Why Roberta Flack’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame still hasn’t been unveiled 25 years later

The late R&B hit maker died Feb. 24 at the age of 88.

Roberta Flack, the genre-blending R&B singer behind such hits as “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” was selected to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 — but the plaque has yet to hit the storied Los Angeles boulevard.

That’s because the venerable vocalist and pianist, who died Feb. 24 at the age of 88 in New York, never actually set a date with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the organization said Monday in a social media post that paid tribute to Flack.

Ana Martinez from the Hollywood Walk of Fame told TMZ the organization is hopeful that Flack’s family will reach out to lock in a date for the posthumous ceremony. However, it would have to be for some time after 2025 since the current calendar year is fully booked.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Flack’s publicist for comment.

Flack died Monday surrounded by her family. The Grammy-winning artist had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2022. The condition made it impossible to sing and difficult to speak. Yet, Flack vowed to “stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.”

In a remembrance shared with EW on Monday, Flack’s representatives said, “Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was unlike any other popular vocalist that preceded her.”

Flack, a classically trained pianist who at first aspired to be an opera singer, rose to prominence with the track “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” after it was featured in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 thriller Play Misty for Me. It won the Grammy for Record of the Year and led to a string of more hits, such as “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” Flack received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and was the subject of the Antonino D’Ambrosio documentary Roberta in 2022.

“If I have to use one phrase to describe how I feel about the whole experience, it would simply be that Love is a Song and an honest giving of feelings and emotions,” said Flack in archival footage in the feature. “As a performer, if you can connect to that thought, then whatever the song is, it’s a success. It’s not like I’m trying to sound like somebody else or be somebody else. I’m happy to be Roberta Flack. I’m happy to sound like I do. So that feels good. I’m very satisfied with that.”