Lena Horne Dies at 92

The legendary and iconic Lena Horne has died at age 92, reports the New York Times.

Horne was the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio. But when Horne was signed by MGM in the 1940s, the singer and actress still suffered major discrimination.

"Ms. Horne was stuffed into one “all-star” musical after another to sing a song or two that could easily be snipped from the movie when it played in the South, where the idea of an African-American performer in anything but a subservient role in a movie with an otherwise all-white cast was unthinkable. 'The only time I ever said a word to another actor who was white was Kathryn Grayson in a little segment of ‘Show Boat'' included in “Till the Clouds Roll By” (1946), a movie about the life of Jerome Kern, Ms. Horne said in an interview in 1990. In that sequence she played Julie, a mulatto forced to flee the showboat because she has married a white man.

"But when MGM made “Show Boat” into a movie for the second time, in 1951, the role of Julie was given to a white actress, Ava Gardner, who did not do her own singing. (Ms. Horne was no longer under contract to MGM at the time, and according to James Gavin’s Horne biography, “Stormy Weather,” published last year, she was never seriously considered for the part.) And in 1947, when Ms. Horne herself married a white man — the prominent arranger, conductor and pianist Lennie Hayton, who was for many years both her musical director and MGM’s — the marriage took place in France and was kept secret for three years."

Horne's 1943 performance in Stormy Weather was triumphant and the title song became her signature. At the time she was described as "the nation’s top Negro entertainer". Horne earned an MGM salary of $1,000 a week, plus $1,500 for every radio appearance and $6,500 a week when she played clubs. Horne's popularity soared during WWII. " 'The whole thing that made me a star was the war,' Ms. Horne said in the 1990 interview. 'Of course the black guys couldn’t put Betty Grable’s picture in their footlockers. But they could put mine.'"

Of the many men in her life, Horne said only one was her "soulmate": Billy Strayhorn, the composer and arranger for Duke Ellington, who was openly gay during the 1930s, 40s and 1950s. "A rare feat for an African American man during that time", noted PBS in its recent documentary Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life.  Horne said:

'I wasn’t born a singer,' she told Strayhorn’s biographer, David Hajdu. 'I had to learn a lot. Billy rehearsed me. He stretched me vocally.” Strayhorn occasionally worked as her accompanist and, she said, 'taught me the basics of music, because I didn’t know anything.' Strayhorn was also, she said, 'the only man I ever loved,' but Strayhorn was openly gay, and their close friendship never became a romance. 'He was just everything that I wanted in a man,' she told Mr. Hajdu, 'except he wasn’t interested in me sexually.' "

The Philadelphia Inquirer adds: For decades after his death in 1967, she kept his photo by her bedside."

The singer with the big smile and expressive voice has always been a favorite among gay audiences. Horne's role as Glenda in The Wiz cemented her iconic status among gay men—especially among a generation of black gay men who used her song "If You Believe in Yourself" as an anthem. Horne was also re-introduced to a new generation with her Tony Award-winning, one-woman show "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music."

Ironically, on May 17th, an off-Broadway tribute will open: "To Lena...A Tribute to the Lady & her Music." And in recent years, it's been reported that Alicia Keys would star in an upcoming biopic about the legendary entertainer.

Lena set the gold standard with 92 years of elegance, grace and class. Watch the legend sing "Stormy Weather", "If You Believe" and her fabulous GAP commercial  AFTER THE JUMP ...

Comments

[Isis]

This is Sad news! She is an ICON and was so beloved. May she rest in Peace!

I loved her voice and presence! She was so classy and strong. She will truly be missed. 92 years is a blessing.

[Luxury]

Ditto @ Isis

R.I.P.

[Jim]

From the N.Y. Time obituary, here’s a passage about Billy Strayhorn, composer of “Take the ‘A’ Train,” among other Ellington songs:

“The person she always credited as her main influence was not another singer but a pianist and composer, Duke Ellington’s longtime associate Billy Strayhorn.

“‘I wasn’t born a singer,’ she told Strayhorn’s biographer, David Hajdu. ‘I had to learn a lot. Billy rehearsed me. He stretched me vocally.’ Strayhorn occasionally worked as her accompanist and, she said, ‘taught me the basics of music, because I didn’t know anything.’

“Strayhorn was also, she said, ‘the only man I ever loved,’ but Strayhorn was openly gay, and their close friendship never became a romance. ‘He was just everything that I wanted in a man,’ she told Mr. Hajdu, ‘except he wasn’t interested in me sexually.’”

I also like this passage, from when Horne was eighty:

“‘My identity is very clear to me now. I am a black woman. 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. I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.’”

[TheRevKev]

I interviewed her in 1994 and she was just a, such a treasure. The second she walked into the room, in a black cashmere sweater, with a white silk tee under it, and a wonderful black wool pant and a kicky, kitten-heeled short-boot, she was fiesty and fiery and fierce.

She wondered, out loud, if I knew much about her. "You don't know nothing about my life, you young thing," she said. I told her that I had been studied and knew her well. We talked for more than an hour and she was real and regal and rare. She was humble.

After the interview, my boss and his boss entered the room to take photographs. Ms. Horne wouldn't take any photographs before taking photos with me. She said I reminded her of Strayhorn and she looked up at me in one of the photos and I wanted to cry. Later, my boss' boss' boss and the president of Ms. Horne's label joined us for lunch at the St. Regis, where we had been doing the interview. When we took over the restaurant, Mr. Lee, my boss' boss' boss took the seat in front of Ms. Horne, who swiftly asked him to move so that I could sit in front of her ("I want you right here so we can talk more").

I sent her flowers for her 80th Birthday 3 years later and she sent me a handwritten thank you note. Such class. Such a history.

GOD REST YOUR SOUL, LADY LENA!

[nahtans]

gone too soon at 92

[Corey]

I LOVE LENA HORNE! ALWAYS HAVE...ALWAYS WILL ! ! ! !

[Jim]

Wow, Rev. Now THAT is some story!

So you reminded Lena Horne of the only man that she ever loved, of everything that she wanted in a man...

Has anyone ever been given a finer compliment?

I'm half-surprised your boss's boss's boss didn't have you fired. But would it have mattered? You got to heaven instead.

[soulbrotha]

Thanks for sharing that, Kev. That was a beautiful memory of an even more beautiful woman. Rest in Peace, Ms. Horne.

[BartonHughes]

Revkev and Jim thanks for the great anecdotes, esp. Rev ... WOW!

Lena Horne, as we all know, has always been a class act with spunk.R.I.P.

Miss Horne has always held a special place for me. ... always reminded my fam of our grandmother (who is 91 today)in terms of looks and grace.

[QH]

One of the original icons. A loss. May she rest.-QH

[MW09]

One of the greatest entertainers of all time! She was beyond amazing and will truly be missed!

[Kool]

Lena is the epitome of class, grace, style and sophistication. A true lady. She will be missed. RIP.

[Ummm]

Wow. This is so sad. It makes me feel the same way as when Eartha passed. Their stories are quite similar. I will miss Ms. Horne's unrivaled passion for entertainment and her effortless class.

[M. W. Moore]

Wow.....My heart sank when I got the news of Lean's transition.

Ms. Horne was a signature and should have had a perfume collection and more.....Did she?

Her character and penmanship was the finest of our time.

Rest in Peace Ms. Lena Horne.

M. W. Moore

[Trevis J]

She will be missed, I wish the movie of her life would have been made some years ago, I think Janet Jackson was suppose to play her but nipple gate happened.

[Rodney M.]

Speaking of Janet (and Whitney, Beyonce, Rihanna, Alicia, Toni, Lauryn--wherever you are, and all the rest of them): if you wonder what a REAL diva is all about, this was your prime example. May she rest in peace, and God bless her legacy.