Monday, May 10, 2010

RIP Lena Horne


Ms. Horne died  Sunday May 9th at age 92 at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Horne,  In the 1940s, she was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band, the first to play at Copacabana nightclub. She was also the first black women to be signed to a long term contract by a major Hollywood studio (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history-Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway. A live album entitled, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, became the largest selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA-Victor labe Ms. Horne faced many racial obstacles through out her life. She also played a major part in the Civil Rights Movement.

"I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody." Lena Horne

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