"Killing Me Softly" Vocalist Roberta Flack Had an Impressive Net Worth at the Time of Her Death

The contemporary R&B genre has birthed some of the music industry’s most notable talents, from SZA to Ari Lennox. Since the genre consistently provides soulful, relatable music that entertains the masses and serves as medicine for our emotions, it’s only right to praise the icons that made it all possible. This is where Roberta Flack comes into play.

Roberta was a mainstay on the Billboard charts in the ‘70s for hits including "Where Is the Love," "Killing Me Softly With His Song," and "The Closer I Get to You." Not to mention, Roberta had long served as a source of inspiration for today's R&B girls.

Sadly, Roberta passed away on Feb. 24, 2025, at the age of 88, but her musical legacy continues to live on. Wondering how much she made from it all? Here’s where her net worth stood at the time of her death.

Roberta Flack's net worth stood at $20 million at her time of death, according to Celebrity Net Worth. This figure reflects Roberta’s work as a singer, songwriter, and musician.

At the height of Roberta’s career, she consecutively won the Grammy for Record of the Year for the songs "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" in 1973 and 1974 for "Killing Me Softly With His Song."

Not to mention, hip-hop supergroup The Fugees also recorded Roberta’s 1974 Grammy-winning song, which was featured on their now seven-time platinum album "The Score," released in 1996.

With such a successful career, it’s easy to see why Roberta was able to acquire such a healthy nest egg over her lifetime.

According to Reuters, a representative for Roberta shared in 2022 that the singer could no longer sing due to her ​​amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS,) aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Mayo Clinic shares that ALS "is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control."

Unfortunately, the organization shares that "ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in a limb, or slurred speech and eventually affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat, and breathe."

Roberta’s publicist told Reuters in 2022, "It will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon," although the disease "has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak."

Although ALS interfered with Roberta's ability to sing, she continued her creative pursuits, releasing her first children’s book, The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music, in January 2023.

Roberta's cause of death has not yet been disclosed, however, she was 88. Her representative shared in a statement, per Variety, "She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator."