Roberta Flack talks about new holiday CD four-year marriage to a younger man major weight loss memories of Donny Hathaway

Jet, Dec 8, 2003 by Aldore Collier

She may have dominated the charts more than three decades ago, but music legend Roberta Flack is busier than ever with her first holiday CD ever, launching her own record label and succeeding in a four-year marriage to a younger man.

The CD titled Roberta Flock Holiday features her unique take on such standards as The Christmas Song, Little Drummer Boy and Oh Come all Ye Faithful. But it also includes brand new songs such as There's Still My Joy and 25th of Last December.

"The project itself is very pleasing and satisfying and makes me want to do another one," she said during a recent interview with JET. "It's not a lengthy album (it has eight songs). I have on it a beautiful song called The 25th of Last December. The song is a sad song. I don't think that Christmas is necessarily for everyone in the world a time of joy. If you're a person who's missing someone of someone in your life is very, very ill and preparing to leave, it's the kind of song that addresses the needs of people who want to remember everything, not just the holly and the ivy."

She calls There's Still My Joy "a very personal, loving and romantic side of what Christmas means to people."

Her hopes are that the holiday album will generate enough positive buzz that it will make her legions of fans excited about her next project. And the buzz has already been positive. The New York Times selected it as one of the Top 10 holiday buys.

Her label is called Real Artist Symposium. "I shortened it to be R.A.S. because we live in a world of dot-coms." She has some artists in place for the label. "The premise of my label will be to let the people who we record own their own work," she said. "These young people can write, sing, produce and arrange for symphonies. I'm really looking forward to that." She also is planning to work on a project with hip-hop superstar Ra Kim.

Beyond focusing on the label and the music, Flack is still working to keep the 42 pounds that she lost over a year's time off permanently.

She said she lost the weight the old-fashioned way--by working through a combination of diet and exercise.

"I dropped the carbs, increased my intake of water and committed to exercising a minimum of five days a week, maximum six days," she explained. "I'm down three dress sizes. I am not unhappy! And when I look at myself and those size 16s or 1X's where was I? Why didn't someone say that's unhealthy? It's unhealthy to carry that much weight on a 5-foot-2 frame. It's unhealthy. You can't do it. Maybe when you're a teen."

Her meals are smaller than before, she eats more yogurt and has discovered the positive benefits of soy. "I eat skinless chicken and vegetables. I grew up in a family where if it wasn't fried it wasn't food. And if it didn't have pork it wasn't cooked. I've discovered smoked turkey wings to give greens flavor when I do cook them from scratch."

Sure, it took more than a year to lose the 42 pounds, but she said that pace has made it easier to keep it off. And she plans to lose at least 20 more pounds.

The weight-loss has left her with some skin that literally hangs from her body, so she plans to have surgery to remove it. "It's unbelievable how it hangs," she pointed out. "It's very uncomfortable."

Ultimately, she's planning to get into dress sizes as small as 6 or 4. "That's what I'm aiming for. My body has adjusted and I'm loving it."

And so is her husband!

Four years ago, Flack was at a function and met a much younger man (she won't say how many years younger), had good chemistry and exchanged cell phone numbers with him.

"He's young and he's gorgeous!" she proclaimed. "Yes, he's younger than I am (and definitely NOT in the entertainment business)."

When people have said she's lucky to have a younger man, she quickly responds, "He's lucky! Actually, we're both lucky. What's most exciting is the compatibility and chemistry."

She pointed out that men as old as 80 have been able to go out and marry women 50 years younger with little being said. "Nobody says, 'Christ, 50 years older! These are different days, I promise you. Look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake (both older actresses with younger men). Younger men ate much wiser and more experienced than a lot of older men were at that point in their lives because times have changed. Everything is available to a younger man who wants to find out what to do and how to do it."

Love, she said, is a blessing at any age. "I don't think, 'Gosh, I'm this old and he's this young.' If those thoughts do come into your mind, that's a good sign that you better not move there."

The multi-Grammy Award winner established herself as a musical icon in the 1970s with such classics as The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Killing Me Softly. There also were numerous efforts with her much-beloved partner, the late Donny Hathaway, such as Where Is the Love? and The Closer I Get to You and You Are My Heaven.

Invariably, Hathaway's name comes up in conversation with her. Their musical partnership was one of the most prolific of that decade.