Grammy Award-winning songstress Roberta Flack returns to Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Sunday, April 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Flack, a four-time Grammy Award-winning artist, has long been known as an unparalleled musician who effortlessly inhabits the worlds of pop, soul, R&B, jazz and folk. From her very first recording, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” which hit #1 in the U.S across all charts, Flack has created strong emotional bonds with her listeners through her poignant musicality and unerring stylizations while also shining an uncompromising light onto the culture and politics of the times.
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Roberta Flack discovered her earliest musical influences from the church sneaking out to hear such gospel luminaries as Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers.
At 13, she won second place honors with her performance of a Scarlatti sonata in a statewide contest. By the age of 15, she enrolled at Howard University on a full music scholarship, making her one of the youngest students to ever enroll there. Majoring in music education, Flack became the first black student teacher at an all-white school near Chevy Chase, Maryland.
At Washington D.C.’s posh Tivoli Club, Flack would sing and play blues and folk songs and pop standards on an old upright piano in the back. At the 1520 Club, she gained exposure to entertainment greats like Burt Bacharach, Al Hibbler, Carmen McRae, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Ramsey Lewis, and Johnny Mathis. She would often share her stage and her piano stool with them and even found herself playing with Liberace one night.
In 1968, Flack was “discovered” by famed musician Les McCann at a concert for the Inner City Ghetto Children’s Library Fund. Three months later, she recorded First Take, her debut album. Among the songs she cut was “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Officially released in 1969, the album also contained her first single, “Compared To What.” One year later, she released her second album, Chapter Two. “Reverend Lee” and “Do What You Gotta’ Do” both became singles from the album.
In 1971, she released “You’ve Got A Friend” with Donny Hathaway. Her third album, Quiet Fire, yielded the single, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” In 1972, Clint Eastwood included “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in his thriller, Play Misty for Me. In seven weeks, it went to #1 on the charts. At the same time, the singer’s fourth album, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, was released. Two days after it hit the stores, Washington, D.C. proclaimed April 22nd as Roberta Flack Day, kicking off a weekend celebration, that included Down Beat’s award as Top Female Vocalist, a D.C. youth award, and gold records. Only a few weeks later, came the new Hathaway/Flack single, “Where Is The Love?” The album quickly went gold, as did the single, which remained in the Top 10 for two months straight. At the subsequent Grammy Awards ceremony in March 1973, “First Time Ever” won Record of the Year and Song of the Year, while “Where Is The Love” won for Best Pop Vocal by a Duo.
Simultaneously, Flack’s then-current single, “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” became the #1 pop and R&B song in the country. At the 1974 Grammys, Killing Me Softly won as Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal by a Female. The follow-up single, “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” went to #1 on the Pop, R&B, and Easy Listening charts. It became Roberta’s eighth million-seller in less than two-and-a-half years.
Blue Lights in the Basement (1977) was released next followed by a new collaboration with Donny Hathaway titled, “The Closer I Get To You.” Her umpteenth chart-topping single, it was certified gold, as was the Blue Lights album, which had reached #1 on both the Pop and R&B charts. The year 1980 saw
Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway followed by Live and More, a collaboration and co-production with Peabo Bryson. In 1982, she released The Best of Roberta Flack.
Her second collaboration with Peabo Bryson, Born to Love, debuted in 1983 and produced another huge smash, “Tonight I Celebrate My Love.” Other singles released soon after included 1985’s “People on a String” from the White Knights soundtrack and 1986’s “We Shall Overcome” to commemorate Martin Luther King’s birthday. The 1980s also saw the release of Oasis whose title track became a #1 R&B single and Set the Night to Music.
The ‘90s saw Roberta (1994), The Christmas Album (1997) and a weekly syndicated radio show, “Brunch with Roberta Flack.” Highlights of 1998 included a performance along with Madonna, Elton John and Sting at Carnegie Hall for the Annual Rainforest Foundation Benefit Concert, a tour of Japan, and a musical appearance with the Muppets on Sesame Street. In 1999, Flack was selected to receive a coveted star on Hollywood’s legendary Walk of Fame.
The turn of the millennium showed that Roberta had no intention of slowing down. In 2002, Roberta Flack in Concert was released on DVD. It was that year that she took a leadership role in response to the aftermath of September 11th. She, along with other celebrities, participated in Nile Rogers’ “We Are Family” movie and single (directed by Spike Lee), which set an example of unity among all Americans. She also participated in the nationwide “Come Back to D.C.” television campaign, a joint collaboration between the Federal Government and the DC Tourism Board. Holiday (2003), a timeless collection of seasonal favorites was released and in 2005, Songs From the Neighborhood, an all star tribute to the music of the late Fred “Mr.” Rogers, followed.
Today, Roberta Flack remains a shining inspiration to her fans, peers and younger musicians in the music industry. Roberta has appeared with soul artists like Alicia Keyes, India.Arie and Angie Stone, all younger artists who have been heavily influenced by Roberta Flack’s earlier achievements. She is also an outspoken participant in the AEC (Artist Empowerment Coalition) whose primary goal is advocacy for artists’ rights and control of their creative properties.
Flack’s latest release is Let It Be, an extraordinary re-imagining of Beatles songs.
Tickets cost $79, $64, $49 and $39 *; all seats are reserved and available at all Ticketmaster outlets online at www.myhrl.com, www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone: 1-800-745-3000. Doors open one-hour prior to show start time. *Additional fees may apply.