Roberta Flack’s ‘Celebration of Life’ memorial to feature Stevie Wonder and Rev. Al Sharpton

By Canadian Press on March 10, 2025.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stevie Wonder, the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Nebulous String Quartet from Berklee College of Music will help celebrate the life and legacy of Roberta Flack at a memorial Monday in New York City.

Flack was a Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” made her a global star. She died last month at age 88.

Wonder is among the artists scheduled to perform during the service. Sharpton is listed as the person who will deliver the eulogy according to the memorial program.

Flack was one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer with an intimate vocal and musical style.

Flack’s “Celebration of Life” memorial was being livestreamed at http://www.RobertaFlack.com and on YouTube.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Where is the memorial taking place, and how can I watch?

Flack’s memorial was at the Abyssinian Baptist Church and open to the public. Founded in 1808, it is one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in the U.S.

The church was decorated for the ceremony with stunning white and yellow bouquets and filled quickly beforehand. At center was a screen depicting a young Flack at the piano.

It was a fitting location: Flack grew up with church gospel and her mother played organ at the Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia. As a teen, she began accompanying the church choir on piano.

The program featured a powerful quote from Flack.

“Remember: Always walk in the light,” it read. “If you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the Light.”

What are some of Flack’s best-known songs?

Flack leaves behind a rich repertoire of music that avoids categorization. Her debut, “First Take,” wove soul, jazz, flamenco, gospel and folk into one revelatory package, prescient in its form and measured in its approach.

She will likely be remembered for her classics. Those include “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” her dreamy cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written by English folk artist Ewan MacColl for his wife Peggy Seeger. It marked the beginning of Flack’s mainstream success when it was used in a love scene between Clint Eastwood and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.”

But most will think of “Killing Me Softly with His Song” when Flack’s name comes up in conversation. She first heard Lori Lieberman’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” while on a plane and immediately fell in love with it. While on tour with Quincy Jones, she covered the song, and the audience feel in love with it, too, as they’d continue to for decades.

Listen to The Associated Press’ Robert Flack playlist here.

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Mead Gruver contributed to this report from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press

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