Roberta Flack is living with motor neurone disease (Picture: Matt Licari/Invision/AP, File)

Roberta Flack’s manager has revealed that star has ALS, also known as motor neurone disease, which has made it ‘impossible’ for her to sing any more.

The singer, 85, who is best known for tracks including Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, has been diagnosed with the condition which affects the brain and nerves, causing weakness which worsens over time.

The news was confirmed by Flack’s manager Suzanne Koga, who said the condition ‘has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak.’

Koga added that Flack will remain ‘active in her musical and creative pursuits’, including working with her foundation for animal welfare and music education.

The statement continued: ‘[Flack’s] fortitude and joyful embrace of music that lifted her from modest circumstances to the international spotlight remain vibrant and inspired… It will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.’

The announcement comes ahead of the premiere of the feature-length documentary Roberta premiering at the DOC NYC film festival on Thursday, November 17, and it is not known how long she has been living with ALS.

The singer, pictured in 2012, also had a stroke in 2016 (Picture: Splash News/Corbis)

Motor neurone disease is an uncommon condition which can be found in all ages, but is most common in people in their sixties and seventies.

It is caused by a problem with cells in the brain and nerves called motor neurones which gradually stop working over time, though it is not known why this happens, according to the NHS.

She is best known for Grammy-winning songs The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Killing Me Softly With His Song (Picture: Robert Legon/REX)

The condition worsens over time and affects mobility as well as making swallowing and breathing increasingly difficult, though people can live for many years or even decades after diagnosis, with treatments available to manage some of the symptoms.

Flack’s manager had revealed in 2018 that she was recovering from a stroke she had two years earlier after she fell ill on stage.

The singer had been performing at a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America when she began feeling ill and dizzy, before leaving the stage and being rushed to hospital.

Among her past accolades, Flack was the first solo artist to ever win the Grammy for record of the year two years in a row, after winning for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face in 1973 and Killing Me Softly With His Song the following year.

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