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Lenny Kravitz

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Lenny Kravitz

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  • Lenny Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, from 1999 to 2002. That run broke the record for wins in the category. It also set a record for consecutive wins in one category by a male performer. He has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, and VH1 ranked him 93rd among its 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Behind those numbers stands Leonard Albert Kravitz, born in 1964, a singer, songwriter, producer and actor. His records blend rock, funk, reggae, soul and R&B. How does a child raised between Manhattan and Brooklyn grow into that sound? Why did audiences in France and across Europe embrace him before many Americans did? And what happens when a rock star also becomes a designer and a photographer?

  • On weekdays, the boy lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and attended P.S. 6. On weekends, he stayed at his grandmother Bessie's house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Leonard Kravitz was born in New York City on the 26th of May 1964, the only child of Sy Kravitz and Roxie Roker. His father was a producer of television news at NBC. His mother was an actress. Her family was Christian, of African American and Bahamian descent. His father's side was Russian-Jewish, and his paternal grandparents had emigrated from Kyiv. Through his mother, he is also a second cousin of the weather presenter Al Roker, because their grandfathers were brothers. His first name honored an uncle, Leonard M. Kravitz. That uncle was a private first class who died in the Korean War at the age of 20. According to the source, he held off a Chinese attack single-handedly so that most of his platoon could escape.

    Music arrived early. At the age of three, Kravitz was banging on pots and pans in the kitchen and treating them as drums. By five, he had decided to become a musician. He took up the drums and soon added guitar. His parents played R&B, jazz, classical music, opera, gospel and blues at home, and they took him to many shows. Around the age of seven, he watched the Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden, and they became his favorite act. His father, a jazz promoter, counted Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short and Miles Davis among his friends. On the boy's fifth birthday, Ellington played "Happy Birthday" for him. Kravitz did not grow up in a religious household. A spiritual experience at 13 would change that. First, though, his mother's career was about to pull the family across the country.

  • In 1974, when Kravitz was 10, the family moved to Los Angeles after his mother landed a role on The Jeffersons. At her urging, he joined the California Boys Choir and stayed for three years. The choir sang a classical repertoire. He performed with the Metropolitan Opera and took part in Mahler's Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. Los Angeles also introduced him to rock music. He listened to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kiss, Pink Floyd and the Who. He said he was attracted to the cool style, the girls and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Other influences from those years included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis. John Lennon and Bob Marley came later.

    At Beverly Hills High School, his classmates included Maria McKee, Nicolas Cage and Slash. He taught himself piano and bass. He also befriended Zoro, who would become a long-time collaborator. His parents divorced in 1985, the same year a demo session in New Jersey set his career in motion.

  • Record labels reportedly told Kravitz that his music was not "black enough" or "white enough." His answer was to make an album on his own under the name Romeo Blue. In 1985, while recording a demo at a studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, he met the engineer and multi-instrumentalist Henry Hirsch. Both men loved real instruments, vintage recording equipment, and the mix of R&B, jazz and rock. Kravitz would work with Hirsch on most of his albums. Over about a year and a half, they built the debut record, and Kravitz's father paid for the studio time. The saxophonist Karl Denson was invited to play on the song "Let Love Rule." Kravitz liked his playing so much that Denson appeared on much of the album and later toured with him for five years.

    In October 1988, with most of the recording finished, Kravitz asked his friend Stephen Elvis Smith to manage him. Smith had been the music supervisor on A Different World, the Cosby Show spin-off connected to Lisa Bonet. He had also worked with Kravitz's mother on The Jeffersons. Within a month of shopping the recordings, five labels were bidding for Kravitz: Warner Bros, Elektra, Geffen, Capitol and Virgin. Virgin won, and the deal was signed in January 1989 by the A&R executive Nancy Jeffries. Smith urged him to drop the Romeo Blue name and use his own again. Looking back, Kravitz said, "Ultimately, it got me back to myself. And when I finally did accept myself for myself, music started flowing out of me." The record that followed would sell far better abroad than at home.

  • Let Love Rule arrived in 1989, a mix of rock and funk with a 1960s feel. Critics were divided. Some saw a gifted new artist, while others thought his influences overpowered him. The album did moderately well in the United States and became an instant hit outside it, especially in Europe. Bonet directed the video for the title track. Kravitz had played essentially every instrument on the record, so he had to assemble a touring band quickly. His agency, CAA, soon fielded offers, first for a club tour and then for opening slots with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan and David Bowie.

    In 1990, he produced the Madonna song "Justify My Love," which he co-wrote with Ingrid Chavez. It appeared on her album The Immaculate Collection. His 1991 album Mama Said dealt with his breakup with Bonet and his depression afterward. Its single "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Always on the Run," a tribute to his mother, featured Slash on guitar. Sean Lennon co-wrote and played piano on "All I Ever Wanted." Kravitz also produced the self-titled 1991 album by the French singer Vanessa Paradis, playing most of the instruments himself.

    His third album, Are You Gonna Go My Way, came out in 1993. Its title track topped both the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video that year. In 1994, he recorded "Main Squeeze" with Teena Marie. He later made a video tribute to her after her sudden death on the 26th of December 2010. He also recorded a funk-rock version of "Deuce" for a Kiss tribute album, with Stevie Wonder on harmonica and backing vocals.

    The album 5, released in 1998, earned him the first of his Grammy wins at the 1999 ceremony. His cover of "American Woman" came from the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was added to 5 as a bonus track in 1999. It won another Grammy and introduced the Guess Who's song to a new audience. A Greatest Hits album followed in 2000, and its single "Again" brought a third Grammy. He also worked on two songs for Michael Jackson's album Invincible in 2001. One of them, "Another Day," was not officially released in full until the album Michael in 2010.

  • Kravitz said that if he had not been a musician, he would have been a designer. Kravitz Design, a New York City company he founded in 2003, handles commercial, residential and product creative direction. Its clients include the Morgans Hotel Group, Swarovski Crystal and The Setai Group. Swarovski selected the studio for its Crystal Palace Collection in 2005 and 2006, and the studio designed a chandelier for the company called "Casino Royale." The studio also imagined a luxury recording studio for The Setai Resort and Residences. In 2010, it worked with Flavor Paper on the Tropicalismo Collection, inspired by the Brazilian Tropicalia art movement of the late 1960s. In 2015, a furniture line launched through the retailer CB2, apparently inspired by the 1970s and by the Italian designer Gabriella Crespi.

    His film career began with Precious, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. He played a nurse named John. Next came Cinna, the creative stylist in The Hunger Games, released on the 23rd of March 2012, and in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, released on the 22nd of November 2013. He also played James Holloway in The Butler. In 2023, he wrote and performed "Road to Freedom" for the film Rustin. The song earned a Golden Globe nomination and a place on the Academy's shortlist for Best Original Song. A 2026 video game, 007 First Light, casts him as the antagonist Bawma.

    Photography brought him to Leica. In 2015, the camera maker issued a Leica M-P edition titled "The Correspondent." In 2019, it released a Monochrom edition titled "Drifter." A gallery of his own photographs went on display at the Leica Gallery in Wetzlar, Germany, unveiled on the 24th of May 2019.

  • Backstage at a concert in California in 1985, Kravitz met the actress Lisa Bonet. They stayed close friends for two years before becoming a couple. In 1987, he moved back to New York City to live with her. They eloped in Las Vegas on the 16th of November 1987, her 20th birthday. Tabloids noticed, since he was still performing as Romeo Blue. Their daughter, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, was born on the 1st of December 1988 and became an actress, singer and model. The couple separated in 1991 amid rumors of an affair between Kravitz and Madonna, which he has denied. They divorced amicably in 1993. He then dated Vanessa Paradis from 1991 to 1996. Engagements followed with the Brazilian model Adriana Lima, which ended in August 2003, and with the actress Nicole Kidman, from 2003 to 2004.

    A spiritual experience at 13 led him to start attending church, and he later became a non-denominational Christian. Asked about faith, he has said he is a Christian "through choice" but added, "I'm also a Jew. It's all the same to me." That outlook shows up in his lyrics, including those on the album Baptism, and in a tattoo on his back reading "My Heart Belongs to Jesus Christ." In 2005, he committed to remain celibate until remarriage. He reconsidered in a 2014 interview with Men's Health, then reaffirmed the vow in 2024. He credited his father's infidelity for the change. Of his own conduct after the marriage, he said, "I was becoming a player... I didn't like it." He added that he had not been in a romantic relationship for nine years at that point.

    He owns a house in Paris, a farm compound in Brazil, and a trailer with land in The Bahamas. He follows a mostly raw vegan diet and grows his own food on the land in Brazil and The Bahamas. PETA named him one of the Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities of 2022.

  • On the 21st of March 2005, Kravitz drew 300,000 people to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for a concert of his own. Two years later, on the 7th of July 2007, he returned to the same beach for the Brazilian leg of Live Earth. The bill included Pharrell and Macy Gray, and the audience was 400,000. In 2007, he also released a version of John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" on a charity CD for the Amnesty International campaign to save Darfur. Back in the studio, he finished It Is Time for a Love Revolution, released on the 5th of February 2008.

    France gave him one of its highest cultural honors in 2011, when the cultural minister Frederic Mitterrand made him an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris. Kravitz said he was particularly touched because his success in France came before his success in the United States. Other American recipients include Martin Scorsese, George Clooney and Bob Dylan. In 2012, he performed at Daytona International Speedway for the opening race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the Daytona 500. In 2014, he put out his tenth studio album, Strut, on his own label, Roxie Records. The label's name echoes his late mother's. In 2015, he performed with Katy Perry at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show.

    In April 2018, he signed a worldwide publishing deal with BMG Rights Management. His eleventh studio album, Raise Vibration, followed in September 2018. In 2023, he won Music Icon of the Year at the 49th People's Choice Awards. In March 2024, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the 24th of May 2024, he released his twelfth album, Blue Electric Light, and toured behind it. Far from Hollywood, a street in the rural French commune of Saint-Jean-d'Heurs now carries his name.

Updated

Common questions

When and where was Lenny Kravitz born?

Lenny Kravitz was born Leonard Albert Kravitz on the 26th of May 1964 in New York City. He is the only child of NBC news producer Sy Kravitz and actress Roxie Roker.

How many Grammy Awards did Lenny Kravitz win for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance?

Lenny Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, from 1999 to 2002. That broke the record for wins in the category and set the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male performer.

What was Lenny Kravitz's first album?

Lenny Kravitz's debut album was Let Love Rule, released in 1989 on Virgin Records. It was a moderate success in the United States and became an instant hit in Europe.

Why did Lenny Kravitz record as Romeo Blue?

Lenny Kravitz recorded as Romeo Blue after labels reportedly said his music was not "black enough" or "white enough." Manager Stephen Elvis Smith later urged him to drop the name and use his own again.

What movies has Lenny Kravitz acted in?

Lenny Kravitz made his feature film acting debut in Precious, which premiered at Sundance in January 2009. He also played Cinna in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and James Holloway in The Butler.

Who is Lenny Kravitz's daughter?

Lenny Kravitz's daughter is Zoë Isabella Kravitz, born on the 1st of December 1988. Her mother is actress Lisa Bonet, and Zoë became an actress, singer and model.

What is Kravitz Design, the company founded by Lenny Kravitz?

Kravitz Design is a New York City company Lenny Kravitz founded in 2003. It focuses on commercial, residential and product creative direction, with clients including Swarovski Crystal, the Morgans Hotel Group and The Setai Group.

What was Lenny Kravitz's most recent album as of 2024?

Lenny Kravitz's twelfth studio album, Blue Electric Light, was released on the 24th of May 2024. A world tour with the same name supported it.

All sources

102 references cited across the entry

  1. 6NewsLenny Kravitz Takes Spiritual Turn on 'Baptism'Scott Simon — NPR — February 12, 2005
  2. 7NewsThe faceSophie Heawood — January 25, 2008
  3. 9Lenny Kravitz: Mr LoveDuerden — May 7, 2004
  4. 12CROSSING OVERAllison Samuels — January 9, 2002
  5. 13Lenny Kravitz Wants To Clear a Few Things UpMadison Vain — November 29, 2023
  6. 14NewsAl Roker reunites with distant cousin Lenny KravitzDrew Weisholtz — 5 October 2020
  7. 16Did anti-Semitism block medal for rocker's namesake?Harrison, Donald H. — San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage — April 13, 2001
  8. 18NewsLenny Kravitz interviewChris Heath — June 16, 2009
  9. 19Kravitz Sets The Record StraightIllawarra Mercury — May 24, 2004
  10. 20JournalFancy Seeing You here!Robert Sandall — March 5, 1991
  11. 21Spotlight: Lenny KravitzSteve Hosley — October 15, 2014
  12. 22Henderson. (2002).
  13. 24Lenny Kravitz: My childhood New YorkHardeep Phull — September 27, 2014
  14. 25New Again: Lenny KravitzSteve Hosley — November 20, 2012
  15. 30«C'est chez vous que tout a commencé pour ma carrière, raconte-t-il. J'ai donné un concert aux Transmusicales de Rennes en 1989. Le lendemain, la presse était extatique. Ils avaient, en toute modestie
  16. 32"Behind The Music: Lenny Kravitz". (1999).
  17. 34NewsPearl Jam, En Vogue Top Winners at MTV Video Music AwardsChris Willman — September 4, 1993
  18. 35MagazineStars Kiss Up on Forthcoming Mercury Tribute CompilationJim Bessman — April 23, 1994
  19. 41NewsLee Daniels to direct 'Push'Michael Fleming — October 29, 2007
  20. 42NewsSundance unveils competition lineupTodd McCarthy — December 3, 2008
  21. 50Lenny Kravitz: how easy is it to rip leather trousers?Morwenna Ferrier — August 5, 2015
  22. 55Lenny Kravitz adds dates to his European tourScott Munro — January 22, 2018
  23. 59BMG acquires Virgin Music catalogChris Morris — December 21, 2012
  24. 60Rustin2023
  25. 61"96th Oscars Shortlists in 10 Award Categories Announced". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  26. 62MagazineLenny Kravitz Rocks Out With 'Icon' Set at People's Choice AwardsLars Brandle — February 18, 2024
  27. 66NewsBut What I Really Want to Do is DesignRick Marin — July 21, 2005
  28. 67NewsZoe and Lenny Kravitz: Actor and Designer/MusicianAlex Hagwood — Spring 2008
  29. 68NewsCrystal Palace CollectionMichael Paoletta — July 2005
  30. 69NewsA Different GrooveMichelle Edgar — September 2008
  31. 70NewsKravtiz Design Inc : Tropicalismo CollectionJan–Feb 2011
  32. 71MagazineLet Lenny RuleChristian Wright — July 1990
  33. 76A princesa da modaAugust 18, 2003
  34. 77MagazineLenny Kravitz: The Star Is Born AgainGavin Edwards — June 24, 2004
  35. 78NewsMovie Moguls Let Fur Fly, TooNovember 17, 2002
  36. 81NewsBursting rock's balloonJane Stevenson — Jam!/Canoe — February 5, 1996
  37. 82NewsLenny's 5Tracey Pepper — 1998
  38. 83MagazineGlimpses of God: Lenny Kravitz / BaptismRuss Breimeier — 2004
  39. 84Lenny Kravitz Wants To Help You Make BabiesPer Gustafson et al. — November 20, 2014
  40. 85News10 Minutes with... Lenny KravitzLucy Hunter Johnston — August 18, 2011
  41. 95MagazineASCAP Honors Top Pop PerformersCraig Rosen — May 30, 1992

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