The Pop Corporation

For fans of R&B, and soul music infused with jazz and classical, Roberta Flack was one of the greatest to ever do it.

She had hits with Killing Me Softly, and the utterly gorgeous The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, as well as the wonderful Feel Like Makin’ Love which would be covered by D’Angelo.

Neo Soul artists would draw heavily from Roberta’s sound, and of course, The Fugees would have arguably their biggest hit with their take on her song, Killing Me Softly.

A statement from her representative said that she died at home on Monday morning.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away,” the statement read. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

Internationally, younger music fans heard her music through cover versions, but in New York, she was the head of the Roberta Flack School of Music, attended by students between the ages of six and 14, which onky serves to underline just how deeply music ran through Flack as a person.

From her early years singing in church, to singing opera, it is Flack’s elegant and sophisticated take on soul music for which she will be best remembered.