Isaac, T Bone Burnett) 3:01
3. The Last Thing on My Mind – Stark Sands with Punch Brothers (Tom Paxton) 3:35
4. Five Hundred Miles – Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Stark Sands (Hedy West) 3:27
5. Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver (Ed Rush, George Cromarty, T Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen) 1:59
6. Green, Green Rocky Road – Oscar Isaac (Len Chandler & Robert Kaufman) 3:18
7. The Death of Queen Jane – Oscar Isaac (Music by Dáithí Sproule; Lyrics: Traditional) 3:58
8. The Roving Gambler – The Down Hill Strugglers with John Cohen (Traditional; Arranged and Adapted by The Down Hill Strugglers) 3:05
9. The Shoals of Herring – Oscar Isaac with Punch Brothers (Ewan MacColl)
Small Interviews
Q: Why do you make movies about failures?
A: Joel Coen: “Because all the success stories have all been done.”
A: T-Bone Burnett: “Even if the scene or moment is supposed to be bad, the music has to be great.”
Q: How did you want it to look?
A: We actually shot more in the East Village than the West Village. Some streets in the East Village aren’t as built up as the modern day MacDougal Street. We wanted something to feel more like it would have in 1961. We did shoot a little in the West Village; Village Cigars, Thompson Street, Jones Street, and MacDougal.
A: Our first thought for the film was to shoot in black and white on 16mm, but that idea fell by the wayside when we started designing shots.
Actress in the film Bonnie Rose, Bette Midler’s stand in for The First Wives Club, and Isn’t She Great, and Dodi Gamble in Inside Llewyn Davis, answered the following questions for me.
Q: If you had to describe the Coen Brothers and then Llewyn Davis in one word, what would they be?
A: It is very hard to say one word about the Coen Brothers…..
I would have to use two words about these two men who are iconic.
The Coen brothers are “Authentic Geniuses.”
The character of Llewyn Davis, is “resolute.”
The New York Film Festival (Sept. 27-Oct.13) is going on now. Los Angeles' own Rose Kuo (formerly director of the AFI FIlm Festival) has notched it up this year as our local newspaper L.A. Times has pointed out to us in perhaps a somewhat condescending way. Nyff was never a "quaint afterthought", but it was not what the Lincoln Center Film Society offered the trade with new offerings of films you can see in its spring festival New Directors/ New Directions. But this year, it is on the trade's map of top fall film festivals for the first time since 1984 when Blood Simple of the Coen Brothers made the trade realize its great value. Covering for SydneysBuzz in New York is Sharon Abella, an occasional writer for SydneysBuzz. Editor-in-chief of One World Cinema ,an internationally-minded website about film, music and travel, Sharon Abella holds multiple degrees in the sciences, and she makes the point that this site would not be possible without the help of God, family, friends, and her life partner, Jon Kilik. We are happy to be able to post her articles on SydneysBuzz.
- 10/1/2013
- by Sharon Abella
- Sydney's Buzz
The latest trailer for "Inside Llewyn Davis" offers fans a first listen at Marcus Mumford's cover of "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)."
Co-sung by Mumford and "Inside Llewyn Davis" star Oscar Isaac, the track, a traditional folk favorite, was arranged by Mumford, Isaac and T Bone Burnett.
Beyond that tease, the new trailer for "Inside Llewyn Davis" provides more information about the film, which Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote and co-directed. CBS Films will release "Inside Llewyn Davis" on Dec. 6 and it's expected to be a major player at the 2014 Oscars.
Check out the soundtrack listing below, via Rolling Stone.
"Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" (Traditional; arranged by Oscar Isaac and T Bone Burnett) – Oscar Isaac "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Marcus Mumford, Oscar Isaac and T Bone Burnett) – Marcus Mumford and Oscar Isaac "The Last Thing on My Mind" (Tom Paxton) – Stark Sands with Punch Brothers...
Co-sung by Mumford and "Inside Llewyn Davis" star Oscar Isaac, the track, a traditional folk favorite, was arranged by Mumford, Isaac and T Bone Burnett.
Beyond that tease, the new trailer for "Inside Llewyn Davis" provides more information about the film, which Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote and co-directed. CBS Films will release "Inside Llewyn Davis" on Dec. 6 and it's expected to be a major player at the 2014 Oscars.
Check out the soundtrack listing below, via Rolling Stone.
"Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" (Traditional; arranged by Oscar Isaac and T Bone Burnett) – Oscar Isaac "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Marcus Mumford, Oscar Isaac and T Bone Burnett) – Marcus Mumford and Oscar Isaac "The Last Thing on My Mind" (Tom Paxton) – Stark Sands with Punch Brothers...
- 7/1/2013
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
Soul legend Bettye Lavette got an early start in music. She made her first album at 16, which is why she's already celebrating her 50th anniversary in recording.
And boy is she celebrating. There's a new album on deck, Thankful N' Thoughtful. The disc features Lavette's reinterpretations of hits by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Neil Young, Gnarls Barkley and many more. Early reviews have lauded her bold reworkings of "I'm Not the One" by the Keys and "Crazy" by Barkley.
But the singer isn't content with just another record. She's also releasing her autobiography (written with David Ritz). Lavette has had quite the colorful life, and she spares no detail or hair-raising experience in A Woman Like Me. The music drops Sept. 25 on Anti-Records, with the book following on Sept. 27 (Blue Rider Press/Penguin).
The singer will also tour the country between September and the end of...
And boy is she celebrating. There's a new album on deck, Thankful N' Thoughtful. The disc features Lavette's reinterpretations of hits by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, Neil Young, Gnarls Barkley and many more. Early reviews have lauded her bold reworkings of "I'm Not the One" by the Keys and "Crazy" by Barkley.
But the singer isn't content with just another record. She's also releasing her autobiography (written with David Ritz). Lavette has had quite the colorful life, and she spares no detail or hair-raising experience in A Woman Like Me. The music drops Sept. 25 on Anti-Records, with the book following on Sept. 27 (Blue Rider Press/Penguin).
The singer will also tour the country between September and the end of...
- 8/23/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Stumped for what to buy your friends and family this year? Forget the socks and chocs and bubble bath – our critics have chosen 40 of the best music, film and TV box sets
Pop by Kitty Empire
1 The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set (Parlophone)
At £145, the Beatles box set probably costs roughly what a small car did in the early 1960s. But the startling detail on these CDs will repay the outlay for Beatles nerds and mere mortals alike. Its sister release, The Beatles in Mono – 1960s scooter prices, at a guess – is even more desirable, audiophiles reckon.
2 Kraftwerk The Catalogue (Mute/Emi)
Eight albums by the electronic Beatles, dating from 1974's Autobahn, all gleamingly remastered. Costing considerably less than one of Ralf Hütter's beloved bicycles, this is the master text of most electronic genres – electro, techno, even hip-hop – today.
3 Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space Deluxe...
Pop by Kitty Empire
1 The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set (Parlophone)
At £145, the Beatles box set probably costs roughly what a small car did in the early 1960s. But the startling detail on these CDs will repay the outlay for Beatles nerds and mere mortals alike. Its sister release, The Beatles in Mono – 1960s scooter prices, at a guess – is even more desirable, audiophiles reckon.
2 Kraftwerk The Catalogue (Mute/Emi)
Eight albums by the electronic Beatles, dating from 1974's Autobahn, all gleamingly remastered. Costing considerably less than one of Ralf Hütter's beloved bicycles, this is the master text of most electronic genres – electro, techno, even hip-hop – today.
3 Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space Deluxe...
- 11/29/2009
- The Guardian - Film News
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