Lauryn Hill has been on quite a run of showing love to both contemporary and legendary artists. While she’s known as someone who normally likes to keep to herself, she recently stepped out to honor trailblazing musical icon Roberta Flack.
On Monday (March 11), at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Manhattan, several close friends and fellow entertainers spoke and performed at the memorial service, including Stevie Wonder, Phylicia Rashad, Alicia Keys, India.Arie, Valerie Simpson, Dionne Warwick and Clive Davis showed up to honor Flack.
However, in the middle of the service, Hill (who was not scheduled to speak or perform) showed up with fellow Fugees member Wyclef Jean to perform a rendition of Flack’s 1969 song, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”
She then performed “Killing Me Softly” with the help of Wonder and Jean.
Watch below:
Flack’s influence on Hill has always been apparent. One of the Fugees’ biggest records, “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” is a cover of Flack’s 1972 song of the same name.
After her death in late February, Hill wrote a lengthy post on Instagram, remembering the R&B legend’s legacy.
“Whitney Houston once said to me that Roberta Flack’s voice was one of the purest voices she’d ever heard. I grew up scouring the records my Parents collected. Mrs. Flack was one of their favorites and quite instantly became one of mine as soon as I was exposed to her,” she wrote.
Hill later added, “She looked cool and intelligent, gentle and yet militant. The songs she recorded from ‘Compared To What’ to ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ to her version of ‘Ballad Of The Sad Young Men’ fascinated me with their beauty and sophistication.”
It’s good to see that Hill was able to make it to the service and celebrate Flack in such a beautiful and fitting way.