Back in 1974 there was a TV special for kids that a lot of American families still remember. It was called “Free to Be… You and Me,” and it was the idea of Marlo Thomas, the actress from the hit show “That Girl.” The whole thing was about being kind and being yourself, with little songs and skits mixed together.
One of those songs was about growing up. It’s a gentle tune, and on the record that came out with the special, it was sung by Diana Ross. Ross was the Motown superstar from The Supremes, the same woman who had helped introduce the Jackson 5 to the world a few years earlier.
But when it came time to put that song on television, Diana Ross wasn’t the one who sang it.
They gave it to Michael Jackson. He was just 15, already the voice of the Jackson 5 but still a kid. And they put a grown woman beside him to sing it as a duet.
Here’s the fun part. The woman they picked was one of the biggest singers in the whole country at that time.
It was Roberta Flack. If the name doesn’t ring a bell right away, her voice will. She’s the one who sang “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a slow, aching song that went to No. 1 and won Record of the Year. She also had a lovely hit called “Where Is the Love” with Donny Hathaway. In 1974 she was about as big as a singer could get.
So there she was, one of the most admired voices in music, sitting next to a 15-year-old boy and trading soft lines about what it means to grow up. Flack later said that even a talent like Michael had to feel truly inspired to sing the way he did, and that when a gift comes that naturally, you can relax and just let it flow.
She passed away in February 2025, which makes the old clip feel even more special to pull up now.
The performance is short, and the only way to really get it is to see the two of them do it together.
Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack sing “When We Grow Up” on 1974 TV
Watch how comfortable Michael looks, even at 15, holding his own next to a star like that. You can hear right away why people already knew he was something different.
If you want the whole thing, someone saved the entire 1974 broadcast, commercials and all.
The complete 1974 “Free to Be… You and Me” broadcast
The song itself was written by Stephen J. Lawrence, with words by Shelley Miller, and the idea was simple. You get to decide who you grow up to be. Coming from a boy who’d go on to change music forever, it hits a little differently all these years later. Give it a play and hear two great voices meet.