as her professional collaborations and social activism, has died, according to a statement from her publicist. She was 88.

Flack died at home surrounded by her family, Elaine Schock, her publicist, told CNN. Her death followed several years of health challenges, including a diagnosis, revealed publicly in late 2022, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The progressive condition, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, made it impossible for Flack to sing, her representatives said at the time.

Flack, however, had already long-cemented her legacy as one of the defining voices of her generation – both as an interpreter of others’ songs and a writer of her own – notching a slew of chart-topping hits and racking up accolades: Over her career, the classically trained daughter of a church organist secured 14 Grammy nominations and won five, including a lifetime achievement award in 2020 and back-to-back Record of the Year wins. Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Flack received classical music training throughout her childhood, starting piano lessons at age 9. By 15, she’d earned a scholarship to Howard University, where she graduated in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. Flack taught music for a time and wanted to pursue classical music – but found the genre in the 1960s disinclined to welcome her.

“One of the hassles of being a Black female musician is that people are always backing you into a corner and telling you to sing soul,” she once told TIME. “I’m a serious artist. I feel a kinship with people like Arthur Rubinstein and Glenn Gould. If I can’t play (20th-century orchestral composer Bela) Bartok when I want to play Bartok, then nothing else matters.”

A voice teacher encouraged Flack to pursue pop music instead, and she spent nights and weekends performing in clubs in Washington, DC, before her big break one night at Mr. Henry’s, where she was discovered by jazz musician Les McCann. He helped land her an audition with Atlantic Records for which, the story goes, she played more than 40 songs over three hours. “I was so anxious and so happy, and I still am,” she told Philadelphia Weekly decades later, “but it was all a brand-new experience, and I probably sang too many songs.”