Legendary singer Lena Horne dies

[Steve Sanderson]

The Associated Press
Monday, May 10, 2010; 1:18 AM

NEW YORK -- Singer Lena Horne, who broke racial barriers as a Hollywood and Broadway star famed for her velvety rendition of "Stormy Weather," has died at age 92.

Hospital spokeswoman Gloria Chin says Horne died Sunday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

In the 1940s, Horne was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band and among a handful with a Hollywood contract.

In 1943, she won the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black movie musical "Stormy Weather." Her rendition of the title song became a major hit.

She won a special Tony Award for her 1981 one-woman Broadway show, "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music."