The world was Lena Horne’s stage, and she owned it!

A fearless performer and activist, her passing last month saddened those who respected her work and loved her talent.

The Brooklyn, New York native got her first stage job — at the age of 16 — dancing and singing at the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem, where she was mentored by the likes of Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway.

Her undeniable talent took her to Broadway where she was able to display her acting chops, and in the 1940s Horne signed a landmark deal with MGM Studios (becoming the highest paid black actor at the time).

Remembered for such films as ‘Cabin In The Sky,’ ‘Swing Fever,’ and ‘Stormy Weather’ (of which the title song became her signature song), the Tony Award-winning, Grammy Award-winning diva was adamant about not playing stereotypical roles.

In commemoration of what would have been her 93rd birthday, we celebrate the life and times of the late, great, legendary Lena Horne.

I took a poll of some of my industry homies last week to get a sense of how”Thank Me Later,” the debut album for Drake, was going to sell. It turns out that out of those bold enough to make a prediction, my friends Michael Bivins (formerly of Belle, Biv, Devoe and New Edition) and Vigalantee (a rapper in Kansas City, MO), were closest. Vigalantee predicted 450,000 units and Mike Biv predicted 400,000. No matter how you slice it, Drake is now officially the shizzle.

It’’s not as if anyone is surprised by Drake’s stellar debut. He and the rest of the Young Money clique did an outstanding job creating buzz for the album and Drake proved that even in the age of massive Internet pirating, he can still make his money.

Drake’s sales are impressive, but don’t match the sales mojo of Eminem, who pushed out 608,000 copies during the first week of his 2009 album, “Relapse.” He will also most likely never match the amazing performance of his mentor (and I use that term lightly) Lil Wayne, who was able to push over a million in the first week of his album, “Tha Carter III,” released in 2008. Either way, Drake should be congratulated for kicking some butt both here and around the world.

Most of Drake’s songs have been commercial hits, hardly earning the respect of hip hop purists. But what I like about Drake, as opposed to Eminem, Lil Wayne, Jay-Zand others, is that his music doesn’t come with a destructive gimmick. He’s not bragging about packing a gun, selling drugs or being more blinged out than a diamond mine. Instead, he’s just a young brother with a serious flow doing his thing in the studio. While some might think that Drake doesn’t represent the essence of hip hop, I might be inclined to agree: Instead, Drake represents THE FUTURE of hip hop, and that cannot be denied.

Michael Jackson’s younger brother Randy Jackson was rushed to a Southern California hospital tonight after suffering from chest pains.

Randy Jackson, 48, was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital and is believed to have suffered a mild heart attack.

A Jackson family insider told media outlets that he was not taken the hospital by ambulance, and that he is still at the hospital undergoing a battery of tests.

According to published reports, Jackson was working his late brother’s one-year anniversary memorial when the pains began.

“Randy is doing as well as can be expected,” the source said. “This is the first time he has ever felt pain like this.”

“He doesn’t want to take any chances. He wants to make sure that he’s well enough to make his brother’s anniversary a memorable day for his family and Michael’s fans.”

June 25 will be the one year anniversary of the death of the late King of Pop.

In a world where beauty and youth are idolized, it makes one question whether there really is a place for women over 40 in the entertainment industry.

Ten years into her career, Macy Gray found herself a free agent. She had sold 15 million albums world-wide, scored two Grammy Awards as well as two MTV awards, but at 40 years-old the acclaimed singer found that her age rather than her talent was being put into question.

In a recent article penned for the Huffington Post, the raspy voiced songstress discusses her on-going battle with age discrimination and why the entertainment industry should reconsider what it means to be young.

GRAY ON THE FIGHT OF FORTY 
“‘I don’t know how to get a 40-year-old woman on the radio. If she was 20, 25 then this record would be incredible.’ This quote comes from a powerful record label executive, just before she said no to signing me for my fifth album. And who would fault her? Everybody knows that a 40-year-old female recording artist is ‘geriatric.’ While a 46-year-old president is the ‘new kid on the block,’ a singer over 30 is just a few songs away from the nursing home of music.”

GRAY ON YOUTH IN A BOTTLE
“The obvious remedies: Age defying crème, botox, face lifts, brow lifts, hair dye, Perricone Promises, super foods and denial. Lying about our age was once a quick fix, but Wikipedia has ruined that for everybody. Cosmetic touch-ups and diet discipline may take ten years off, but how do you go ten years back? How do you sing songs that are relevant to teenagers and who are you fooling if you try?”

GRAY ON BEING YOUNG AT HEART
“The truth is that as a mother of three teenagers, I can tell you that the music industry drastically underestimates the souls of the young. And that there are over 40 million women, in the United States alone, in their 30s, 40s and beyond, that are starving to be musically inspired and lyrically represented. While the fans miss out on great music because of age discrimination, there is still BEAUTY IN THE WORLD.”

President Obama intends to meet with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday, a White House official told FoxNews.com, after criticism mounted over reports the president wouldn’t be able to meet her while she is in Washington this week.

Brewer had requested a face-to-face meeting with Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former Arizona governor, as tensions rise between his administration and the Grand Canyon State over its controversial law clamping down on illegal immigrants.

The White House denies that Obama snubbed Brewer, saying there initially were some scheduling issues this week that have been resolved.

“This Administration has dedicated unprecedented resources over the past 16 months to fulfill the federal government’s responsibility to secure the Southwest Border,” a White House official told Fox News. “The President looks forward to discussing those efforts and other matters of mutual interest with Gov. Brewer.”

Obama continues to push for a multi-layered approach to immigration. Brewer’s arrival will put the president face-to-face with the most visible exponent secure-the-border-first immigration policy.

The meeting comes after Justice Department officials told Arizona’s attorney general and aides to the governor Friday that the federal government has serious reservations about the state’s new immigration law.

Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican who helped draft Arizona’s SB 1070, had called Obama’s decision not to meet with Brewer “an insult.”

“He’s willing to have a beerfest with an officer in Cambridge after he misspoke,” Pearce told Fox News on Tuesday, referring to a photo-op the president held last summer after he incited a feud over the bias of a police officer who arrested a black professor at the front door to his home.

“He misspoke on this bill also and he’s not willing to meet with the governor of the state of Arizona?” Pearce said.

Obama has blasted Arizona’s immigration law, which takes effect July 29, as “misguided” and warned that it could violate civil rights and lead to racial profiling.

The White House has indicated that it’s prepared to go to court if necessary in a bid to block the new law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.