BREAKING NEWS
OK LogoNEWS

Jazz Singer, Actress & Activist Lena Horne Dies at 92

2010__05__Lena_Horne_May10 300×300.jpg

May 10 2010, Published 5:21 a.m. ET

Link to FacebookShare to XShare to Email

Legendary jazz singer Lena Horne died Sunday at the age of 92. Her death was announced by her son-in-law, Kevin Buckley, but no details were released. The singer, actress and civil rights activist is survived by her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley.

Lena died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday, according to hospital spokeswoman Gloria Chin (via PopEater). No further details were released.

Lena broke down racial boundaries as a singer and civil rights activist. 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 of African Americans with a Hollywood contract, according to PopEater.

Article continues below advertisement

"I was always battling the system to try to get to be with my people. Finally, I wouldn't work for places that kept us out ... it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world," she said in Brian Lanker's book, I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America.

In 1943, Lena landed one of the title roles in MGM Studios 20th Century-Fox movie musical Stormy Weather. She played the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black musical. Her rendition of the title song became a major hit and the piece her signature sound is best known for.

MORE ON:
NEWS

Some of her most well-known songs include "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."

Advertisement

Want OK! each day? Sign up here!

Opt-out of personalized ads

© Copyright 2024 OK!™️. A DIVISION OF EMPIRE MEDIA GROUP INC. OK! is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services. Offers may be subject to change without notice.