“Killing Me Softly (With His Song)” is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, which has become a pop standard. The song was inspired by a poem by Lori Lieberman, “Killing Me Softly with His Blues”, which she wrote after seeing a then-unknown Don McLean perform the song Empty Chairs live. Lieberman was the first to record Fox and Gimbel’s song, in 1971, but it became a bigger hit when covered by Roberta Flack in 1973, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks. It was replaced by “Love Train” by the The O’Jays. “Killing Me Softly” returned to the top of the U.S. charts replacing “Love Train”. R&B artist Al B. Sure was the next to cover the song in 1988 on his debut album In Effect Mode… and experienced some success with it. He was voted the top new Male R&B solo artist in 1989. Hip-hop group The Fugees covered the song in 1996, with Lauryn Hill singing the lead vocals. Their version reached number two on the U.S. airplay chart, and had similar success in the U.K., reaching number one and selling over a million copies. Propelled by the success of the Fugees track, the version by Flack was remixed in 1996 and topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Other major artists to cover the song include The Plain White T’s, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frank Sinatra, Tori Amos, Eva Cassidy, Perry Como, Aretha Franklin, Anne Murray, Luther Vandross, Toni Braxton, Alicia Keys, Jaco Pastorius, The Youngblood Brass Band, and Shirley Bassey. Less