Roberta Flack
Featured in Forbes
“Flack’s Biggest Hits
Return To The Charts
Following Her Grammy Tribute”

Grammys In Memoriam Tribute
With Emotional All-Star Performance
Led by Lauryn Hill
Became a Highlight of the Awards Show

Roberta Flack
With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums, 1969–1978
8CD Retrospective Celebrates Legendary Singer’s
Atlantic Years with Newly Remastered Versions
Of Her First Eight Studio Albums

(LOS ANGELES) Earlier this week, the Grammy Awards brought together a group of esteemed artists to celebrate their passion and musical talent. And a performance of some of the late Roberta Flack’s songs had everyone – from chart-topping and culture setting artists to newcomers on the brink of stardom across all genres of music – on their feet for the best moment of the night.

The In Memoriam to Roberta started with Lauryn Hill and Jon Batiste performing “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which kicked off a medley of some of Roberta’s hit songs. Leon Bridges and Alexia Jayy then joined Batiste for “Compared to What.” Lalah Hathaway and October London followed with “The Closer I Get To You,” one of many songs that Roberta released as a duet with Donny Hathaway, Lalah’s father. John Legend and Chaka Khan took the stage next for “Where Is the Love,” another song Roberta and Donny recorded. Hill went on to sing “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and then launched into Roberta’s arrangement of “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” As she called up her Fugees’ bandmate Wyclef Jean to the stage, they closed out the set with the Fugees’ version of “Killing Me Softly with His Song” with all the performers on stage and everyone in the arena on their feet, dancing, and singing along.

USA Today ranked the performance as their No. 1 pick of the Awards ceremony, saying it was “…a stirring ensemble performance dedicated to Roberta Flack and led by Ms. Lauryn Hill. Wrapping the audience around her finger with an expert performance of ‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,’ Hill laid bare the raw emotion that infused magic into Flack’s lyricism. …the moment melted from somber to elated as Flack’s clear and present influence on the room came into view.”

It was a fitting celebration and tribute to Roberta, a ground-breaking icon whose music will live on and on.

In 2020, Roberta was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy and at the ceremony, such stars as Khalid, Lizzo, Ana DuVernay, Demi Lovato, Alicia Keys, Chick Corea, and Ariana Grande visited with Roberta to pay their respects. “It was overwhelming and breathtaking to be there,” Roberta said. “When I met (those) artists and so many others in person and heard from them that they were inspired by my music, I felt understood.’

She was also the first solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years, for “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1973) and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (1974), and she won two other Grammy Awards out of her total of 13 nominations.

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Roberta’s legacy continues today, with Rhino releasing a new Roberta Flack collection, With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums, 1969–1978. It arrived days before what would have been Flack’s 89th birthday on February 10. The collection is the first retrospective release since she passed away in 2025. A celebration of her acclaimed tenure with Atlantic Records, the 8CD set presents newly remastered versions of her first eight studio albums.

With Her Songs spans Roberta’s Atlantic debut First Take through her self-titled 1978 album, covering a period when she emerged as one of the most commercially and critically successful artists of the 1970s. Roberta recorded multiple Top 40 hits and sold millions of albums with the label, building a catalog that moved fluidly between soul, jazz, folk, and pop.

With Her Songs includes eight newly remastered studio albums: First Take (1969), Chapter Two(1970), Quiet Fire (1971), Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972), Killing Me Softly (1973), Feel Like Makin’ Love (1975), Blue Lights in the Basement (1977), and Roberta Flack (1978).

Together, they chart a sustained period of creative momentum, from the intimacy of First Takeand Chapter Two to Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, a landmark collaboration that produced the Grammy-winning hits “Where Is the Love” and “The Closer I Get To You.” That success continued with her next two albums, Killing Me Softly and Feel Like Makin’ Love, whose title tracks both went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. More hits followed as her initial run with the label concluded with Blue Lights In The Basement and Roberta Flack.

With Her Songs follows renewed activity around Roberta’s catalog, including last year’s release of Killing Me Softly and Feel Like Makin’ Love in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. Arriving during Black History Month 2026, the new collection revisits a decade in which—a classically-trained pianist and Howard University alumna—achieved sustained mainstream success as a Black female artist.

Roberta Flack’s
WITH HER SONGS: THE ATLANTIC ALBUMS, 1969-1978

AVAILABLE HERE

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Roberta Flack’s Biggest Hits Return To The Charts
Following Her Grammy Tribute

By Hugh McIntyre
Feb 12, 2026

A little less than a year after her death, Roberta Flack was tributed at the 2026 Grammy Awards. Her name wasn’t simply featured for a moment during the In Memoriam segment. Instead, she was the recipient of a major star-studded performance, where names like Chaka Khan, Leon Bridges, and both Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean sang her songs and recognized her talent.

Expectedly, several of Flack’s most successful singles returned to the Billboard charts after fans of the late star headed to sites like iTunes and Amazon to buy her smashes and honor her work once more.

Roberta Flack Returns to Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales Chart
This week, Flack sees three tunes return to the R&B Digital Song Sales chart. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” and “The Closer I Get to You” reappear on Billboard’s ranking of the bestselling R&B-only tunes throughout the United States at Nos. 5, 6, and 10, respectively.

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” and “The Closer I Get to You”
None of Flack’s current hits on the R&B Digital Song Sales chart have appeared on the list for very long. “Killing Me Softly With His Song” is the sturdiest of the bunch, as it earns its fifth stay on the tally.

Between the trio, only “Killing Me Softly With His Song” has run the show. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” missed out on ruling by just one spot, while “The Closer I Get to You” peaked at No. 4, where it debuted months ago.

Roberta Flack Stands Out as the Only Artist with Multiple Hits
The R&B Digital Song Sales chart only features 10 spaces, and this week, Flack is the only musician to claim more than one hit. Two other tracks that were performed during the Grammy Awards – Justin Bieber’s “Yukon” and “Mutt” by Leon Thomas – also reappear, landing at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. “Yukon” hits its all-time high and barely misses out on running the show as Bruno Mars’s comeback smash “I Just Might” is a non-mover at No. 1.

Roberta Flack’s Songs Return to the R&B/Hip-Hop Sales Chart
Two of Flack’s three tunes that reappear on the R&B Digital Song Sales chart also bounce back onto the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list. The latter roster is much more competitive, as it includes three main genres of music: hip-hop, R&B, and rap.

“The Closer I Get to You” does not make it to the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart, but “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” do manage to do so. Those cuts land side-by-side at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.

Roberta Flack’s History on the Sales Ranking
Between her two placements on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales ranking, “Killing Me Softly With His Song” is the bigger hit, even though it comes in behind “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” at the moment. “Killing Me Softly With His Song” peaked at No. 3 and has now spent 13 frames somewhere on the roster. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” stalled in fourth place and appears on the sales chart for only the second time.

Justin Bieber, Leon Thomas and Doechii
Three singles reappear on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart ahead of Flack’s comebacks. As is the case on the R&B-only roster, Bieber’s “Yukon” and Thomas’s “Mutt” are the biggest of the bunch, coming in at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Record of the Year winner “Luther” bounds back onto the purchase-only tally at No. 5. Doechii’s “Anxiety,” which claimed the Best Music Video award, settles at No. 13 after not finding space on the roster just days ago.

Unlike on the R&B Digital Song Sales chart, there are debuts on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list. New tunes by Juvenile and a group called The Trumpers, which scores a hit with “Nicki MAGA,” help refresh the ranking.