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Actress, singer, and activist Lena Horne passed away on Sunday at the age of 92. The legendary performer started her career at age 16, when she worked at The Cotton Club (a famous Harlem nightclub) as a chorus girl. She soon started traveling the nightclub circuit, which eventually lead to a contract with MGM Studios in the 1940s. She was one of the few black performers to have such a distinction at that time.

Known for her starring roles in Stormy Weather and Cabin in the Sky, Horne only had minor parts in other movies so that her scenes could be cut out when shown in the South.  In World War II, she sang for African American soldiers, who regarded Horne as the pinnacle of beauty. During one of these shows, she noticed that the black soldiers were seated behind German PoWs. These experiences lead to her being a prominent civil rights activist in the 1960s, marching on Washington for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The 1980s saw a resurgence in Horne’s singing career. Her 1981 one-woman show Lena Horne: A Lady and Her Music ran for two and a half years on Broadway. For that performance, she won Tony and Grammy Awards. She made appearances on numerous shows from Sesame Street to The Cosby Show. Throughout the 90s, she recorded and toured before eventually retiring.

Many regarded Horne as a one-of-a-kind woman, and were deeply saddened by her passing. President Obama called her “one of our nation’s most cherished entertainers.” She is survived by one daughter and grandchildren.

Watch her most-famous performance of “Stormy Weather” here.