Lauryn Hill To Honor Roberta Flack and D’Angelo at the Grammys

Grammy Awards viewers will be in for a treat as Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to fallen musical icons Roberta Flack and D’Angelo as part of a musical tribute to artists who passed away the previous year. 

“The other performers announced so far this year include Justin Bieber; Sabrina Carpenter; and Clipse with Pharrell Williams, along with a segment highlighting all eight best new artist nominees: Alex Warren, Sombr, Addison Rae, Katseye, Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, the Marías and Lola Young,” writes the New York Times.

This is, of course, assuming that Hill shows up on time. Unfortunately, Hill’s historic career has been marred in recent years by chronic tardiness and performance cancellations. The Times notes that should Hill show up and show out, her performance could go down as one of the most iconic Grammy moments in the vein of Tracy Chapman’s duet with Luke Combs, “Fast Car” in 2024. 

Hill had a relationship with both Flack, who passed away last February at 88, and D’Angelo, who died in October after a battle with Pancreatic cancer. He was 51. During her time with the Fugees, Hill remade Flack’s 1973 No.1 hit  “Killing Me Softly.”  

On Hill’s 1998 debut solo, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she was joined by D’Angelo on the soft ballad “Nothing Even Matters.” Hill would go on to win album of the year and best new artist at the 1999 Grammy Awards.

“I regret not having more time with you,” Hill wrote on her IG after D’Angelo’s death. 

She also posted a tribute to Flack on her Instagram page, noting that she “moved me and showed through her own creative choices and standards what else was possible within the idiom of Soul.”

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Photo: Getty