‘KILLING ME SOFTLY’

RnB Legend Roberta Flack Can No Longer Sing Following ALS Diagnosis

The Grammy award winner will reportedly stay active in her musical pursuits via her eponymous foundation.

RnB icon Roberta Flack has lost her ability to sing and now struggles to speak due to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, according to her manager, Suzanne Koga. “But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon,” Koga told the Associated Press. The Grammy award winner will reportedly continue her music journey through work with her eponymous foundation, and hopes to inspire future generations of children with a joint book titled, The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music. “I have long dreamed of telling my story to children about that first green piano that my father got for me from the junkyard in the hope that they would be inspired to reach for their dreams,” Flack, 85, said in a statement. “I want them to know that dreams can come true with persistence, encouragement from family and friends, and most of all belief in yourself.” A documentary cataloguing the life and journey of the artist, Roberta, premieres Thursday at the DOCNYC film festival.