Roberta Flack, legendary US songstress who performed for John Paul II, has died

Roberta Flack, the legendary US singer who once performed for Pope John Paul II in New York, died of cardiac arrest on 24 February at the age of 88.

Flack gained worldwide fame as a consummate interpreter of melodies who blended genres from R&B to Soul, Gospel, jazz and various other musical strains of Americana, as well as classical and Latin music.

Her encounter with the papacy of the Catholic Church came on 7 October 1995, when Flack joined Natalie Cole and John Secada in New York’s Central Park for a concert whose attendees were drawn as much by the musical star line up as they were by the attendance of Pope John Paul II, who was visiting the US.