Roberta Flack has ALS and can no longer sing

Her hit “Killing Me Softly With His Song” is known all over the world. On Monday (November 14) it became public that Roberta Flack had ALS. The inexorably progressing disease of the central nervous system made it “impossible for the 85-year-old to sing and not easy to speak,” said a spokesman for the German Press Agency.

Also ALS should not silence Flack

A statement also read: “It will take much more than ALS to silence this icon.” In fact, two projects by the American are about to be realized in the near future. On November 17, the documentary “Roberta” will premiere at the DOCNYC documentary film festival and can then be viewed for ten days on the New York festival’s website.

It all started with a green piano from the junkyard

On January 10th next year, Flack will also be releasing a children’s book called The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music. “I’ve long dreamed of telling kids my story about the green first piano my dad salvaged for me from the junkyard – hoping it would inspire them to pursue their dreams,” Flack said in a statement. She continued, “I want them to know that dreams can come true if you persevere, have the encouragement of family and friends, and most importantly, believe in yourself.”

About Roberta Flack

Originally, Flack had a classical pianist career in mind. She worked as a music teacher and in Washington nightclubs – until Clint Eastwood chose her ballad “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, recorded two years earlier, for his feature film “Sadistico” in 1971. The song became a number one hit in the States and won a Grammy for “Single of the Year” in 1973. A year later, she received the same award again for what is probably her best-known song to date, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”. To date, Flack is the only artist to have achieved this feat. In 2016 she suffered a stroke and finally announced her departure from the stage four years ago.

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