Roberta Cleopatra Flack is a retired American singer who topped the Billboard charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face","Killing Me Softly with His Song","Feel Like Makin' Love","Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You",the latter two duets with Donny Hathaway.
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer,keyboardist,songwriter,backing vocalist,and arranger who Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto","This Christmas","Someday We'll All Be Free",and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You","For All We Know",and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know",along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You",two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul –A Story About Donny Hathaway,which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28,2020.
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer,who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music,including jazz,rock,soul,disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years,as producer,arranger,studio manager,and vice president,before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records.
Killing Me Softly is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack,released on August 1,1973,by Atlantic Records. She recorded the album with producer Joel Dorn for 18 months. The album was dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a song by Phil Spector,Barry Mann,and Cynthia Weil,first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers. This version,produced by Spector,is cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The record was a critical and commercial success on its release,reaching number one in early February 1965 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single ranked No. 5 in Billboard's year-end Top 100 of 1965 Hot 100 hits –based on combined airplay and sales,and not including three charted weeks in December 1964 –and has entered the UK Top Ten on three occasions.
Reginald Grant Lucas was an American guitarist,songwriter and record producer. Lucas is perhaps best known for producing the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album,and for playing rhythm guitar with the Miles Davis electric band during the first half of the 1970s.
Songs for the New Depression is the third studio album by the American singer Bette Midler,released in early 1976 on the Atlantic Records label. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1990. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995. A limited edition remastered version of the album was released by Friday Music in 2014.
Ralph Anthony MacDonald was an American percussionist,steelpan virtuoso,songwriter,musical arranger,and record producer.
"Tonight,I Celebrate My Love" is a romantic ballad written by lyricist Gerry Goffin with Michael Masser and recorded by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack for their 1983 album of duets,Born to Love,issued as the lead single. The track—produced by Masser—became a million-selling international hit.
Extension of a Man is the final studio album released by the R&B/soul singer Donny Hathaway on Atco Records in 1973.
Live is a 1972 live album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway. It was recorded at two concerts:side one at The Troubadour in Hollywood,and side two at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village,Manhattan based on the guidance of Jerry Wexler.
"The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas,two former members of Miles Davis's band,who were members of Flack's band at the time. Produced by Atlantic Records,the song was released on Flack's 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement,and as a single in 1978. It became a major crossover hit,becoming Flack's biggest commercial hit after her success with her 1973 solo single,"Killing Me Softly with His Song". Originally set as a solo single,Flack's manager,David Franklin,suggested a duet with Hathaway,which resulted in the finished work.
Everything Is Everything is the debut studio album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway,which was released on July 1,1970 on the Atlantic Records' subsidiary,Atco.
Chapter Two is the second album by the American soul singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1970 by Atlantic Records.
Released in 1975,Feel Like Makin' Love is Roberta Flack's fifth solo album and sixth overall,when counting her duet album with Donny Hathaway,Roberta Flack &Donny Hathaway from 1972. It was the first album produced by Flack herself,under the pseudonym Rubina Flake.
Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack,released by Atlantic on December 13,1977. The album was a commercial success,peaking at number eight on the US Billboard 200,becoming her third top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27,1978,the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.
Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Roberta Flack. Released via Atlantic in March 1980,the album features posthumous vocals by close friend and collaborator Donny Hathaway,who had died in 1979. At the 23rd Grammy Awards in 1981,the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The award,however,went to Stephanie Mills for "Never Knew Love Like This Before."
Capitalizing on Roberta Flack's comeback success with the hit duet,"Tonight I Celebrate My Love," K-tel Records released Greatest Hits in 1984. It contained the 1983 duet with Peabo Bryson as well as some of her best-known songs from the 1970s.
Oasis is Roberta Flack's first solo album of newly recorded songs since 1982's I'm the One. Released 1 November 1988,Oasis features the number-one U.S. singles,"Oasis" (R&B),and "Uh-uh Ooh-ooh Look Out ".
Set the Night to Music is an album released by Roberta Flack in 1991 on Atlantic Records. The title track,written by Diane Warren and originally the 11th track of Starship's 1987 album No Protection,was remade as a duet with Maxi Priest and reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada,"Set the Night to Music" peaked at number nine on the pop singles chart and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. It became the 17th biggest Canadian Adult Contemporary hit of 1991.
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