It was a guitar-based folk song,” Lieberman, 73, said about the 1971 song that Flack recorded in January 1973. "My version was a small folk song."Flack won two Grammys for "Killing Me Softly with His Song": record of the year and best pop vocal performance,

The singer, pianist and four-time Grammy winner had two other No. 1 hits with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Feel Like Makin' Love."

With a voice both smoky and silken, Roberta Flack carved a distinguished impression. The singer behind timeless ballads "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and "The Closer I Get to You," died Monday at the age of 88. She had battled ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, since 2022.