Roberta Flack Focusing on Beatles Tribute Album

Posted on Feb 3rd 2010 10:00AM by Steve Baltin
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Backstage at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, soul icon Roberta Flack soaked up the adoration earned by her legendary status. As she talked with Spinner in the hallway, her duet partner on the night, Maxwell, walked by. "Can I get more sugar?" he asked as he leaned over a rope to hug her and kiss her on the cheek.

A moment later, Lady Gaga, rushing by with a full enoturage, called out, "Roberta!" "I just had my picture taken with her, she asked for it, so I feel honored," Flack told Spinner. "I love her. She's so talented."

Yes, Flack, who was afforded this sort of love when her song 'Killing Me Softly' was resurrected by the Fugees, is clearly back in her element in the spotlight. Fresh off her sterling Grammy performance, she is turning her attention now to the biggest-selling band of all time. "I'm doing a Beatles album for Sony, which will be out on the 21st of April," she says. "All Beatles covers -- they did 1,088 songs so I'm gonna do about 14 of them."

She said the record is coming together quickly. "I've finished about eight, so we're on our way," she says. "I have 'Here, There and Everywhere,' 'Here Comes the Sun,' 'Come Together,' 'Eleanor Rigby,' 'Let It Be,' 'Hey Jude.'"

In an interview last year with the San Francisco Gate, Flack told the paper she used to live in the same building as John Lennon and Yoko Ono and has a long history with these songs. "On every holiday and every special occasion that Yoko could think of, she was always sending me little personal [gifts]. She is a lovely person, very misunderstood," Flack said. "I did a lot of their songs when I was starting to make the transition from being a classical pianist to playing pop tunes in a restaurant and a club. I played a lot of Beatles songs for my newfound audience because they were so melodic."

And what will the album be called? "I don't know. Any suggestions?" she asked Spinner. "Somebody said call it 'Let It Be,' 'Roberta Flack, Let It Be' or 'Roberta Does the Beatles.' All of that is so commercial, I can't think about that. I'm too busy trying to figure out if I can sing 'Oh Darling,'" she said before singing a verse for us. The answer is yes, she can sing it.

Roberta Flack on AOL Music