NEW YORK, May 10, 2010 (AFP) – Legendary US jazz singer and actress, the late Lena Horne, who broke down barriers for black performers in the 1940s and later dedicated herself to the civil rights movement, was on Monday eulogised by US President Barack Obama as “one of our nation’s most cherished entertainers.”

A spokesperson at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre, where Horne was being treated, said she died on Sunday at the age of 92, without giving a cause of death.

“Over the years, she warmed the hearts of countless Americans with her beautiful voice and dramatic performances on screen,” said Obama, who also praised Horne as a champion of equal treatment for blacks, especially other blacks actors, singers and musicians.

“In 1940, she became the first African American performer to tour with an all-white band,” the president said in his statement.

“And while entertaining soldiers during World War II, she refused to perform for segregated audiences — a principled struggle she continued well after the troops returned home,” Obama said.