462 Ethel Waters (1896-1977) “Stormy Weather” 1933 & Lena Horne (1917-2010) “Stormy Weather” 1943

The Cotton Club management signed Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, “and for the first time the club landed Ethel Waters as the headline entertainer. Waters was apparently on the fence about whether or not to do the Cotton Club show until she heard ‘Stormy Weather’…She wanted to put everything she had into it, but she knew she could handle doing that only once a night. Therefore, even though it was the club’s policy to give multiple shows, Waters stipulated that she would sing ‘Stormy Weather’ only once per evening….But finally it was the 1943 film, titled Stormy Weather, that made the song into an all-time classic, and also firmly established it as the property of Lena Horne” (Will Friedwald, Stardust Melodies, 2002).

Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather”

Lena Horne “Stormy Weather”