Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack married Steve Novosel in 1966 and divorced him in 1972. She has one son, Bernard Wright, who became a rhythm and blues musician.

She is a member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, which promotes the right of artists to control their creative properties. She is also the spokeswoman of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

She founded The Roberta Flack School of Music, which provides free music education to underprivileged students. For her outstanding work in promoting music education, the Howard University made her an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma.

Roberta Flack was born on February 10, 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to Laron LeRoy and Irene Council Flack, a church organist.

She started playing the piano when she was nine. She excelled in classical piano as a young teenager and the Howard University awarded her a music scholarship. At the age of 15, she became one of the youngest students to enter the university. She later changed her major to voice from piano. She also served as an assistant conductor and received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty for her direction of ‘Aida’.

Roberta Flack graduated from the Howard University at the age of 19. She enrolled for further studies but had to drop out and take up a teaching job in North Carolina due to her father’s sudden death. Later she moved to Washington, D.C. and taught at Browne Junior High and Rabaut Junior High.

During this time, she also started performing at Washington, D.C. nightclubs. Her voice teacher, Frederick ‘Wilkie’ Wilkerson, advised her to pursue a career in pop music instead of classical. She followed her teacher’s advice and started gaining attention.

In 1968, she was hired to perform at Mr. Henry's Restaurant in Washington, DC. The locals appreciated her singing and people from other towns also came to listen to her performance.

Soon jazz musician Les McCann discovered her and arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records. At the audition, she played 42 songs in three hours and was promptly signed.

In February 1969, she recorded her debut album ‘First Take’ in ten hours for Atlantic Records. When filmmaker Clint Eastwood used one of the tracks—‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’—from the album in his 1971 film ‘Play Misty for Me’, the song became a chartbuster. He paid $2,000 to use the song.

Roberta Flack’s song ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1972 and stayed there for six weeks. It reached number 14 on the UK singles chart. Its parent album, ‘First Take,’ released on Atlantic Records, also peaked at number 1 on the US albums chart.

The single ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ was another major success in her career. It became the number one hit in the US, Denmark, Finland, France, and Germany among other countries. Its parent album was certified double platinum.

In 1974, she released the single ‘Feel Like Makin' Love’ a few months before the release of the parent album of the same name. It was her last song that reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It stayed at the top for one week. The success of this song also made her the first female vocalist to top the chart for three consecutive years.