The management of Grammy award-winning singer Roberta Flack has revealed that she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and is unable to sing anymore.
The progressive disease “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak,” Flack’s manager Suzanne Koga said in a release, adding: “But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.”
The announcement of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis comes just ahead of the premiere of “Roberta,” a feature-length documentary debuting Thursday at the DOCNYC film festival.
The release says that the Grammy-winning singer and pianist, now 85, “plans to stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.”
Flack is known for hits like “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” the latter of which catapulted her into stardom after Clint Eastwood used it as the soundtrack for a love scene in his 1971 movie “Play Misty for Me.”
The Antonino D’Ambrosio-directed documentary will be in competition at the festival and available via DOCNYC’s website for a week after, before airing on television Jan. 24 as part of PBS’ American Masters series.
Flack also plans to publish a children’s book co-written with Tonya Bolden, “The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music,” that month.
