The origin of Flack's hit "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

Clip: 01/24/2023 | 2m 27s | Video has closed captioning.

Roberta Flack discovered Lori Lieberman's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" on a plane from L.A. to New York, and made it her own. "I was not limited to just taking the song off of the page of music," said Flack. After seeing the crowd reaction to her cover of the song while on tour with Quincy Jones, Jones convinced her to record it.

Aired: 01/24/23

Rating: NR

Buy Now:

Problems Playing Video? | Closed Captioning

Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, Judith & Burton Resnick, Seton J. Melvin, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Vital Projects Fund, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Koo and Patricia Yuen and public television viewers.

2023-05-30T20:00:00-04:00	Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Songs of the Past
2023-05-30T21:00:00-04:00	Lidia Celebrates America: Flavors That Define Us
2023-05-30T22:00:00-04:00	Frontline: After Uvalde: Guns, Grief & Texas Politics
2023-05-30T23:00:00-04:00	Amanpour and Company

The origin of Flack's hit "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

Buy Now:

A front row seat to the creative process

More History Shows