various mixes she auditioned. Atlantic executive Tunc Erim assured her it would be a hit song no matter which mix was released. She refused, recalling later that she "wanted to be satisfied with that record more than anything else." In September 1972, Flack was opening for Quincy Jones at the Los Angeles Greek Theater; after performing her prepared encore song, Flack was advised by Quincy Jones to sing an additional song. Flack later said, "I said 'Well, I have this new song I've been working on'... After I finished, the audience would not stop screaming. And Quincy said, 'Ro, don't sing that daggone song no more until you record it. Released in January 1973, Flack's version spent a total of five non-consecutive weeks at number one in February and March, more weeks than any other record in 1973. Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1973. Charles Fox suggested that Flack's version was more successful than Lieberman's because Flack's "version was faster and she gave it a strong backbeat that wasn't in the original". According to Flack: "My classical background made it possible for me to try a number of things with [the song's arrangement]. I changed parts of the chord structure and chose to end on a major chord. [The song] wasn't written that way." The single appeared as the opening track of her Killing Me Softly album, issued in August 1973. Flack won the 1973 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for the single, with Gimbel and Fox earning the Song of the Year Grammy. In 1996, a house remix of Flack's version went to number one on the US dance chart. In 1999, Flack's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It ranked number 360 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and number 82 on Billboards greatest songs of all time. Personnel Credits are adapted from AllMusic. Roberta Flack – vocals, pianos, rhythm track arrangement Eric Gale – guitars Ron Carter – bass Grady Tate – drums Ralph MacDonald – congas, percussion, tambourine Charts Weekly charts All-time charts Fugees version American Hip-hop group Fugees released their version of the song (titled "Killing Me Softly") on their second album The Score (1996), with Lauryn Hill singing the lead vocals. Fugees' version became an international hit, reaching number one on the U.S.