Lena Horne, 1917–2010

Don’t know why there’s no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather since my man and I ain’t together
Keeps raining all the time, the time
Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather, just can’t get my poor self together
It’s raining all the time, the time . . .

The song “Stormy Weather” was nearly a decade old when Lena Horne made it her own in 1943. And although the tune was recorded by many others—among them Billie Holiday and Etta James—it will forever be associated with the artist for whom it became a personal soundtrack.

While battling racism and stigmatized by red-scare branding, Horne remained a fixture on American stage and screen until 1999, when she left public life. During her career, she received four Grammy Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and, in 1982, a special Tony Award. She was also received the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts honors in 1984. Her films included Panama Hattie (1942), Stormy Weather (1943), Cabin in the Sky (1943), and The Wiz (1978). Her Broadway blockbuster Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music was perhaps the pinnacle of a career laden with superlatives.

Lena Horne, one of the most treasured performers of the twentieth century, died last Sunday in New York City.