Inside the Manhattan Home Where Legendary Singer Roberta Flack Passed Away at Age 88

Legendary “If Ever I See You Again” singer Roberta Flack has passed away at the age of 88 at her home in Manhattan surrounded by family.

The Grammy winner’s publicist announced Flack’s death on Feb. 24. Although no cause of death was revealed, she had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in 2022 and could no longer sing because of the condition.

“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning February 24, 2025,” the statement read. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”

Flack—who was one of the top artists of the ’70s—died in her Upper West Side apartment, where she had lived for 40 years.

The singer’s apartment is a three-room, three-bathroom spread in Manhattan’s lavish Dakota building and features a wall covered in mirrors.

The stunning pad boasts 12-foot ceilings, four wood-burning fireplaces, and original pre-war details such as mantels, shutter-framed windows, oak flooring, and mahogany moldings.

It also has 68 feet of frontage along 72nd Street on the west side of Manhattan.

Flack had put the property up for sale in June 2015 for $9.5 million, before lowering the price to $8.9 million. It was taken off the market in May 2016, then relisted in September 2016 with a steep $1.4 million discount. The price was once again decreased, to $6.99 million.

According to the New York Post, the property went under contract in 2018, but the detail fell through.

Property records obtained by Realtor.com® show that Flack still owns the home, and it is the sole property under her name.

In 2022, Flack was hospitalized for treatment for ALS, formerly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and a press release issued at the time revealed that ALS made it “impossible [for Flack] to sing and not easy to speak.”

“It will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon. Miss Flack plans to stay active in her musical and creative pursuits. Her fortitude and joyful embrace of music that lifted her from modest circumstances to the international spotlight remain vibrant and inspired,” the statement added.

In 2018, the singer was rushed to the hospital during a benefit concert in New York, at which she was set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America.

At the time, her manager told People magazine, “She suffered a stroke a few years ago. She didn’t feel well, so it was best to take her to the hospital. She’s doing fine but is being kept overnight for observation.”

Flack was born in 1937 in North Carolina and was gifted her first piano by her father, who retrieved it from a junkyard.

“He painted it green, and it smelled bad, but I played and practiced for untold hours on that piano. It gave me wings of music that as a 9-year-old girl I needed so badly. I’ve been knocked down so many times, but I kept trying. Keep trying,” she told the outlet in 2022.

After graduating from Howard University, Flack worked as a school teacher until she launched her singing career in the ’60s.

She released her debut album, “First Take,” in 1969. However, she didn’t reach stardom until 1972 when Clint Eastwood used her hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from the LP for his movie “Play Misty for Me.”

Flack was the first—and remains the only—artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year two years in a row.