Roberta Flack passed away yesterday, on Monday, February 26. She was 88.
The soulful singer and pianist died in New York City en route to the hospital, after suffering from cardiac arrest. She had revealed in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which often ultimately leaves patients paralyzed.
The Grammy winner leaves behind a breadth of work that made her one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, thanks to songs such as the classic "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973), and her version of "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" (1972), which was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me.
Flack is not survived by any children — she was married once, to jazzist Steve Novosel 1966 to 1972 — but she does leave behind quite the impressive apartment.
For the last 40 years, Flack owned and lived in an apartment in none other than The Dakota, one of New York City's most famed apartment buildings, known for its impressive architecture and rich history.
The Dakota, which sits on 72nd street in the Upper West Side, facing Central Park, was built in the 1880s, and is a National Historic Landmark.
© GettyAmong famous past or current residents such as Lauren Bacall, Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland, Rosie O'Donnell, Gilda Radner, Paul Simon, and many more, was maybe its most famous, John Lennon, who was murdered outside the building in 1980, and whose wife Yoko Ono still owns her unit there.
In fact, she and her son Sean Ono Lennon were next door neighbors with Flack, who Sean grew up referring to as "Aunt Roberta."
© Getty ImagesFlack's apartment is a three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit with 68 feet of frontage along 72nd Street, per Realtor.
© Getty ImagesIt boasts 12-foot ceilings, plus four wood-burning fireplaces, as well as original pre-war details such as mantels, shutter-framed windows, oak flooring, and mahogany moldings.
© Getty ImagesShe initially put the property up for sale ten years ago, for $9.5 million, before lowering the price to $8.9 million. It was eventually taken off the market the following year, then re-listed for $1.4 million less.
Around 2018, it was reportedly priced at $6.99 million, and though it appeared to have gone under contract that year, the deal ultimately fell through. Per Realtor, Flack still owned the property at the time of her death.
