LENA HORNE 1917-2010.....A WOMAN AND HER MUSIC..........

From the late 1930's through the dawning of this past decade, a beautiful and unique American woman's voice has made a yeoman contribution to the world of music. Her name was Lena Horne. She was born inn Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1917. As a young woman, she became an entertainment trailblazer, being the first black American performer to ever be signed to a movie contract by one of the major motion picture studios. And yet, had she not been a black woman, or born later in the twentieth century, she may well have become one of the industry's leading actresses, as her race caused her movie career to languish for many years. She sprang to fame in screen musicals, Vincent Minelli's 1943, "Cabin In The Sky", an all black musical first and then, "Stormy Weather", based on a popular song that became her signature tune, being her first two movie breakthrough successes. A $1,000 a week contract player at MGM, who made $1,500 for each of her personal musical appearances, and very popular with black servicemen during World War II, racism was a very much a reality in her early decades as an entertainer. She attributed her success at becoming a star to WWII, as she was an acclaimed featured artist on the Army radio program, "Command Performance", a dozen times during the war. Lena Horne turned from her acting career to concentrating on her music, making records and performing a in nightclubs. A jaz and blues singer, with a distinctive, sultry, voice she was by 1957, a very successful recording artist. Her 1957 album, "Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria", recorded live during her eight week appearance at the famous New York City hotel, rocketed into the Top Ten and was the best selling album ever by a female singer in RCA Victor Records history. Her equally successful Broadway show, "Lena Horne The Lady and Her Music", in which she starred for 14 months and won her a Tony Award, was one of the milestones of her musical life. Given her conquering success as a performer, she did not forget her roots or her race and became an activist in the civil rights movement. She advocated and shared with others in the struggle for equality and an end to discrimination, as a woman of conviction. I fondly remember as a child in the 1960's seeing her perform on television or hearing her singing on the radio, and thinking what a wonderful voice and energy she exuded and the spirited and happy manner she exhibited in her performances. Lena Horne's enrichment of the worlds of music and movies is an undeniable certainty. Her trailblazing role in gaining for peoples of color a place in the mainstream media and life of our country is also assured. May she now experience the joy of a life well lived in the everlastinng Life of God's Kingdom. Thank you Miss Lena Horne..........Fr. Troy