The Pulse of Entertainment: The Julien’s ‘Roberta Flack No Reserve’ Auction Sells Over $200,000 in Items

*“It’s two of us…Suzanne Koga and I,” said Joan Martin of the Roberta Flack Foundation as we talked about the recent Julien’s Auction “Roberta Flack: Style, Art and Music No-Reserve Benefit Auction’ for the Roberta Flack Foundation’s mission to educate young artists/musicians. “I’ve been with Roberta since 1987 as her business manager. I did everything […] The post The Pulse of Entertainment: The Julien’s ‘Roberta Flack No Reserve’ Auction Sells Over $200,000 in Items appeared first on EURweb | Black News, Culture, Entertainment & More.

Jun 3, 2026 - 10:34

The Pulse of Entertainment: The Julien’s ‘Roberta Flack No Reserve’ Auction Sells Over $200,000 in Items

Roberta Flack at her Roberta Flack School of Music with her students

*“It’s two of us…Suzanne Koga and I,” said Joan Martin of the Roberta Flack Foundation as we talked about the recent Julien’s Auction “Roberta Flack: Style, Art and Music No-Reserve Benefit Auction’ for the Roberta Flack Foundation’s mission to educate young artists/musicians. “I’ve been with Roberta since 1987 as her business manager. I did everything to keep the business going.”

“We are auctioning off her fashions,” she continued. “Some industry people are excited that she saved her many gowns from the 70s to the present day.”

“We went through her things with a representative at Julien’s Auctions. All her possessions are to be sold, and proceeds go to the Foundation…(things) that are most of value to the public,” Joan pointed out when I asked what items were being auctioned off.

The Roberta Flack Foundation financially supports the education of young musicians and artists like she was when she started out in 1969. People in her community saw her talent and helped her nurture it and through her ventures she was doing the same before she passed away.

“(The auction) is a big gift…the Foundation can do some things to help people like her,” Joan said. “Roberta, as a young person…showed her talent early. She was playing for the church (under 10 years-old), but she needed more education. Her community sponsored her (education).”

“The main item is her piano,” Martin said when I mentioned how I want to see who buys her piano. I stated that my image of Roberta Flack is always at the piano.

“She was classically trained at Howard,” Joan added.

Five-Time Grammy Award winner Roberta Flack

“We are looking for musically inclined youth…young girls…get them the lessons they need and can’t afford but have the talent. Art was the first thing to go in schools,” she added.

Roberta Flack, the legend, went on to become a 5-time Grammy Awards winning artist/musician and the songs she recorded are still played as if they came out this year. She gave us hits like “Back Together Again”, “Feel Like Making Love to You”, “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” featuring Peabo Bryson, and “The Closer I Get to You” featuring Donnie Hathaway. She helped Luther Vandross become a legend too because he was one of her backup singers. Her duets with Donnie Hathway and Peabo Bryson set the tone for duets.

She started as an artist/musician at Atlantic Records and was still recording music and performing in her 80s. She also garnered nine Grammy nominations, was honored with an American Music Award and nominated for five AMAs. Roberta Flack was also the first solo artist that was a recipient of the Grammy Awards’ “Record of the Year”. Flack founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx to educate and inspire young artists/musicians as she was educated and inspired at a young age.

The Julien’s Auction “Roberta Flack: Style, Art and Music No-Reserve Benefit Auction’ was a success. The big sellers were her grand piano (Bosendorfer Imperial), that I asked about, that was given to her by her record label Atlantic Records at $48,000 and an 18K gold collar-necklace with diamonds, tourmaline and peridot at $70,400 which is 5-times its worth. There was a long list of other items such as an autograph to her from John Lennon sold for $8,960 and an autograph poster from Miles Davis at $5,760! A gown she wore during a televised performance sold for $5,120. In addition, an autographed poem from Maya Angelou sold for almost $2000 and her 1973 American Music Award for “Favorite Soul Female Artist” sold for $2,880. The total of the Julien’s Auction “Roberta Flack: Style, Art and Music No-Reserve Benefit Auction’ garnered for the Roberta Flack Foundation $218,880. www.RobertaFlack.com www.RobertaFlackFoundation.com

SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million for her column The Pulse of Entertainment. She is the publisher of the digital magazine www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com, which has an estimated 160,000 visitors a month. An entrepreneur, Dr. Moseley’s company, Freelance Associates, is a business management/public relations strategic planning and consulting firm that is celebrating 32 years in 2025. Dr. Eunice also serves as professor for the School of Business at Stanton University in Anaheim, California and serves as promotions director (at-large), journalist and business consultant for The Baltimore Times. Dr. Moseley founded the Uplifting Minds II Foundation (www.UpliftingMinds.com) in 2023, a 501 C3 with a mission to empower the underserved through three major programs – One Stop Business Shop, the ULMII Professional Conference and the ULMII Academy (business management and public relations). EVENTS: “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), was launched by Dr. Eunice in 1999, to educate aspiring artists/musicians about the business of entertainment – www.UpliftingMinds2.com. Next ULMII Entertainment Conferences for Baltimore on Saturday April 18, 2026, presented by Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times, and for Los Angeles on Saturday, November 7, 2026, presented by The Pulse of Entertainment and the ULMII Foundation. The ULMII conferences are free with virtual access via Zoom. ULMII entertainment conference offers a Professional Panel Q&A Session, a Professional Talent Showcase and International Talent Competition where the top three scored acts receive the ULMII Best Act Award and over $20,000 valued in prizes/product/services and cash!