*Lena Horne, the enchanting jazz singer and actress who reviled the bigotry that allowed her to entertain white audiences but not socialize with them, slowing her rise to Broadway superstardom, died Sunday. She was 92.
Horne died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Gloria Chin. Chin would not release any other details.
Horne, whose striking beauty and magnetic sex appeal often overshadowed her sultry voice, was remarkably candid about the underlying reason for her success.
“I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept,” she once said. “I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.”
In the 1940s, she was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band, the first to play the Copacabana nightclub and among a handful with a Hollywood contract.
In 1943, MGM Studios loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black movie musical “Stormy Weather.” Her rendition of the title song became a major hit and her signature piece.
On screen, on records and in nightclubs and concert halls, Horne was at home vocally with a wide musical range, from blues and jazz to the sophistication of Rodgers and Hart in songs like “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.”
In her first big Broadway success, as the star of “Jamaica” in 1957, reviewer Richard Watts Jr. called her “one of the incomparable performers of our time.” Songwriter Buddy de Sylva dubbed her “the best female singer of songs.”
But Horne was perpetually frustrated with the public humiliation of racism.
Read MORE of this AP story HERE.
We have truly lost a legendary song stylist. I was just searching the 60 minutes archive the other day for Ed Bradley’s interview with her circa 80′s (and 60 minutes just isn’t the same without him). What a life she lived, what a circumstance she endured….I don’t believe she really got to truly “be” until well after her 50′s. Lena was simply magic at the Supper Club in NYC, I’m truly glad I got an opportunity to see her live in my lifetime. There really aren’t too many left. I would advise anyone…if Nancy Wilson comes to your town, run don’t walk (because she really doesn’t perform much anymore). It’s a must see from a different era (although she, like Lena is timeless) and it’s a master class on how it’s supposed to be done. Rest Miss Lena — You truly earned every inch of those wings!!!!!
Nancy Wilson was at B.B. Kings in NYC today, Mother’s Day.
was in the house…and she simply elegantly blew me away….she could sing the alphabet and make it sound so incredible!!!!
I saw her at the Blue Note just before she semi-retired. Told us she didn’t want to leave the house and be away from her grand kids. Then she broke into “Guess Who I Saw Today.” Yo, Nancy after all these years still kick ass nasty.
I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy Wilson years ago when I worked in Radio. She shook my hand, asked me my name and looked directly at me as she spoke to me. Nancy Wilson is class personifed.
Didn’t see Lena but have seen Nancy 3x’s here in DC. Nothing short of amazing. The last time she was performing w/Dianne Reeves – goes w/o saying it was the shyt.
Nancy gives one of the best concerts a jazz fan could ask for! She’s def i nmy top 3 of all time best performances.
Nina
Jimmy
Nancy
I met Lena, sat with her when she honored the Negro Ensemble Company with doing a benefit for them. She was 65 then. We spoke and got to hangout with her at Xenon where the benefit was held. Met Mr. Sutton that same evening, but she spoke on what she had to endure. Told me it wasn’t easy and that I was a “pretty baby” in that imitable voice of hers. She always sounded like a soul sister with the look of a classic beauty. It was an honor. They don’t make ‘em like her anymore. She lived a long, fruitful life when entertainers were just that and honored their craft. Godspeed my sister, you’re with all your friends now and all the Cotton Club ladies. The Ancestors called you home.
When I read or hear about someone this legendary passing, first I honor their memory by reading more about them. Then I attempt to imagine how they must feel about how we as black people discredit their achievements. It must disgust our elders how are kids act out these days and it is on us to fix this problem.
Class, strength, grace and beauty.
RIP, the HORN will be missed
Ms Horne was truly a legend. I have the movie Stormy Weather on tape. I will treasure it forever. She was an excellent singer who had a beautiful voice and she did not have to shout and scream to expresss herself in song. She had the grace, beauty and above all class to succeed. Today’s female (so called) singers could learn alot from this iconic LADY! Rest in peace Ms Horne you will be missed.
“I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.”
Only someone with both keen insight and courage could say/admit something like that. Unfortunately, I never got to see her in concert, I don’t own any of her music, and I’m only vaguley familiar with her story (though I did read her bio a while back), but I know enough to know that she was the kind of person who garnered respect for both her inner and outer beauty. If you have a legacy to leave, “she epitomized respect” is a dang good one. RIP
“The Lady and Her Music” and her beauty will be greatly missed.
As a race of people, we have produced the greatest of Divas, and Ms. Horne was one of the greatest Divas!
The old adage, “they don’t make them, like they use to” aptly applies here.
Hopefully, the young kids that watch “The Wiz” will be inspired to learn more about her body of work.
Funny, a friend and I were just discussing recently who could possibly play her lifestory.
Also, get the history of their family, “The Hornes.” By Gail Lumet. Lena was born a New Yorker and died one. I think her birth house still stands on Chauncey Street in Brooklyn.
Rest In Peace, Ms. Horne; you were a huge asset to your race – the human race!
Wow.. what can say that yall haven’t already touch on. Another icon that u can truly say there will be no other. Someone mention the wiz. My faimily and I loved that movie I brought several copies of it on vhs when they grew up they move out n took there copies with them only to purchase them again on dvd. When she sang Believe that song was so movin to us. It was like she was really speaking directly to me & my children “you got 2believe in yourself right from the start” You have 2belive all these things…Still makes me tremble when I hear it. Rest Ms. Horne, once again I say this with great pride. Another Job Well Done!
I am saddened by this lost. There is so much to be said about this wonderful lady, I have fond memories of singing the alphabet with her on Sesame Street as a child. I still listen to her Live on Broadway CD, as well as many other of her albums. I can’t wait for her story to come to the screen. She lived a remarkable life, with remarkable strength, and beauty. Rest in peace, heaven has just become a bit more classier and a lot more sassier.