The famous singer Roberta Flack, winner of several Grammy awards, died on February 24 at the age of 88, after a long battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
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“We are heartbroken because the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025… She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator,” her representative announced in a statement via the New York Post.
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Flack’s songs “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” catapulted her to stardom, earning her two consecutive Grammy Awards, one in 1973 and another in 1974. The Post highlighted that before her, no artist had won two of these awards in consecutive years.
Another one of his famous songs was ‘Feel Like Makin Love’ in 1974. Throughout his career, he released 15 albums and won five Grammys, in addition to 15 nominations.
“One of the annoyances of being a black musician is that people always back you in the corner and tell you to sing soul,” she once told TIME, as recalled by the outlet The Post.
Born in North Carolina, Roberta Flack was always connected to the world of music because her father was an organist in a church, and he taught her how to play the piano.
Roberta Flack and Her Battle with ALS
Roberta Flack had been struggling with ALS for some time, but it wasn’t until the end of 2022 that she made it public.
Suzanne Koha, manager of Flackcks, reported that due to ALS, it has become “impossible for the singer to sing and it is not easy to talk... But it will take much more than ALS to silence this icon.”
Despite everything, the artist tried to stay active.
Medline Plus explained that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a genetic disease, usually appearing after the age of 50, although in some cases, younger individuals can be affected. It is a condition affecting the neurons of the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord, which control the body’s movements.
This pathology is genetic, progressive, and has no cure. It occurs in seven out of every 100,000 people.
Patients with ALS lose muscle strength, but their senses like taste, smell, and hearing remain stable. In a few cases, they lose their memory.
The first symptoms of ALS, which Roberta Flack suffered from, manifest with spasms and muscle weakness in some of the limbs. Gradually, those who suffer from it lose the ability to move, swallow, speak, or breathe.
The deterioration is slow until the person is unable to walk, sit, get up from a chair, does not have the strength to hold their head, the voice changes and becomes hoarse, speech is slow, there is drooling, and also nausea.