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Roberta Flack

Born in Asheville, NC

Roberta Flack's Genre:

Soul, Smooth Soul, R&B, Quiet Storm, Urban, Soft Rock

Biography

Classy, urbane, reserved, smooth, and sophisticated -- all of these terms have been used to describe the music of Roberta Flack, particularly her string of romantic, light jazz ballad hits in the 1970s, which continue to enjoy popularity on MOR-oriented adult contemporary stations. Flack was the daughter of a church organist and started playing piano early enough to get a music scholarship and eventually, a degree from Howard University. After a period of student teaching, Flack was discovered singing at a club by jazz musician Les McCann and signed to Atlantic.

Her first two albums -- 1969's First Take and 1970's Chapter Two -- were well received but produced no hit singles; however, that all changed when a version of Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," from her first LP, was included in the soundtrack of the 1971 film Play Misty for Me. The single zoomed to number one in 1972 and remained there for six weeks, becoming that year's biggest hit. Flack followed it with the first of several duets with Howard classmate Donny Hathaway, "Where Is the Love." "Killing Me Softly with His Song" became Flack's second number one hit (five weeks) in 1973, and after topping the charts again in 1974 with "Feel Like Makin' Love," Flack took a break from performing to concentrate on recording and charitable causes.

She charted several more times over the next few years, as she did with the Top Ten 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement -- featuring "The Closer I Get to You," a number two ballad with Hathaway. A major blow was struck in 1979 when her duet partner, one of the most creative voices in soul music, committed suicide. Devastated, Flack eventually found another creative partner in Peabo Bryson, with whom she toured in 1980. The two recorded together in 1983, scoring a hit duet with "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love."

Flack spent the remainder of the '80s touring and performing, often with orchestras, and also several times with Miles Davis. She returned to the Top Ten once more in 1991 with "Set the Night to Music," a duet with Maxi Priest that appeared that year on the album of the same name. Her Roberta full-length, featuring interpretations of jazz and popular standards, followed in 1994. As she continued into the 21st century, Flack recorded infrequently but released albums like 2012's Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles, which showed that her poise and balanced singing had aged well. Varese Sarabande released a lovingly remixed version of Flack's fine 1997 holiday album Christmas Songs (it had originally appeared from Capitol Records under the title The Christmas Album) that same year, adding in an additional track, "Cherry Tree Carol." ~ Steve Huey

AOL Radio Stations Roberta Flack is Featured on (10)

Whitney Houston Tribute

This station is the musical story of Whitney Houston. You'll hear the artists that influenced her, like her cousin Dionne Warwick, her Godmother Aretha Franklin, and her mother Cissy Houston. You'll also hear the artists that she had a profound impact on including singers like her friend Mariah Carey, aspiring divas like Christina Aguilera, and the next generation of great voices like Beyonce and Rihanna. Join Slacker Radio as we pay tribute to one of the greatest and most inspirational voices of all time.

Slow Jamz

Dim the lights and enjoy the most romantic artists of all time, from Marvin Gaye and Barry White to Maxwell and Alicia Keys. Your very own "quiet storm" is right here, on Slacker Slow Jamz...so chill the champagne and groove!

Easy Listening

If you can remember back to when stores were closed on Sundays, life was "slow, and oh so mellow" and lazy Sunday afternoons were spent listening to the soft sounds from the radio...then Easy Listening on Slacker Radio will bring you back. Many classic artists that you don't hear on terrestial radio anymore like Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand and John Denver are all here mixed with some beautiful instrumentals and Yacht Rock favourites....sit back, enjoy the sweet sounds and the memories!

Broken Heart

Broken Heart on Slacker Radio is a melancholy mix of lost love and yearning with a touch of soulful redemption. These songs of heartbreak and hope will show you that sadness can be beautiful and love is fleeting but always on the horizon.

Classic Soul

Classic Soul on Slacker Radio celebrates some of the greatest music ever made, spanning almost 40 years of smooth, soulful tunes that'll make you feel the true power and passion of music.

Smooth Jazz

Relax and refresh with Smooth Jazz on Slacker Radio. Ride the wave of sophisticated grooves and sultry sax stylings from today's top artists as well as Smooth Jazz pioneers.

'70s Hits

The Seventies was both the first and last time 3 Dog Night, Marvin Gaye, KISS and John Denver could all co-exist on one radio station. '70s Hits on Slacker Radio makes every day a nice day with enough music to put guys in platform heels again and women in hot pants with Farrah hair.

Love Songs

Love Songs on Slacker Radio has just the right blend of sentimental favorites. Set the mood with artists like Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Elton John, Mariah Carey, The Beatles, and Stevie Wonder plus classic romantic favorites. Listen and fall in love with Slacker Love Songs.

R&B

Slacker R&B is built upon a vast library of sexy music for sexy people, centering on the past 15 years of hits. You'll hear the biggest songs of today, as well as the tunes you've been grooving to since the mid-nineties--with a bit of old school flavor and a lot of surprises.

Roberta Flack

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Teddy Pendergrass, Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Commodores, The Stylistics, Stephanie Mills, Earth, Wind & Fire, Peabo Bryson, The Whispers, Atlantic Starr and more.

All Stations

Roberta Flack's Selected Discography (34)

Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles

201212 Songs

Blue Lights in the Basement

1977 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States199510 Songs

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

1975 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Rhino Entertainment199510 Songs

Roberta

1994 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States199415 Songs

Oasis

1988 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Distributed by Rhino Entertainment199011 Songs

Roberta Flack

2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured and Marketed by Warner Strategic Marketing.20059 Songs

Roberta Flack Featuring Donnie Hathaway

1980 Atlantic Recording Corp., Manufactured and Distributed by Rhino Entertainment19967 Songs

First Take

1995 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States19958 Songs

Killing Me Softly

1973 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States19958 Songs

Quiet Fire

1971 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States19918 Songs

I'm the One

1982 Atlantic Recording Corp., Manufactured and Distributed by Rhino Entertainment19909 Songs

Feel Like Makin' Love

1975 Atlantic Recording Corporation.19759 Songs

Chapter Two

1970 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States19708 Songs

Set the Night to Music

1991 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United StatesDIGITAL201011 Songs

Rhino Hi-Five: Roberta Flack, Vol. 2

2006 Rhino Entertaiment Co.DIGITAL20065 Songs

Rhino Hi-Five: Roberta Flack

2005 Warner Strategic MarketingDIGITAL20055 Songs

We Can Work It Out

Killing Me Softly

1973 Atlantic Recording Corp.SINGLE19732 Songs

The Very Best of Roberta Flack

2006 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured & Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Co. A Warner Music Group Co.COMPILATION200617 Songs

Live & More

1980 Atlantic Recording Corp., Manufactured and Distributed by Rhino Entertainment199614 Songs

Set the Night to Music

1991 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States199111 Songs

Pair of Fives: Roberta Flack/Dionne Warwick

2005 Rhino Entertainment Co. A Warner Music Group Co.DIGITAL200510 Songs

Love Songs

This Compilation P&C 2011 Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. All Rights Reserved. Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company. Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance, and broadcasting of this recording prohibited. Manufactured in the E.U. LC02982 www.rhino.comCOMPILATION201118 Songs

Softly with These Songs: The Best of Roberta Flack

1993 Atlantic Record Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United StatesCOMPILATION200717 Songs

The Soul of Roberta Flack: In Concert

Friends: Roberta Flack Sings Mariko Taka

200611 Songs

Black Is Beautiful [DVD]

200515 Songs

Holiday

20038 Songs

Christmas Album

19979 Songs

Killing Me Softly

DIGITAL19892 Songs

The Classic Mix EP

EP19965 Songs

Bustin' Loose

SOUNDTRACK19819 Songs

Prime Concerts: In Concert with Edmonton Symphony

20058 Songs

In Concert: Recorded with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

19758 Songs

All Albums

Artists Related to Roberta Flack (50)

	Teddy Pendergrass	Teddy Pendergrass started singing gospel music in Philadelphia churches, becoming an ordained minister at ten years old.
	Anita Baker	With her classy, refined brand of romantic soul, Anita Baker was one of the definitive quiet storm singers of the '80s.
	Luther Vandross	Luther Vandross was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and '90s. Not only did he score a series of multi-million-selling albums containing chart-topping hit singles and perform sold-out tours of the U.
	Commodores	Renowned for the R&B hits "Just to Be Close to You," "Easy," and "Brickhouse," to name but a few, Commodores were one of the top bands during their long tenure at Motown.
	The Stylistics	After the Spinners and the O'Jays, the Stylistics were the leading Philly soul group produced by Thom Bell.
	Stephanie Mills	Stephanie Mills first came to fame as "the little girl with the big voice" as the star of the hit Broadway play, The Wiz, an adaptation of L.
	Earth, Wind & Fire	Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the '70s.
	Peabo Bryson	Vocalist Peabo Bryson was among the premier silky-voiced soul artists who emerged as the softer, more sophisticated urban contemporary sound became dominant in the '70s and '80s.
	The Whispers	The Whispers are a veteran R&B quintet with an impressive 23-year legacy of R&B hits. Formed in Los Angeles by twins Walter and Wallace Scott, Nicholas Caldwell, Marcus Hutson, and Gordy Harmon (who left in 1973), the Whispers turned up on the Dore label in 1964 with "I Was Born When You Kissed Me.
	Atlantic Starr	Atlantic Starr was among the top urban contemporary acts of the '80s and fared well in the adult contemporary market as well, but their roots were '70s soul and funk.
	The O'Jays	The O'Jays were one of Philadelphia soul's most popular and long-lived outfits, rivaled only by the Spinners as soul's greatest vocal group of the '70s.
	Gladys Knight & The Pips	One of the great soul singers, Gladys Knight was a performer from her childhood years, forming the Pips with her brother Merald and a couple cousins.
	The Spinners	The Spinners were the greatest soul group of the early '70s, creating a body of work that defined the lush, seductive sound of Philly soul.
	Stevie Wonder	Stevie Wonder is a much-beloved American icon and an indisputable genius not only of R&B but popular music in general.
	Chaka Khan	Best known in the mainstream for her superb 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You," R&B singer Chaka Khan enjoyed solo success as well as popularity as a member of the group Rufus.
	Barry White	Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following.
	Rose Royce	Rose Royce -- the Los Angeles-based group comprised of Henry Garner (drums); Terral "Terry" Santiel (congas); Lequeint "Duke" Jobe (bass); Michael Moore (saxophone); Gwen Dickey, performing with the group using the stage name Rose Norwalt (lead vocals); Kenny Copeland (trumpet, lead vocals); Kenji Brown (guitar, lead vocals); Freddie Dunn (trumpet); and Michael Nash (keyboards) -- were actually formed by Copeland and Garner.
	Patti LaBelle	Soul diva Patti LaBelle enjoyed one of the longest-lived careers in contemporary music, notching hits in a variety of sounds ranging from girl group pop to space-age funk to lush ballads.
	Marvin Gaye	One of the most gifted, visionary, and enduring talents ever launched into orbit by the Motown hit machine, Marvin Gaye blazed the trail for the continued evolution of popular black music.
	Al Green	Al Green was the first great soul singer of the '70s and arguably the last great Southern soul singer.
	The Dramatics	Before assuming the name the Dramatics, the vocal sextet comprised of Rob Davis, Ron Banks, Larry Reed, Robert Ellington, Larry "Squirrel" Demps, and Elbert Wilkens initially released two singles as the Dynamics on the Wingate imprint that saw no chart action.
	The Delfonics	The Delfonics were one of the first groups to sing in the sleek, soulful style that became popularized (thanks to producer Thom Bell) as the "Philadelphia sound.
	Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston was inarguably one of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Her accomplishments as a hitmaker were extraordinary; just to scratch the surface, she became the first artist ever to have seven consecutive singles hit number one, and her 1993 Dolly Parton cover "I Will Always Love You" became nothing less than the biggest hit single in rock history.
	The Isley Brothers	First formed in the early '50s, the Isley Brothers enjoyed one of the longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music -- over the course of nearly a half century of performing, the group's distinguished history spanned not only two generations of Isley siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk.
	Sade	When singer Sade and her band of the same name were establishing themselves, their record company, Epic, made a point of printing "Pronounced Shar-day" on the record labels of their releases.
	Maze	Combining a Philadelphia soul sound with a strong appreciation of Marvin Gaye, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly was among the top R&B acts of the late '70s and '80s.
	The Manhattans	The Manhattans were one of those classic R&B vocal groups who manage to achieve incredible career longevity by adapting their style to fit changing times.
	Ashford & Simpson	Nick Ashford (born May 4, 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina) and Valerie Simpson (born Aug 26, 1946, New York City, New York) have two careers, as songwriters and as performers, with the former seemingly more important than the latter until the mid-'80s.
	The Emotions	A trio of sisters with a strong gospel base, the Emotions (based in Chicago) were one of the leading female R&B acts of the '70s.
	Diana Ross	As a solo artist, Diana Ross is one of the most successful female singers of the rock era. If you factor in her work as the lead singer of the Supremes in the 1960s, she may be the most successful.
	Aretha Franklin	Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer, she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged.
	Smokey Robinson	Berry Gordy founded Motown Records, but one could argue that Smokey Robinson was the man who first pushed America's most iconic soul music label toward greatness.
	The Temptations	Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography -- and even finer harmonies -- the Temptations became the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of changes in personnel and consumer tastes with rare dignity and grace.
	Jeffrey Osborne	Jeffrey Osborne began his professional singing career in 1969 with a popular funk and soul group called Love Men Ltd.
	The Chi-Lites	One of the most popular smooth soul groups of the early '70s didn't hail from Philadelphia or Memphis, the two cities known for sweet, string-laden soul.
	Shalamar	Shalamar was the creation of Dick Griffey, the booking agent for the television R&B program Soul Train, and British R&B producer Simon Soussan.
	Bobby Womack	A veteran who paid his dues for over a decade before getting his shot at solo stardom, Bobby Womack persevered through tragedy and addiction to emerge as one of soul music's great survivors.
	Midnight Star	The synth-funk unit Midnight Star scored several times on the charts during the mid-'80s, led by their double-platinum album No Parking on the Dance Floor in 1983.
	Freddie Jackson	To urban contemporary listeners, Freddie Jackson was one of the biggest stars of the latter half of the '80s, dominating the R&B charts seemingly at will.
	Smokey Robinson & the Miracles	Scoring over 40 hits in the R&B Top 40 charts, the Miracles started out as the Five Chimes in the mid-'50s while the members were still in high school.
	Heatwave	Completely cosmopolitan with international grooves to spare, Heatwave emerged as one of the disco era's funkiest dance groups.
	The Ohio Players	With their slinky, horn-powered grooves, impeccable musicianship, and eye-popping album covers, the Ohio Players were among the top funk bands of the mid-'70s.
	Minnie Riperton	The tragic 1979 death of 31-year-old Minnie Riperton silenced one of soul music's most unique and unforgettable voices -- blessed with an angelic five-octave vocal range, she scored her greatest commercial success with the chart-topping pop ballad "Lovin' You.
	Teena Marie	No white artist sang R&B more convincingly than Teena Marie, whose big, robust vocals were so black-sounding that when she was starting out, some listeners wondered if she was a light-skinned African-American.
	Rick James	In the late '70s, when the fortunes of Motown Records seemed to be flagging, Rick James came along and rescued the company, providing funky hits that updated the label's style and saw it through into the mid-'80s.
	Curtis Mayfield	Perhaps because he didn't cross over to the pop audience as heavily as Motown's stars, it may be that the scope of Curtis Mayfield's talents and contributions have yet to be fully recognized.
	Donny Hathaway	Donny Hathaway was one of the brightest new voices in soul music at the dawn of the '70s, possessed of a smooth, gospel-inflected romantic croon that was also at home on fiery protest material.
	L.T.D.	Long-running funk outfit L.T.D. -- Love, Togetherness and Devotion -- was formed in Greensboro, NC in 1968 by keyboardist Jimmie "J.
	Kool & the Gang	Formed as a jazz ensemble in the mid-'60s, Kool & the Gang became one of the most inspired and influential funk units during the '70s, and one of the most popular R&B groups of the '80s after their breakout hit "Celebration" in 1979.
	DeBarge	Groomed to be the heirs to the Jackson 5 throne in the early '80s, DeBarge mirrored the Jacksons early success with a string of hits, but were unable to sustain their winning streak.