Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Stevie Wonder joined forces to deliver an emotional tribute to the late Roberta Flack during her Celebration of Life.
On Monday, March 10, the trio of iconic artists joined forces to perform their version of Flack's 1972 classic "Killing Me Softly With His Song." Hill and her background singers delivered a beautiful rendition of the timeless song while Wyclef played the guitar and threw in his adlibs. Stevie Wonder was also onstage and played his harmonica to the touching tune.
“We weren’t formally asked to do this because I think they were a little shy in asking us to attend,” Hill explained per Billboard.
“So we kind of bum-rushed the service because it really wouldn’t be possible for us to just stand by and not participate… The artistry of Ms. Roberta Flack was beyond trailblazing," Hill continued. “Like Nina Simone, she carved out for me a pathway of soulful Black intellectual sublime beauty that not only spoke to Black resistance directly in lyric and statement, but was Black resistance in in to racism, bigotry and limitations by virtue of its existence."
"She didn’t just write about the beauty; she was the beauty," she aded. "She didn’t just write about resistance; her existence was a form of resistance. She wrote our stories in forms the established authorities of the time could not deny; compositions wrapped with graceful classical forms and nuances that would not nor could not be dismissed… I thank my parents for introducing me to her masterful music. Thank you to our Father in Heaven, to our God on high for blessing and enriching all of our lives with her presence and undeniable gifts. Roberta Flack is legend.”
Lauryn Hill also performed Flack's 1969 hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" during the service at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. Meanwhile, Wonder delivered his own songs including “If It’s Magic” and “I Can See the Sun.” Hill, Jean and Wonder were among the family and friends who came to pay their respects to the late Roberta Flack. Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson led the memorial service and Rev. Al Sharpton shared a powerful eulogy.
Roberta Flack passed away last month following her battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She reportedly died from cardiac arrest while she was on her way to the hospital.
See Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Stevie Wonder's incredible performance below.