>>> LENA HORNE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST HUGE BLACK ARTISTS. SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMAN. >> LENA HORNE CAME HERE IN THE 1940s WHEN HER CAREER IS TAKING OFF. SHE IS ALREADY PERFORMING IN MOVIES, SO SHE IS WELL KNOWN. >> EVEN WHEN SINGING A BEAUTIFUL SONG LIKE MY AUNT MARIAN'S FAVORITE "STORMY WEATHER" -- ♪ DON'T KNOW WHY THERE'S NO SUN UP IN THE SKY ♪ ♪ STORMY WEATHER ♪ >> SHE WOULD JUST BRING THIS EMOTION AND THIS GRIT, AND SHE WOULD EXPRESS HER RAGE WITH THE FACT THAT SHE KNEW THAT SHE WAS DIFFERENT AND BEING TREATED DIFFERENT. >> HER FIRST JOB AT THE FLAMINGO, SHE WANTED, OF COURSE, TO STAY IN THE HOTEL. AND SO BUGSY SEGAL, WHO OWNED THE FLAMINGO AT THAT PERIOD, AGREED THAT SHE COULD STAY IN THE HOTEL. AND THE STORY GOES THAT IN THE MORNING, HER SHEETS WOULD BE BURNED. BUT SHE WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO STAY HERE WHEN AFRICAN AMERICANS COULD NOT. >> NOW, THEY DIDN'T HAVE TOTAL ACCESS TO VEGAS. BUT AT LEAST IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE THEY COULD STAY WHERE THEY WERE PLAYING. >> IT WAS A RISK THAT THEY ALL TOOK, TO OPEN THOSE DOORS. >> 1952, JOSEPHINE BAKER DOES A TOUR. ♪ >> SHE IS A SEXY CABARET PERFORMER. >> WHEN SHE GETS TO LAS VEGAS, IT IS REALLY PHENOMENAL WHAT SHE DOES. >> JOSEPHINE BAKER SAID THAT SHE WOULDN'T PERFORM UNLESS THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE AUDIENCE. BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOU GET YOUR SOUL AND YOUR SPIRIT, FROM YOUR PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT'S ROOTING YOU ON. >> SO THEY HAD TO SCRAMBLE TO FIND BLACK PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SIT IN THE AUDIENCE FOR A SHOW. >> AND I THINK THAT WAS HISTORY THAT WAS MADE. >> PRESENTING THE INCOMPARABLE NAT KING COLE! >> NAT KING COLE WAS A BARRIER BREAKER TOO. HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK MAN TO EVER HAVE A TV SHOW. >> NAT KING COLE WAS ONE OF THE HOTTEST ENTERTAINERS IN THE WORLD. AND HE COMES TO LAS VEGAS. TO TAKE A GIG AT THE SANDS GREE- HOTEL. NOT JUST BECAUSE HE COULD STAY THERE, BUT HE DEMANDED HIS WHOLE ENTOURAGE, BAND INCLUDED, COULD STAY THERE. AND THEY OBLIGED. ♪ SOMEWHERE ♪ >> ON THIS CLIP ON "THE NAT KING COLE SHOW" WITH SAMMY DAVIS JR., THERE WAS CHEMISTRY, THERE WAS CAMARADERIE, THERE WAS A BROMANCE. THEY COULD ACTUALLY TOUCH EACH OTHER, SOMETHING KING COLE COULDN'T ALWAYS DO WHEN HE HAD WHITE GUESTS ON HIS SHOW. >> A BLACK MAN WITH A TELEVISION SHOW, AND HE CANNOT GET CLOSE TO A GUEST IF THAT GUEST IS A WHITE WOMAN. WHEN I SAW THE CLIP, IT MAKES ME THINK HOW FREE THEY SEEMED TO BE TOGETHER. ♪ >> NAT HAD THIS INNATE DIGNITY, WAS NOT AFRAID TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF ANY PERFORMER. HE HELPED MY CAREER TREMENDOUSLY. >> LET ME DO ONE FOR YOU THAT WE HAVEN'T DONE. THIS IS FROM "DREAMGIRLS." >> I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S SUCH AN INTERESTING SONG FOR SAMMY AS SOMEBODY WHO WENT FROM SEGREGATED VEGAS TO DESEGREGATED VEGAS, "I'M TELLING YOU, TONIGHT I'M NOT GOING, I'M GOING TO LAY MY HEAD DOWN AND REST RIGHT HERE AT THIS RESORT." ♪ I AM STAYING AND YOU YOU YOU YOU'RE GONNA LOVE ME ♪ >> NAT KING COLE HAD ALL THE CIVIL RIGHTS LEAD THERE'S AIDED THEM IN DESEGREGATING VEGAS. ALL THESE ACTS IN THE '70s BEGAN TO REAP THOSE BENEFITS. YOU HAD ROLLA PHILALA. >> DURING THIS TIME OF THE '70s IT WAS REPORTED LOLA WAS MAKING $100,000 A WEEK IN LAS VEGAS. >> THAT'S PRETTY GOOD TODAY. >> THERE'S A █SIGNATURE █ PERFORMANCE. SNOST ♪ THIS IS WHERE YOU BELONG ♪ >> I LOVE THE COSTUMING THAT LOLA PHILANA WORE ON STAGE. >> RECENTLY ON THE B.E.T. AWARDS, PAID HOMAGE TO LOLA PHILAMA. ♪ TOGETHER THE WORLD WILL BE OURS ♪ ♪ THIS IS THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF AQUARIUS ♪ >> WE RECORDED "AQUARIUS" FASTER THAN ANY OTHER SONG. WE WERE PERFORMING IN LAS VEGAS WHEN WE RECORDED IT. >> 1969, THE FIFTH DIMENSION RELEASED THEIR BIGGEST HIT, "AQUARIUS: LET THE SUNSHINE IN." ♪ LET THE SUNSHINE LET THE SUNSHINE IN ♪ >> WE WERE PERFORMING NIGHTLY WHEN WE HAD A RESIDENCY AT LAS VEGAS. WHEN THE FIFTH DIMENSION WAS NOMINATED FOR FIVE GRAMMYS, WE WERE SO EXCITED. WE WON THREE THAT NIGHT. GROUP OF THE YEAR, ALBUM OF THE YEAR, SONG OF THE YEAR. >> THEY MAY BE A GREAT EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE FIRST BLACK POP GROUPS, FIRST BLACK CROSS-OVER GROUPS. BECAUSE THEIR MUSIC WAS VERY BROAD AND WIDE-REACHING. AS YOU GET INTO THE '80s AND '90s AND 2000s, YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN THE STRIP, YOU SEE THESE BIG BILLBOARDS AND LIGHTS FOR LIONEL RICHIE, SMOKEY ROBINSON, GLADYS KNIGHT, DIANA ROSS. >> I OPENED AT HARRAH'S IN FEBRUARY OF 2000. AT THAT TIME THE ONLY MUSICIAN TO HAVE A THEATER NAMED AFTER HIM WHILE I WAS PERFORMING THERE. >> WHEN I FIRST STARTED PERFORMING IN VEGAS, THERE WAS A NAME DECK IN EVERY HOTEL ON THE STRIP. THE FIRST RESIDENCY I HAD WAS DESERT INN. I REMEMBER RECORDING THE SHOW FOR A TV SPECIAL. ♪ PEOPLE SAY ♪ >> THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE LYRICS AND THE STORYTELLING THAT SMOKY USED THAT YOU FIND A CONNECTION TO. ♪ SO TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT MY FACE ♪ >> ONE MORNING I SAID, WHAT OTHER PERSON CRIED SO MUCH UNTIL THEIR TEARS MADE TRACKS IN THEIR FACE? ♪ IF YOU LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER IT'S EASY TO TRACE THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS ♪ >> SO "THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS" IS ONE OF MY MOST POPULAR SONGS EVER. >> SOME OF OUR RECENT RESIDENCIES -- PRINCE. ♪ LAS VEGAS Y'ALL READY TO DO THE WORK ♪ >> EVERYBODY WAS SHOCKED WHEN THEY HEARD PRINCE WAS GOING TO LAS VEGAS. >> GET YOUR PHONE OUT, CALL YOUR NEXT OF KIN, WE'RE ABOUT TO GET FUNKY. >> PRINCE PLAYED THE ALADDIN IN 2002. HE LIKED IT SO MUCH HE OPENED UP HIS OWN CLUB,