Legendary singer, actress and civil-rights icon Lena Horne died on Sunday night (May 9th) of undisclosed causes at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She was 92 years old.

Ms. Horne paved the way for African-American women in entertainment and broke racial barriers to become a Broadway and Hollywood superstar. She refused to take stereotypical roles offered to black performers -- such as prostitutes, slaves and maids and held out for more substantial parts.

The jazz icon was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1917 and began her career at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club in the 1930's. In 1942, she became the first black performer signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio. Ms. Horne once stated in an interview, "I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of how I looked."

In 1943, she starred in the all-black Cabin in the Sky, as well the all-black movie version of the musical, Stormy Weather, where she sang the title track became her signature song.

By 1945, Ms. Horne became the top earning black performer in Hollywood, playing lucrative nightclub gigs and gaining popularity among both white and black G.I.'s during World War II. She starred in her first Broadway musical Jamaica in 1957.

Lena, who was the great granddaughter of a freed slave, never stopped fighting racism in Hollywood. In Brian Lanker's book, I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America, she said "I was always battling the system. I wouldn't work for places that kept us out . . . It was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world."

By the 1960's, she became actively involved in the civil rights movement, participating in the protests and marches, including the 1963 March on Washington.

The legendary performer won two Grammy awards and a special Tony award for her 1981 one-woman Broadway show, Lena Horne, The Lady And Her Music. During her speech, she spoke achieving success, saying, "Sometimes you have to wait 50 years . . . sometimes, it comes in a year . . . I'm just so happy that I'm getting all these flowers while I still have my teeth." She also earned the Kennedy Center Honors in 1984 and received a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1998.

Ms. Horne had a son that died and a daughter from her first marriage. She married arranger/conductor Lennie Hayton in 1947.

CELEBRITIES REACT TO LENA HORNE'S DEATH ON TWITTER

Yesterday (May 10th) celebrities expressed their condolences via Twitter on the death of the legendary singer, actress and civil-rights icon, Lena Horne. Singer/Actress Alicia Keys tweeted, "Wow! Lena Horne! What an incredible woman & story of triumph! May we all know that life is a journey of possibility as long as we hang on."

Actress Taraji P. Henson tweeted, "R.I.P. Lena Horne Thank you for paving the way!!!! Rest with the angels."

Diddy wrote, "RIP to the QUEEN LENA HORNE!!!!! We thank you for all the doors that you have opened! We love you!"

Dancing With the Stars contestant Chad Ochocinco tweeted, "Just been informed we've lost another great one in the beautiful LENA HORNE, favorite movie with her is STORMY WEATHER #sad."

Queen Latifah told ESPN, "I always remembered her as Glinda the Good Witch in 'The Wiz.' She always had this amazing beauty, talent and warmth. Maybe it was her accent?"