Lena Horne was a popular jazz and pop singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. She passed away on May 9th, 2010 at 92 years old.

During her career she made many great albums, songs and films. She was a huge star in the 1940's and is considered one of the greatest female musicians of all time.

She was born in Brooklyn, NY on June 30, 1917. Her father was a black man and her mother was white. Her parents divorced when she was three.

When she was 16 she dropped out of school and became a dancer in the Cotton Club. She later joined Noble Sissle's orchestra as Helena Horne and toured with Charlie Barnet's band.

After moving to Hollywood she had small parts in numerous films but was not featured as a lead actress. She was unable to show her movies in cities that were against the presence of black actors in cinemas.

She also did not want to portray a character that stereotyped a black woman. This prompted her to be blacklisted by the movie industry.

Horne also worked as a nightclub performer and was a prominent civil rights activist. She participated in the March on Washington in August 1963.

Her retirement in 1980 was short-lived and she soon returned to her musical roots, performing on television and releasing a number of well-received record albums. She continued to perform sporadically throughout the 1990s until she retired from public life in 2000.