Roberta Flack was one of the style-defining singers of soul and R'n'B. Now the interpreter of "Killing Me Softly" has died

She went against expectations. At the beginning of the 1970s, an African-American singer from North Carolina was expected to sing rousing, lush soul. Roberta Flack, however, stood out clearly from the gospel-trained Aretha Franklin imitators. What made her stand out from the majority of pop singers of the time was her calm, completely unaffected voice. However, this very quality was sometimes criticized: her singing was said to be reserved, if not cold.

Roberta Flack was born into a musical family in 1937. Her mother was an organist in the church and sparked her daughter's interest in gospel and classical music. Roberta Flack began playing the piano at the age of 9, and at the age of 15 she was accepted to study music at Howard University as a pianist. She also studied music education and later worked as a teacher in Washington.

Soul-jazz pianist Les McCann heard her sing in a Washington nightclub, where she was performing a sophisticated pop recital. He recommended her to his record label Atlantic. And Flack made her debut in 1969 with the album "First Take."

But success only came three years later, when Clint Eastwood used her song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", a ballad by the politically left-leaning British songwriter Ewan MacColl, in his film "Play Misty For Me" (1971). The song made it into the American charts, was named single of the year and won a Grammy. Roberta Flack's path was paved, leading her from Afro-America into the international music world.

Flack rose to fame relatively late – in her thirties. And so she was mature enough to be able to deal with it. She sang calmly and slowly, like an adult who can assess the world accurately. She hardly ever performed her own material. Instead, she used other people's compositions that suited her style of expression. Her second hit, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox), brought Flack back into the international charts in 1973. She had now secured her place in the pop Olympus.

Roberta Flack didn't immediately grab your attention, she acted in a reserved manner, without trying to create a sensation. Instead, she knew exactly how to build up tension with her smooth phrasing. She never caused any problems musically, so her music was for the general public without her having any intention of doing so. For a while, she worked with the emphatic singer Donny Hathaway. With him at her side, Roberta Flack enjoyed further success - with cover versions of "You've Got A Friend" (Carole King) and "Where Is The Love" (Ralph MacDonald and William Salter).

Roberta Flack was often compared to Nina Simone. But in reality there were hardly any similarities between Flack and the unpredictable Nina Simone, who was involved in the civil rights movement and deeply rooted in the blues. Only their attitudes were similar - both musicians liked to sit alone in front of the piano, accompany themselves and listen to themselves.

Roberta Flack has given concerts over the past few decades, and has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival several times. However, when she suffered a stroke in 2016, it meant the end of her career. She died on Monday morning at the age of 88. She died peacefully surrounded by her family, according to a statement from her management.