who sang the original version of killing me softly
Lori Lieberman
title: Killing Me Softly with His Song text: Killing Me Softly with His Song "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a song composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. The song was written in collaboration with Lori Lieberman, who recorded the song in late 1971. In 1973 it became a number-one hit in the United States and Canada for Roberta Flack, also reaching number six in the UK Singles Chart. The song has been covered by many artists; the version by the Fugees won the 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. According to Lori Lieberman, who performed the title: Killing Me Softly with His Song text: Softly") on their album "The Score" (1996), with Lauryn Hill singing the lead vocals. Their version became a hit, reaching number two on the U.S. airplay chart. The song topped the charts in the United Kingdom, where it became the country's biggest-selling single of 1996. It has since sold 1.36 million copies in Britain. The Fugees recording won the 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and their video earned the MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. This version sampled the 1990 song "Bonita Applebum" by A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ) from title: Killing Me Softly with His Song text: Flack won the 1973 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, 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 Stone"s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and number 82 on "Billboard"s greatest songs of all time. Hip hop group Fugees covered the Flack version of the song (as "Killing Me title: Killing Me Softly with His Song text: their debut album "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm". ATCQ themselves had sampled the riff from the song "Memory Band" from psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection's 1967 eponymous debut album. The Fugees single was so successful that the track was "deleted" and thus no longer supplied to retailers whilst the track was still in the top 20 so that attention could be drawn to the next single, "Ready or Not". Propelled by the success of the Fugees track, the 1972 recording by Roberta Flack was remixed in 1996 with the vocalist adding some new vocal flourishes: this version title: Killing Me Softly with His Song text: original recording in 1971, the song was born of a poem she wrote after experiencing a strong reaction to the Don McLean song "Empty Chairs", writing some poetic ideas on a napkin at the Troubadour Club after seeing him perform the song, and then relating this information to Norman Gimbel, who took her feelings and converted them into song lyrics. Gimbel passed his lyrics to Charles Fox, who set them to music. According to Gimbel, he was introduced to the Argentinian-born composer Lalo Schifrin (then of "" fame) and began writing songs to a number of Schifrin's films. Both Gimbel