'Killing Me Softly' Singer Falls Ill at Apollo Theater

Roberta Flack rushed to hospital after feeling 'extremely dizzy'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 21, 2018 6:00 AM CDT
Scare for Singer Roberta Flack During Apollo Appearance
Roberta Flack attends the Black Girls Rock! Awards at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Aug. 5, 2017, in Newark, NJ.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

One minute she was getting ready to take the stage at the Apollo; the next she was on her way to the hospital. TMZ reports that Roberta Flack was in attendance at a Jazz Foundation of America charity event at the famous Harlem theater Friday night when she suddenly fell ill shortly before 9pm. The 81-year-old "Killing Me Softly" singer, who was supposed to be receiving the foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, was able to get off the stage on her own, per her manager, and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

"She suffered a stroke a few years ago," her rep tells People. "She didn't feel well, so it was best to take her to the hospital." The rep tells TMZ that Flack—who apparently got "extremely dizzy" as she went out to accept her award—seems to be OK and has since been released from the hospital, but more tests are being done to see if doctors can figure out why she got sick so suddenly. (A video of a cover of one of Flack's most famous songs went viral a few years back.)

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