section_path: Personal life/Illness and death
section_name: Illness and death
paragraph_text: Illness and death
  
  In 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the Apollo Theater at a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America when she became ill, left the stage and was rushed to the Harlem Hospital Center. In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had had a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was "doing fine" and was being kept overnight for medical observation.
  
  In late 2022, it was announced that Flack had been diagnosed with ALS and had retired from performing, as the disease was making it "impossible to sing".
  
  Flack died of cardiac arrest on February 24, 2025, on her way to a hospital in Manhattan. She was 88 years old.
  
  A memorial ceremony was held on March 10, 2025, at Abyssinian Baptist Church. Lauryn Hill sang a tribute performance of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and, alongside Wyclef Jean and Stevie Wonder, "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Stevie Wonder also sang “I Won’t Complain”, and Lisa Fischer sang “Somewhere”.
  
  In 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the Apollo Theater at a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America when she became ill, left the stage and was rushed to the Harlem Hospital Center. In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had had a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was "doing fine" and was being kept overnight for medical observation.
  
  In late 2022, it was announced that Flack had been diagnosed with ALS and had retired from performing, as the disease was making it "impossible to sing".
  
  Flack died of cardiac arrest on February 24, 2025, on her way to a hospital in Manhattan. She was 88 years old.
  
  A memorial ceremony was held on March 10, 2025, at Abyssinian Baptist Church. Lauryn Hill sang a tribute performance of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and, alongside Wyclef Jean and Stevie Wonder, "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Stevie Wonder also sang “I Won’t Complain”, and Lisa Fischer sang “Somewhere”.