She didn't write either Killing Me Softly or The First Time Ever - why do songwriters NEVER get credit? Flack was a decent singer who had a couple of real hits.

I also loved her songs with Donny Hathaway.

JK2006 wrote:
She didn't write either Killing Me Softly or The First Time Ever - why do songwriters NEVER get credit? Flack was a decent singer who had a couple of real hits.

This seemed overly dismissive in my opinion JK, especially on the moment of her passing. You could make the same claim for so many other artists. For some reason Killing Me Softly was a firm favourite of our music teacher who would regularly make the class sing it from the music book at the start of the 80's whilst many other songs were completely ignored.

Rick I agree with you on Donny Hathaway. The track of hers I most listen to is Back Together Again with him, a quite big hit from summer 1980. When I looked up Hathaway a few years ago I was shocked to discover even that long ago that hit was posthumous for him as he passed away early in 1979 so young and in tragic circumstances.

Roberta Flack's biggest UK hit was neither solo or with Hathaway but with Peabo Bryson on 1983's Tonight I Celebrate My Love which made No2.

She was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2022, a quite advanced age for that diagnosis. Many of the people I've heard receive that diagnosis have been in their 40's and 50's.