who sang the original killing me softly song
Killing Me Softly with His Song According to Lori Lieberman, who performed the original recording in 1971, the song was born of a poem she wrote after experiencing a strong reaction to the Don McLean song 'Empty Chairs.'[1][2][3] She then related this information to Gimbel, who took her feelings and put them into words. Then Gimbel passed the words to Fox, who set them to music.[4]