The distinctive character of Roberta Flack as a popular singer lay in her calm and precise way of expression, allowing her to create an intimate atmosphere regardless of the complexity of the arrangement and the size of the audience. As an adept of soul music, she mastered many genres of music, including pop, jazz, folk and classical. Flack created her artistic image with control and restraint rather than showiness. To many of her listeners, Flack was a singer of elegant ballads, creating a pause in their lives and in time in general, but there was more to this musician and her career.

Early life and training

The daughter of a preacher, Flack grew up in a family where music was inherent in all aspects of life. Born on February 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Flack soon relocated to Virginia, where she received solid piano training, becoming an accomplished musician. Long before her fame and recognition, she enjoyed playing classical music and gospel music, exploring the beauty of her voice as an instrument for expressing feelings.

At the age of 14, the girl was granted a scholarship to study at Howard University in Washington, where she could continue her education in piano and singing and learn about composition and the structure of music. While she used to enjoy classical music, she got accustomed to gospel and blues music during her education and started combining the precise and intelligent musical approach with a free form of emotional self-expression. It allowed her to build her artistic identity.

Professional career

After finishing university and having worked as a teacher and a performer in clubs, Flack gradually gained popularity thanks to the special elegance she showed in her performances and phrasing style. Her work as a singer and pianist was noticed by jazz musician Les McCann, who understood her strong vocal capabilities and thus became her mentor and a guide in her career.

Flack's first album, First Take, demonstrated that the artist followed the style she used to apply—slow, deliberate phrasing, precise diction and vocal control. The album demonstrated a high level of self-control by the artist, and thus it sounded elegant and not commercial or showy in any way. It meant that Flack was one of the most distinctive vocalists of the time, with a unique approach to the creation of songs.

Her best-known works are:

  • The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
  • Killing Me Softly with His Song
  • Feel Like Makin' Love

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face demonstrates Flack at her purest and simplest, interpreting a folk melody with sincere feeling. The second song is one of Flack's greatest hits due to the fact that the singer applied her poise to the interpretation of the song in a way that the emotions became part of the song itself. Finally, Feel Like Makin' Love reveals that the artist knows how to interpret songs with a sensual and warm tone.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face became a great landmark for Flack after its appearance in movies, making it the most obvious example of her talent to make any material great with the help of interpretation and phrasing. Her winning the Grammy Record of the Year with the song confirmed her ability to transform the material through her unique interpretation skills. Flack demonstrated the same feature in her performance of Killing Me Softly with His Song. Instead of overwhelming the audience with emotions, the performer managed to draw the attention inside the song itself.

Collaboration in popular music

Another characteristic of Flack is that she managed to find an extraordinary musical partner and create many beautiful duets that can be considered among the best in the history of popular music. With her collaborator Donny Hathaway, she successfully performed such songs as Where Is the Love and The Closer I Get to You. Their work together was marked by grace and ease, and this quality was the result of hard work and respect for one another.

A legendary musical voice

The popularity of Roberta Flack's songs is conditioned, first of all, by their resistance to categorization. This woman has managed to become a soul musician, a pop vocalist and a master of jazz interpretation at the same time, demonstrating all her knowledge and training as well as her natural musicality to the listeners. Her songs taught that intimacy can be dramatic, and the most powerful impression from them was created by skillful phrasing and elegant interpretation.

In addition, Roberta Flack changed the understanding of what a mainstream singer can do. At a time when all the other stars relied on the strength and volume of their voices, she taught that subtlety can be commanding too. Many younger singers appreciate her skill in stretching a line, making a phrase or interpreting a lyric.

Throughout her career, which continued for decades, Flack created many beautiful works in various genres—standards, modern songs, as well as those reflecting some social feeling. All her work was characterized by grace, intelligence and a serious attitude to music, as well as readiness to let the songs speak for themselves.

The biography of Roberta Flack demonstrates that she succeeded due to control and restraint, clarity of mind and feeling in her work. The voice of Roberta Flack sounds as if she is singing to a particular listener, while her message reaches all the others. And this is why her artistic career is highly appreciated and respected for craft, control and feeling.