From Lauryn Hill to Stevie Wonder: Celebrities who attended Roberta Flack's Harlem memorial

On Monday, March 10, Roberta Flack's memorial service was held inside Harlem, New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church. The Grammy-winning artist passed away on February 24 at the age of 88.

Her memorial was attended by multiple celebrities and artists, including Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Valerie Simpson, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Phylicia Rashad, India Arie, Clive Davis, and Peabo Bryson.

Among other attendees who shared their memories and reflections of Roberta Flack were her cousin Carol Flack, the late singer's manager Suzanne Koga, and her longtime friend, Santita Jackson, who once toured with Flack.

After Flack's death, Suzanne Koga shared with The New York Times that the pianist suffered cardiac arrest on February 24, and was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital. Three years before her passing, Roberta was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which impacted her singing. She revealed this during her appearance on Good Morning America in November 2022.

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Lauryn Hill performed Killing Me Softly With His Song at Roberta Flack's memorial service

During Roberta Flack's memorial, Lauryn Hill performed the singer's icon hits, Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face at the service. Before her performance, Hill shared a heartfelt tribute to Flack, starting off with how they weren't formally asked to perform but had to since "it really wouldn't be possible" for them to "just stand by and not participate."

Lauryn called the artistry of the late R&B singer "beyond trailblazing," continuing:

"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 to racism, bigotry and limitations by virtue of its existence… She didn’t just write about the beauty; she was the beauty. She didn’t just write about resistance; her existence was a form of resistance."

Hill continued to say that Roberta Flack's compositions were wrapped with "graceful classical forms and nuances" that couldn't be dismissed. The Nothing Even Matters singer then thanked her parents for introducing her to Flack's "masterful music," ending her speech by calling Roberta a "legend".

The speech was followed by a performance of Killing Me Softly With His Song, in which Hill was accompanied by Wyclef Jean, a pianist, and three backing vocalists, as Stevie Wonder played the harmonica standing in the church aisle.

After the performance, Wonder took the stage to speak about Flack, commenting on her artistry as well as activism, saying:

"The great thing about not having the ability to see with your eyes is the great opportunity in being able to see even better with your heart. So I knew how beautiful Roberta was. I celebrate that because I see that so much of the world and yes, this nation too, must be blind at this point … and it breaks my heart."

The Superstition singer thanked Roberta Flack for letting him know her "spirit" and her "heart" and for being able to share the songs he wrote with her. Valerie Simpson, the Hall of Fame member, also paid her tribute to Flack by playing an improvised take on Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing to salute the late singer's talent.

Lisa Fischer's version of Somewhere (There's a Place for Us) from the West Side Story was another remarkable performance of the evening.

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Besides the recognized faces, other stars, executives, and friends and family of the late singer-songwriter were also in attendance to pay their final tributes.