Goodbye to Roberta Flack, the seductive voice of Killing Me Softly

Roberta Flack, the seductive voice of 'Killing Me Softly with His Song', a 1973 song that topped the charts for weeks and was later the subject of numerous covers, the most famous of which was by the Fugees in 1996, has passed away.

The American singer and pianist was 88 years old and died of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also called Lou Gehrig's disease. The American media reported this, citing her spokeswoman, Elaine Schock.

Originally from North Carolina, Flack rose to overnight fame after Clint Eastwood used 'The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face' as part of the soundtrack to 'Play Misty for Me' (1971).

In particular, the song provided the background music for one of the most memorable love scenes in cinema, the one between Eastwood, in the role of Dave Garver, and Donna Mills, in the role of Tobie Williams.

The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. "Killing Me Softly With His Song" followed in 1973, and Flack became the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for Best Album. Discovered in the 60s by jazz musician Les McCann, the singer was inspired as a young girl by the gospel music of Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke.

She began studying piano at age nine, and at 15, as a child prodigy, she entered Howard University in Washington, DC. However, she was forced to drop out due to her father's death. Her other hits include the 1974 single "Feel Like Makin' Love," which also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

She later collaborated with Bob Dylan on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, whose concerts in the fall of 1975 were filmed and later featured in the 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, written and directed by Dylan. Over the course of her career, Flack won a total of four Grammy Awards, and in 4, a star bearing her name was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.