Lenny Kravitz

rock musician

Personal Information

Born Leonard Kravitz, on May 26, 1964, in New York, NY; son of Sy Kravitz (a television executive and free-lance music promoter) and Roxie Roker (an actress); married Lisa Bonet (an actress), 1987 (divorced, 1991); children: Zoe.

Career

Signed with Virgin Records and released debut album, Let Love Rule, 1989; wrote "Justify My Love" for Madonna, 1990; toured with the Rolling Stones, 1994; produced multi-platinum Grammy winning album 5; put out greatest hits album, 2000.

Life's Work

Lenny Kravitz has fused a broad range of styles from the 1960s and 1970s to create his own blend of psychedelia, funk, soul, and rock. Initially derided as an unoriginal throwback to the 1960s, Kravitz went on to develop his diverse style, with its strong message of love and peace, earning greater respect and wider popularity with his second and third albums. A multitalented musician, Kravitz played almost all the instruments on his first two releases. He went on to collaborate with others in the rock industry, both as a songwriter and producer, on a number of different projects. The product of a widely varied background, Kravitz sought to express the range of his influences through the songs and sounds he created.

From the beginning, Kravitz stood out from his contemporaries. His father, Sy Kravitz, was a producer and assignment editor at NBC-TV. Kravitz's mother, Roxie Roker, was an actress whose best-known role was Helen Willis on the long-running television show The Jeffersons. Of Russian Jewish and Bahamian descent, Kravitz lived with his parents on the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan as a child, but he was also close to his mother's relatives, who lived in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He attended both a synagogue in Manhattan and a church in Brooklyn.

Lived in Two Worlds

"On weekdays I hung out with my ritzy friends in our ritzy neighborhood in New York. But on weekends I went to my grandmother's house in Brooklyn--in Bed-Stuy--which is a rough-tough black area," he told the Los Angeles Times. "Both sides were completely normal to me. I dealt with it all." In Harper's Bazaar he said, "The folks in Bed-Stuy were much more open and sharing--even though they had much less to share. It was just good, down-home black hospitality."

"My mother always said I should know who I am, that I'm black," Kravitz told the Los Angeles Times. "In this country, if you have a drop of black blood, you're black. There's no confusion about that." Despite this clarity in Kravitz's mind, he discovered as a child that his Jewish-sounding name confused others. "I'll never forget my first day of school in first grade," he said in the Times. "The teacher called my name and when I answered to Leonard Kravitz, her jaw dropped when she saw this little black kid with a tremendous Afro."

Kravitz was attracted to music early on in life. "My mother thought I had a problem when I was a kid," he said. "We used to be in church and I'd be wriggling my leg like crazy. One day she asked, 'Do you hear music?' I said 'yeah.' She said 'Thank God.' She'd been worried I had some kind of disorder."

Because Kravitz's father was also a free-lance jazz promoter, Kravitz grew up surrounded by rhythm and blues and jazz, in addition to church music. He became familiar with the work of jazz musicians like Cleo Laine, Bobby Short, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald, and later recalled sitting on Duke Ellington's lap while the jazz legend played the piano. He was also exposed to soul music, learning the work of Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and James Brown. "My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on, and they took me to a lot of shows," Kravitz told Harper's Bazaar.

Kravitz's musical background was further broadened and enriched after his family moved to Los Angeles in 1974, where he spent three years singing in the California Boys Choir. As a member of this group, which had a classical repertoire, Kravitz sang with the Metropolitan Opera and took part in a recording of Mahler's Third Symphony conducted by the eminent Zubin Mehta. Kravitz also taught himself how to play guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums.

Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School, where he experimented with different personae. He went through preppie, punk, and hippie phases, but from the time of his mid-teens on, he knew that he wanted to be a pop star. "I was attracted to the cool style, the girls, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle," he told the Los Angeles Times.

After high school, Kravitz adopted the stage persona of "Romeo Blue" and began producing dance rock in the style of pop sensation Prince. He admitted to Spin magazine that this phase "was a phony time for me, so I know what posing feels like. That was when I was really into my David Bowie phase. I wanted to be David Bowie more than anything in the world." The music Kravitz was writing at this time held no appeal for record companies. "I was doing this trendy, British thing, and they wanted me to do whatever black radio was doing at the time. I was offered deals but only if I changed my music. I refused," he recalled in the Los Angeles Times. Eventually, Kravitz abandoned Romeo Blue. "Even though it was a put-on, it was important for me," he told Harper's Bazaar. "Ultimately, it got me back to myself. And when I finally did accept myself for myself, music started flowing out of me."

After moving back to New York, Kravitz entered into a partnership with record producer Henry Hirsch, who ran a recording studio in Hoboken, New Jersey. Like Kravitz, Hirsch championed classic, pre-digital recording techniques. In the late 1980s, Kravitz finally signed with a label, choosing Virgin Records. "They didn't categorize me," he told the Los Angeles Times. "They wanted me to do the music I wanted."

In December of 1987 Kravitz married actress Lisa Bonet in Las Vegas. Bonet then had a regular role on the situation comedy The Cosby Show, and her high-profile career overshadowed his. In December of1988 the two had a baby daughter, Zoe. When Kravitz released his first album, in 1989 he got as much attention for his famous wife, who helped him write two of the songs on the album, as he did for his work.

Released First Album

Kravitz's first album, Let Love Rule, was a mélange of musical styles in which he demonstrated his versatility by providing almost all of the instrumental and vocal material on the record. Collaborating with Hirsch, Kravitz worked to master a complicated recording technique. "When I put out Let Love Rule in '89, industry people laughed," Kravitz recalled. "They said, 'What are you doing?' Nothing sounded at all like it. Now when people try for that sound, they feel that all you have to do is turn the reverb off. They don't understand the whole process--going from microphone to the amplifier to compressors into e.q. units that have tubes and back to the tape machine--it's a lost art."

Let Love Rule was hailed as a throwback to the psychedelic era. Kravitz presented himself as a hippie singer, with a gold ring through his nose, who preached peace and love. The main influences evident on the album were artists from the 1960s, such as John Lennon and the Beatles, and soul singer Curtis Mayfield. "People have gotten on me about the hippie stuff, singing about love and optimism," Kravitz told the Los Angeles Times. "They say I'm unrealistic, that the world is screwed up, so just accept it. But I believe the messages I'm putting out. Maybe I'm living in a dream world, like the hippies in the '60s. But what's wrong with dreaming? You have to dream about these things first before they ever become a reality."

In taking artists of the 1960s as his primary influences, Kravitz also strayed from the racial segregation of the music industry. Critics suggested that his work was closer to music produced by whites than blacks and noted that Kravitz's album challenged the notion that black artists all had to sound a certain, identifiable way. The appeal of Let Love Rule was primarily to alternative-music radio stations, and the album, with its unexpected sound, was shunned by many black stations, to Kravitz's dismay. "I'm black, so I want my music on black radio," he told the Los Angeles Times. Later he told Rolling Stone's David Wild, "I'm playing white people's music. Obviously not really, because black people invented rock and roll. White people took that and made some wonderful things out of it. But black people shouldn't throw their music away."

Let Love Rule started simply, with Kravitz singing the words to "Sittin' on Top of the World," accompanied only by a single guitar. Gradually, other instruments joined in, creating a full sound to flesh out Kravitz's emotion-laden vocals. Other songs on the album included the title track, which one critic hailed in People magazine as "an extended jam that couldn't be more full-bodied and spiritual if it were sung by an entire church choir." In "Mr. Cab Driver," Kravitz reflected on his inability to hail a cab because he was a black man, singing, "Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in/ Mr. Cab Driver don't like my kind of skin."

"Fear," another song on Let Love Rule, also betrayed an acute social consciousness, addressing the issues of the environment and inner-city blight. "I smell the fear that rains inside/ the thought of children who must oblige/ To tainted dreams in polluted seas/ The missing moon and melting trees," Kravitz sang. "I Build This Garden for Us" and "Flower Child" continued the hopeful, utopian theme.

While some critics objected to what they perceived as Let Love Rule's insistent political correctness, many hailed Kravitz's debut work. Let Love Rule was deemed "stunningly fresh, infinitely listenable, unusually thoughtful, and ... hopeful and joyous," in People magazine, with "intensity, raw edge, [and] soulfulness."

Kravitz embarked on a club tour with a backup band in late 1989 to promote Let Love Rule. He also started to collaborate with other musicians on their projects. In 1990 he wrote "Justify My Love" for Madonna, which became a controversial hit when the video produced to accompany it was banned by MTV. In addition, Kravitz paid homage to John Lennon by remaking "Give Peace a Chance," with the blessing of Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow. These projects paved the way for further joint efforts in the early 1990s.

Blues-Influenced Songs and Collaborations

By March of 1991, Kravitz and his wife had split. The singer released his second album, Mama Said, a short while later. This work, a much darker, more blues-influenced album, provided an outlet for Kravitz to express his emotional pain over the turmoil of his marriage. Critics noted the work's references to many other pop styles of the past, calling Mama Said "a marketing masterpiece that offers smart music that can be interpreted as either pure pop or a cool inside joke," as the New York Times put it. In listing the influences displayed on the release, Peter Watrous of the New York Times wrote, "'Fields of Joy' borrows from the Beatles, 'Always on the Run' from Parliament-Funkadelic, 'Stop Draggin' Around' from Jimi Hendrix, 'What Goes Around Comes Around' from both Curtis Mayfield and Sly Stone." Citing Kravitz's recent break-up with Bonet, Watrous said that the singer had "written a series of songs about love, loss, and longing that manage to parody '60s confessional rawness." Critical sniping aside, Mama Said produced a hit single, "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over."

As on Let Love Rule, Kravitz performed almost all of the music on Mama Said himself, but he also embarked on another series of collaborations in the wake of this project. Demonstrating his versatility and the wide range of influences on his work, he cowrote material with members of the hard rock group Aerosmith, sang with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger on his new solo album, and wrote, arranged, and produced a record of folk, jazz, and soul music for French singer Vanessa Paradis, as well as taking part in Curtis Mayfield and Kiss tribute albums.

Kravitz moved to expand his musical production when he recruited a guitarist and bass player to take part in half the songs on his third album, Are You Gonna Go My Way, released in 1993. With this work, which he recorded in just three months, Kravitz was hailed as having reached a new, more mature level in his music. The album became Kravitz's most successful, selling more than two million copies and winning two Grammy nominations, for best rock song and best solo rock vocal performance, and an MTV Video Award for best male video. In his appearance at the MTV Music Awards ceremony, Kravitz played "Are You Gonna Go My Way," backed by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and wearing a reflective jumpsuit and platform shoes.

With the respect he earned for Are You Gonna Go My Way, Kravitz attempted to lay to rest the accusations that he was too heavily influenced by the 1960s, a shallow and all-inclusive practitioner of pastiche, rather than an artist in his own right. "Sure, I'm all about love, unity, and togetherness," he told Harper's Bazaar. "But when people started to say those 'peace and love' things about me, it was derogatory; they weren't saying those things in a nice way. They were too busy looking at my clothes to listen to what I was really saying."

With Are You Gonna Go My Way, Kravitz turned to soul, funk, and reggae as his predominant inspiration. Relying again on classic recording techniques and live instruments--a production style that had returned to vogue by then--Kravitz produced a sophisticated blend of musical traditions in songs that focused on his favorite themes of love and peace. In tracks such as the psychedelic "Believe," "Sister," in which an acoustic guitar mimicked a mandolin, or "Eleutheria," a reggae-influenced number, Kravitz demonstrated mastery of his craft.

The respect Kravitz had won with his third album was demonstrated in the summer of 1994, when he was asked to open several East Coast concerts for the Rolling Stones. At the time, Kravitz was writing material for two new albums, one to deal primarily with the issue of God, and one directed specifically at the black community, which he had so far largely failed to reach. "I have things I want to say to the youth of the black community," he told the Detroit Free Press. "To do that, I will go after it another way, and speak in a language that they might hear.... I've got to express my views. Something positive needs to be said." Similarly he explained in Rolling Stone that "I have issues to speak about to the black community because I am a black person--or whatever I am." In planning this album, Kravitz anticipated a raw and funky sound, "a real basement record," as he told the Detroit Free Press. This became his darkest album, Circus, influenced by the passing of his mother and the pressure of the music industry. And in turning to yet another musical style and tradition to express his core message, Kravitz demonstrated once again his versatility and command of the elements of popular music.

Returned to Happiness and Accolades

The music industry wondered if Circus would be the end of Kravitz's career, considering that it only produced one real single and didn't sell well over all. The industry would have to wait another three years for Kravitz to hit the studio again, but when he returned he was three things he had not been on his last album: happy, focused,, and clear. With the release of 5 in 1998, Kravitz returned to his happier view of the world with songs such as "Fly Away," and "If You Can't Say No." 5 rocketed Kravitz back onto the Billboard charts as well as onto the MTV-VH1 video circuits. Kravitz believed the success of the album came from his priorities as he told Tracey Pepper of Interview, "I was just feeling good. The last record was a very tedious process. It was not fun ... was under the impression that for the last few years, it's been so chic for everyone to be miserable. Like if you're in with the cool crowd, you can't be happy. I let all of that go and tried to promote the fact that I enjoy life and making music." Kravitz won a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Fly Away." In 2000 Kravitz won his second Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for his remake of the Guess Who's classic "American Woman" for the Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack, a track that was later added to 5. He also put out his first greatest hits compilation album simply entitled Greatest Hits. Like most compilation albums, Greatest Hits included a few new songs to entice buyers to purchase the album. Unlike many compilation albums, Kravitz's new song "Again" made Greatest Hits one of the best selling compilation albums to date. "Again" was such a huge success that it earned Kravitz a coveted third Grammy in 2001 in the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance category. This made him the only artist in history to have ever won this award three years in a row and tying him with rock great Bruce Springsteen for most wins in this category.

Coming off of the success of Greatest Hits, Kravitz continued to put out more music in 2001 with the release of sixth original studio album, Lenny. The album produced hits such as "Dig In" and "Yesterday is Gone," both of which Kravitz have called, "a return to the upbeat feeling and meaning of rock." Lenny, like Kravitz's previous two albums gained its own respect from critics and also earned Kravitz an unprecedented fourth Grammy in the Best Male Rock Performance as well as the American Music Award in the "favorite pop/rock male artist" category. On a more personal note, Kravitz gained custody of his daughter Zoe in 2001 and said in a Jet interview that he is "trying hard to not be any one thing, but be everything, including a father, a musician, and a better person."

Kravtiz has gone from a retro-throw back to a full-fledged rock artist in a decade and he has the awards to prove it. But for Kravitz, it is not about the recognition as much as it is about being true to himself and the music that he has been able to produce. He told Jet magazine, "I feel quite blessed. I've always stayed true to myself and never compromised. I'm still in the game, still on the top of my game. That's an amazing blessing."

Awards

MTV Video Award for best male video, 1993; Grammy Award nominations, 1993, for best rock song and best solo rock vocal performance; Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002; American Music Award, 2002.

Works

Selected discography

Let Love Rule, 1989.
Mama Said, 1991.
Are You Gonna Go My Way, 1993.
Circus, 1995.
5, 1998.
Greatest Hits, 2000.
Lenny, 2001.

Biography

There may have been other "retro" rock acts before him, but Lenny Kravitz was one of the first to not be pigeonholed to a single style as he touched upon such genres as soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads over the years. Born in New York on May 26, 1964 (his mother was actress Roxie Roker, best-known for her role as Helen Willis on the popular TV series The Jeffersons, and his father was a TV producer), Kravitz was raised in Los Angeles, where he found himself around countless musical giants as a youngster due to his parents friendships with the likes of Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, and Miles Davis. Kravitz was a member of the California Boys Choir until his teenage years, when he decided to pursue rock & roll while in high school and under the heavily influence of funk rocker Prince. Kravitz's admiration of the Purple One was so great that he at first patterned his style and approach directly after Prince and became known as "Romeo Blue" (complete with blue contact lenses), but failed to land a recording contract.

In the late '80s, Kravitz relocated back to New York City, where one of his roommates turned out to be actress Lisa Bonet (who played the part of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show); they eventually got married. During this time, Kravitz wisely discarded his Prince-like approach and looked back to such '60s/'70s classic rockers as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley, and the Beatles for inspiration. Kravitz found a kindred spirit in engineer Henry Hirsch (who would stick by Kravitz throughout his career). With a back-to-basics approach, his style was quite refreshing in the humorously gaudy late '80s. He inked a recording contract with Virgin Records and issued his debut release, Let Love Rule, in 1989. Kravitz's debut proved to be a surprise hit due to the success of the title track, which became a hit single and oft-aired video. A few critics were quick to assume that Kravitz's retro look and sound were simply a shtick to get the public's attention, but come the '90s, it had become integrated into the mainstream (both musically and fashion-wise), proving that Kravitz was a bit of a trendsetter. It was around this time that Kravitz penned a major hit single, not for himself but for Madonna, who went to number one with the sultry track "Justify My Love."

What should have been a time of happiness for Kravitz quickly turned sour as he and Bonet divorced by the early '90s. Kravitz's heartbreak was very evident in his sophomore effort, Mama Said, which was even stronger than its predecessor, highlighted by the Led Zep-like funk rocker "Always on the Run" (a collaboration with Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash), as well as the mega hit with the Curtis Mayfield-esque soul ballad "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over," which confirmed that Kravitz's success was no fluke. But the best was yet to come for Kravitz. His third release overall, 1993's Are You Gonna Go My Way, is often considered to be the finest album front to back of his entire career, and with good reason: Every single song was a winner, including the up-tempo anthemic title track, which turned out to be one of MTV's most played videos for that year. The album was a massive hit and Kravitz became an arena headliner stateside, as well as being featured on countless magazine covers.

Despite an almost two-year gap between albums, Kravitz's fourth release, Circus, came off sounding unfocused and was a major letdown compared to his stellar previous few releases. Perhaps sensing that he needed to stir things up musically, Kravitz dabbled with electronics and trip-hop loops for his next album, 1998's 5. Although not a huge hit right off the bat, the album proved to have an incredibly long chart life, spawning the biggest hit of Kravitz's career, "Fly Away," almost a year after its original release. With the single's success, Virgin decided to cash in on the album's sudden rebirth by reissuing it around the same time with a pair of extra added bonus tracks, one of which became another sizeable hit single, a remake of the Guess Who's "American Woman" (which was used in the hit 1999 comedy movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me). Kravitz's first best-of set, the 15-track Greatest Hits, was issued as a stopgap release in 2000, while his sixh studio release overall, Lenny, was issued a year later. Baptism followed in 2004. After starting a residential, commercial, and product design company called Kravitz Design, he recorded a funky version of John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" for Amnesty International's 2007 benefit compilation Instant Karma. Before the end of the year it was announced that Kravitz would return in 2008 with a new album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution. The album arrived in February, accompanied by a brief tour.

In addition to his own albums, Kravitz continues to pen songs for other artists and his compositions have appeared on albums by such rock heavyweights as Aerosmith and Mick Jagger, while he produced and wrote the majority of Vanessa Paradis' obscure self-titled 1992 release. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Discography: Lenny Kravitz

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Show More Albums

Again Buy this CD	Dig In Buy this CD	Greatest Hits [Limited Edition Bonus DVD] Buy this CD	Baptism Buy this CD	Baptism Buy this CD
Baptism Buy this CD	Where Are We Runnin'? [Canada CD] Buy this CD	5 Buy this CD	Where Are We Runnin'? [Australia CD] Buy this CD	Where Are We Runnin'? [DVD Single] Buy this CD
American Woman [Germany] Buy this CD	Greatest Hits [Japan Bonus DVD] Buy this CD	Stillness of Heart [US CD] Buy this CD	Lenny [Japan Bonus Track] Buy this CD	Best of Lenny Kravitz Buy this CD
Greatest Hits [Japan Bonus Track] Buy this CD	I'll Be Waiting Buy this CD	It Is Time for a Love Revolution Buy this CD	It Is Time for a Love Revolution Buy this CD	It Is Time for a Love Revolution [Deluxe Edition] Buy this CD
Fly Away [UK CD Single] Buy this CD	If I Could Fall in Love [Holland CD] Buy this CD	California [Netherlands Single] Buy this CD	5 [Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD	Baptism [Bonus Track] Buy this CD
Believe In Me Buy this CD	Let Love Rule [20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] Buy this CD	Mama Said Buy this CD	Where Are We Runnin'? [US CD] Buy this CD	Baptism/Lenny Buy this CD
Lenny [Bonus Disc] Buy this CD	I Belong to You [2 Tracks] Buy this CD	Heaven Help [US] Buy this CD	Believe [Single] Buy this CD	Are You Gonna Go My Way [Single] Buy this CD
Stand by My Woman Buy this CD	Here's a Heart Buy this CD	Fields of Joy [bootleg] Buy this CD	Two Years on the Run [bootleg] Buy this CD	Live [Bootleg] Buy this CD
Flower Child [bootleg] Buy this CD	Let Lenny Rule [bootleg] Buy this CD	If Six Was Nine... [bootleg] Buy this CD	What the Fuck Are We Saying? [Single] Buy this CD	Fields of Joy [single] Buy this CD
It Ain't Over 'till It's Over [Single] Buy this CD	Always on the Run [Single] Buy this CD	Let Love Rule Buy this CD	Absolut Kravitz Buy this CD

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Wikipedia: Lenny Kravitz

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Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz in Brasília, Brazil on March 19, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Leonard Albert Kravitz
Also known as	Lenny Kravitz, The Krav, Romeo Blue (former)
Born	May 26, 1964 (1964-05-26) (age 45) New York City, New York, USA
Origin	United States
Genres	Rock, hard rock, funk rock, neo-psychedelia, pop rock, soul, R&B, blues-rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, lyricist, record producer, arranger, actor, interior designer, clothing designer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, sitar, piano, synthesizer
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Virgin Records America
Associated acts	Karl Denson, Dan Dyer, Vanessa Paradis, Madonna, Slash, Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, Guns N' Roses, Baha Men, Michael Kamen, Angie Stone, Cree Summer, Lionel Richie, Zoro, Velvet Revolver, Craig Ross, Jazzanova, David Bowie
Website	www.lennykravitz.com
Notable instruments
Guitars: Gibson Flying V Gibson Les Paul White Gibson SG

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads.

In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and percussion himself when recording. He is known for his elaborate stage performances and music videos. Kravitz has had multiple number 1 hits on the US Top Singles Charts, though none by himself on the Hot 100, and many more worldwide. He won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category and most consecutive wins in one category. He has been nominated and won other awards, namely American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, BRIT Awards and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.

Biography

Early life

Kravitz was born in New York City, New York on May 26, 1964, the son of Roxie Roker, an actress known for her character Helen Willis in the 1970s hit television sitcom The Jeffersons, and Sy Kravitz, an NBC television news producer. Kravitz's father was of Russian Jewish descent^[1] and his mother was of Bahamian descent. Kravitz was named after his uncle, PFC Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action on March 6, 1951 near Yangpyeong, Korea at the age of 20. PFC. Kravitz fearlessly defended against a surprise Chinese Army attack, saving most of his platoon; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military decoration of the United States Army.^[2]

Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with his parents, and weekends at his grandmother Bessie Roker's house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three. At the age of five, he wanted to be a musician. He began playing the drums and soon added guitar. Kravitz grew up listening to the music his parents listened to: R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel, and blues. "My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on, and they took me to a lot of shows," Kravitz said.^[3] Around the age of 7, he saw The Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden, which became his favorite group.^[4] His father, who was also a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis and other jazz greats. Ellington even played "Happy Birthday" for him one year when he was about 5.^[5] He was exposed to the soul music of Motown, Stax, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers and Gamble and Huff growing up, key influences on his musical style. Kravitz often went to see New York theater, where his mother worked. His mother encouraged his dreams of pursuing music.

In 1974, the Kravitz family relocated to Los Angeles when Kravitz's mother landed her role on The Jeffersons. At his mother's urging, Kravitz joined the California Boys Choir for three years, where he performed a classical repertoire, and sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He performed in Mahler's Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. It was in Los Angeles that Kravitz was first introduced to rock music, listening to Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Cream, and The Who.^[4] "I was attracted to the cool style, the girls, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle," Kravitz said.^[4] Kravitz's other musical influences at the time included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye and Miles Davis;^[4] John Lennon and Bob Marley proved later to be influential as well. Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School. Maria McKee and guitarist Saul Hudson (better known as Slash) were his classmates. In 1978, Kravitz was accepted into the school's well-respected music program. He taught himself to play piano and bass, and made friends with Zoro who would later become his long-time collaborator.^[6] Kravitz wanted to be a session musician. He also appeared as an actor in television commercials during this time.

Kravitz went to school enough to pass, but was spending more and more time jamming with friends. His parents became concerned, wanting him to have something to fall back on. At the age of 15, determined to have a music career, Kravitz moved out of his house. He stayed with friends, slept in friends' cars, and at one point was even sleeping in his Ford Pinto. Inspired by David Bowie, Kravitz adopted the nom de guerre, "Romeo Blue," a new persona complete with straightened hair and blue contact lenses, and began performing. Kravitz's music at this time was heavily influenced by the synth-laden funk pop of Prince. In 1982, Kravitz graduated from Beverly Hills High School and convinced his father to give him money to record instead of spending money on college. With his first demo, Kravitz received offers from several record labels, including I.R.S. Records, but Kravitz was told he needed to change his music to make it "black enough" to fit in with current radio-friendly R & B styles. "I refused," Kravitz told the Los Angeles Times in 1989.^[3]

Personal life

In 1985, Kravitz's parents divorced, which had a profound impact on him. His relationship with his father became extremely strained. Kravitz focused on his music to help him get through this period. That year, Kravitz met actress Lisa Bonet backstage at a New Edition concert. Bonet worked on The Cosby Show, the number one rated show on television. They were close friends for two years before falling in love. Kravitz moved back to New York City where The Cosby Show was produced in 1987, moving in with then girlfriend Bonet. Kravitz and Bonet eloped on November 16, 1987, her 20th birthday, in a Las Vegas ceremony. Kravitz, still known as Romeo Blue at the time, suddenly found himself in the headlines of tabloid newspapers. They had a daughter, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, born on December 1, 1988. Kravitz and Bonet divorced in 1993.

Kravitz identifies himself as both a Christian "through choice" and a Jew, which he described both as "all the same to me".^[7] He also notes that spirituality "has been an important issue in my growth", given his upbringing by parents of different faiths.^[8] Such spirituality is prominently featured on many of his songs, such as the lyrics on his album Baptism, and having his back inscribed with a tattoo stating, "My Heart Belongs to Jesus Christ."^[9] During another interview, he quipped "I'm half Jewish, I'm half black, I look in-between."^[10]

In 2002, Kravitz was rumored to be engaged to Adriana Lima, although he denied the rumors.^[11] In 2003, Lenny Kravitz started to date Nicole Kidman. Later in 2004, the couple broke up. In September 2007, Nicole Kidman made the news, in the issue of Vanity Fair, when she revealed that she was secretly engaged with someone after her divorce with Tom Cruise and before her wedding with Keith Urban. Many sources reported that the "mystery man" was Lenny Kravitz. Neither Kravitz's representative or Kidman's representative confirmed or denied the rumor.

Career

1989-1990: Virgin Records and the career début

With record labels still telling him his music wasn't "black enough" or "white enough," Kravitz decided to record an album on his own. Kravitz had met recording engineer/keyboardist/bassist Henry Hirsch in 1985 when recording a demo at his Hoboken, New Jersey recording studio. The two shared an interest in using real instruments and vintage recording equipment, as well as a love of R&B, jazz, and rock. Kravitz would go on to collaborate with Hirsch on most of his albums. Kravitz began working on his debut album with Hirsch over the next year and a half, with Kravitz's father paying for the studio time. Kravitz met saxophonist Karl Denson and invited him to play on the song, "Let Love Rule". Kravitz was so impressed with his playing that Denson played on much of the album. Denson toured with Kravitz for the next 5 years. In October of 1988, after completing most of the recording, Kravitz approached friend Stephen Elvis Smith who had served as the Music Supervisor on Bonet's spin-off of The Cosby Show, "A Different World". Smith had also worked with Kravitz' mother Roxie Roker, on the hit sitcom "The Jeffersons". Kravitz engaged Smith to manage his career and assist him in finding a record deal. In less than a month of shopping the recordings, five labels (Warner Bros, Elektra, Geffen, Capitol and Virgin) were in a bidding war for Kravitz . Eventually a deal was made with Virgin Records in January of 1989, and signed by Virgin A & R executive Nancy Jeffries. The label was excited about the music he was making, music inspired by his relationship with wife Bonet and their new daughter. On Smith's urging, Kravitz dropped the name Romeo Blue and reclaimed the Lenny Kravitz moniker. About his time as Romeo Blue, Kravitz said, "Ultimately, it got me back to myself. And when I finally did accept myself for myself, music started flowing out of me."^[3]

Kravitz released his debut album Let Love Rule on September 6, 1989, a combination of rock and funk with a general 1960s vibe. Music critics were mixed: some felt Kravitz was a gifted new artist, others felt he was overpowered by his musical influences. The album was a moderate success in the United States, but became an instant hit outside of the US, especially in Europe. Lisa Bonet directed the debut music video for the title track, "Let Love Rule". Stephen Smith signed Kravitz with talent booking agency CAA, who soon were fielding offers for Kravitz, first on a club tour, and then in opening slots for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. Having played essentially all of the instruments on the album, Kravitz had to quickly assemble a touring band to support the Let Love Rule release. They included a childhood friend, Zoro on drums (formerly of Bobby Brown's band), Adam Widoff (guitar), Lebron Scott (recruited out of Curtis Mayfield's band after seeing them perform in a NYC club), Kenneth Crouch (keyboards) and Karl Denson on saxophone.

In May of 2009, a 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of "Let Love Rule" was released worldwide by Virgin. The double disk includes a booklet with rare photos, and 18 additional demos, bonus tracks and live recordings. Kravitz launched a LLR(20) tour of Europe and the United States in support of the re-release.

1991-1996: Popularity established

In 1990, Kravitz co-wrote with Ingrid Chavez and produced the song "Justify My Love" for Madonna. The song, which appeared on her greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection and created controversy because of its explicit video, went to #1 for two consectutive weeks. When MTV banned the video, the video was quickly made available for sale at record stores, and immediately sold over 500,000 copies. Kravitz separated from Lisa Bonet in 1991,^[12] amid rumors of an affair between him and Madonna. Kravitz has denied any infidelity.^[12] Kravitz and Bonet divorced in 1993.

In 1991, Kravitz produced the self-titled album Vanessa Paradis for French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis. He played most of the instruments and co-wrote most of the songs on the album. He also released his second album, Mama Said, which was his first album to reach the Top 40. The songs on the album were about Bonet and dedicated to her, documenting his depression over their breakup.^[5] Kravitz's biggest single yet, "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over", went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single "Always on the Run", a tribute to his mother,^[5] featured Slash on guitar. "Stand By My Woman" and "What Goes Around Comes Around" followed. Sean Lennon co-wrote and played piano on the song, "All I Ever Wanted".

In 1993, Kravitz wrote "Line Up" for Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and appeared on Mick Jagger's solo album, Wandering Spirit, in a cover of the Bill Withers' soul classic, "Use Me". That year Kravitz also got to work with idols Al Green and Curtis Mayfield.

In 1993, Are You Gonna Go My Way was released, reaching #12 on the Billboard 200 and Kravitz earned a BRIT Award for best international male artist in 1994. The title track won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video for the video produced by Mark Romanek, in which Kravitz slung his dreadlocks and wore high-heeled platform boots. During the presentation of the MTV Video Music Awards, he performed the song with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass. Several singles from the album would follow including, "Believe", "Is There Any Love In Your Heart", and "Heaven Help/Spinning Around Over You". This album was the first to feature guitarist Craig Ross, who has also played on all his subsequent albums^[13]. One song, "Eleutheria", was influenced by the island Eleuthera in The Bahamas where Kravitz built a house and recording studio at that time.^[5] In 1993, he also released the EP, Spinning Around Over You, which included four live tracks from his "Universal Love Tour".

In 1994, Kravitz recorded a funk-rock version of the song "Deuce", for the KISS cover album KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved. The track featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and background vocals. This song was one of three radio singles from the album, and was also the album's lead-off track.

Roxie Roker, Kravitz's mother, died in California on December 2, 1995 of breast cancer at the age of 66.

In 1995, Lenny Kravitz released the album Circus, which went to number 10 on the Billboard chart on the back of his past achievement. However, the album only had two hit singles: "Rock and Roll Is Dead" and "Can't Get You Off My Mind".

1997-2000: Increasing success, 5 and first Grammy Awards

With 5 (1998), Kravitz embraced digital technology such as Pro Tools and samplers for the first time. 5 introduced his music to an even wider audience thanks to the hit single "Fly Away" being featured prominently in both car manufacturer and airline commercials. 5 would reach #28 on the Billboard 200, with "Fly Away" reaching #1 on multiple charts. He would win the first of his four consecutive Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1999. Other hits from the album included "If You Can't Say No", that was also remixed by dance producer Brian Transeau, and "I Belong to You". For the I Belong to You video Lenny can be seen without his signature dreadlocks. In 1999 he produced and sang with Cree Summer on her solo album Street Faerie.

Lenny Kravitz's 1998 multi-platinum release 5 that earned him his first two Grammys.

His cover version of The Guess Who's hit "American Woman" won him another Grammy at the Grammy Awards of 2000 and helped The Guess Who's song reach a new audience. Kravitz's version of the song originally came from the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was added to 5 as a bonus track in 1999.

Lenny worked on two songs for Michael Jackson's Invincible album released in 2001, but those tracks are still unreleased.

Kravitz released a Greatest Hits album in 2000. It proved to be his most successful album, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 and selling nearly 11 million copies worldwide and ultimately becoming one of the most commercially successful albums of the decade. The single "Again" earned him his third consecutive Grammy for the Best Male Rock Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 2001. Kravitz also co-wrote the song "God Gave Me Everything" with Mick Jagger in this period, appearing on Jagger's 2001 solo album Goddess in the Doorway and in the film Being Mick.

2001-2005: Lenny and Baptism

Kravitz released his sixth album Lenny in October 2001. The album was recorded in Miami. Kravitz wrote the song "Bank Robber Man" after the Miami Police Department detained and cuffed him while walking to the gym with his trainer because police stated that he matched the description of a bank robber. Lenny did not have any identification with him at the time and the police on the scene did not believe that he was indeed Lenny Kravitz. The bank teller who was robbed was then brought to the scene and said Lenny was not the bank robber. Miami Police later sent officers to Lenny's home to apologize for the detention. When asked if he thought the incident was a case of racial profiling, Kravitz said he wasn’t sure. The first single from the album, "Dig In", went to number 1 in Argentina and the top 10 in Italy and Portugal. The video for "Dig In" was originally supposed to be shot at the top of the Empire State Building on September 12, 2001 but the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 caused the location to be moved. The video was later shot off the coast Miami. He won his fourth Grammy in 2002. "Stillness of Heart", "Believe in Me", and "If I Could Fall In Love" were subsequent singles from the album.

Kravitz was the subject of a photo book by former chief photographer for Rolling stone, Mark Seliger. Published in November 2001, Seliger captures Kravitz on tour, with family, with friends and in posed portraits.

Jay-Z invited Kravitz to appear on the track "Guns and Roses" on his 2002 The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. Kravitz would also join P. Diddy, Pharrell and Loon on the track "Show Me Your Soul" from the Bad Boys II Soundtrack.

In September 2002, Kravitz appeared alongside other rock stars in the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" of The Simpsons. In early 2003, Kravitz released the track "We Want Peace" as a download-only track as a protest against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he performed this alongside famous Iraqi singer Kazem Al Saher at Rock The Vote. The track reached #1 on the world internet download charts and MP3.com download chart. Kravitz also appeared on Unity, the official album of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In late 2004, Kravitz dated superstar actress Nicole Kidman and reportedly dedicated his hit song "Lady" to her. They split in 2005.

Kravitz's seventh album Baptism was released in May 2004. The first single was "Where Are We Runnin'?". The single "California" failed to be commercially successful, but "Storm", featuring Jay-Z, reached the charts. "Calling All Angels" was successful in various countries and a huge hit in Brazil, however it was "Lady" that became the album's surprise hit, making the US Top 30 and propelling "Baptism" to gold status. Also in 2004, he appeared on N.E.R.D's album Fly or Die. From March 2005, Kravitz toured all over the world with the tour Electric Church, which ended at the Brixton Academy, London in July 2005. Kravitz served as the opening act for Aerosmith who are long term friends of Kravitz on their fall 2005 tour. The tour began on October 30 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The night before that tour started, October 29, 2005, Lenny's father TV Producer Sy Kravitz passed away. During that first show, Lenny broke the news to the stunned crowd and stated it was not a time to be sad but rather a time to celebrate because he is now in Heaven. Lenny then dedicated Let Love Rule to his father. That tour was so successful that it was extended through February 25, 2006 and ended in Anaheim, California.

2006-Present: Live Earth, charity work and It Is Time For A Love Revolution

In January 2006, Kravitz contributed "Breathe" to absoluttracks, a project sponsored by Absolut Vodka. This song was re-mixed by ten musical producers and distributed via the internet.

Kravitz appeared in the audience of Madonna's Confessions Tour (2006) during numerous shows. He would later join Madonna live on stage to play guitar on the song, "I Love New York," at the last of four Paris shows.

Lately, Kravitz has founded a design firm named Kravitz Design, stating if he hadn't been a musician he would have been a designer. Kravitz Design, focused on interior and furniture design, has designed residential spaces, as well as a chandelier for the crystal company Swarovski, named "Casino Royale."^[14]

On July 7, 2007, Kravitz performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro,^[15] making him one of major international rock star to perform two huge free concerts at the world-famous Copacabana Beach along with Macy Gray and the Rolling Stones. Kravitz had already played there on March 21, 2005, drawing 300,000 people on a concert of his own. The Live Earth concert, with eight other acts on the bill, including Pharrell and Macy Gray, took 400,000 to the beach.

Also in 2007, Kravitz released a version of "Cold Turkey" by John Lennon on the charity CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Kravitz also spent time recording his latest album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution, released February 5, 2008.^[16] Another album, Funk, is scheduled to be released in early 2010. This is believed to be a project that Kravitz has been working on since 1997. Some of the original tracks for Funk were recorded while he was in New Orleans at Allen Toussaint's studio while taking a break for several months from recording in New York City.

On September 25, 2007, the Fats Domino tribute album "Goin' Home ; A Tribute To Fats Domino" was released. Kravitz was on the song "Whole Lotta Lovin'" along with Rebirth Brass Band, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker.^[17]

Kravitz performed at the Grey Cup halftime show in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on November 25, 2007, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19.^[18]

The original video for "I'll Be Waiting" was shot in Central Park in New York City with Marc Webb directing but that video was later shelved and a new version, which Kravitz co-directed with Philip Andelman, was filmed in Lenny's New York City recording studio. The video premiered on VH1's Top 20 Countdown at number 3.

On January 17, 2008, Kravitz embarked on a 9 city mini-tour to promote his new album It Is Time for a Love Revolution. The tour started in Santa Monica, California and ended in New York City on February 1. The tour was done in association with Myspace and called the "Get on the Bus" tour. At each stop on the tour, they would pick up one contest winner and their guest and they rode on the "Love Revolution" bus until the end of the tour. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, a close friend of Lenny's would appear at The Orpheum Theater in Boston. The New York City winner, Tyrone Good was presented a train ticket from Penn Station to travel to Philadelphia and rode with the tour the rest of the way starting in Philadelphia (The Electric Factory), Boston (The Orpheum Theater), and finally New York City (The Hammerstein Ballroom). The winners were featured in the YRB February Edition alongside Lenny Kravitz in a magazine pull-out. The photo shoot took place at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on stage. The winner's pull out was featured in another issue of YRB which had Lil' Wayne on the cover.

On February 11, 2008, Kravitz was admitted to Miami Hospital suffering from severe bronchitis. He had been suffering from a series of severe respiratory tract infections since mid-January, and the illness developed into bronchitis.

Kravitz's illness had forced him to postpone Canadian dates & his trip to Europe to promote his album It Is Time for a Love Revolution. On March 19, 2008 he canceled the South American part of his tour due to the same illness. The decision affected planned concerts in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. In Argentina Kravitz had a performance in the biggest rock festival there, Quilmes Rock Fest.^[19]

On July 15, Lenny was honored in Milan, Italy with the key to the city in a special toast ceremony for his work with the United Nations Millenium Campaign to end world poverty.^[20]

Kravitz made his feature film acting debut in Precious^[21] which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.^[22]

Kravitz performing in Valencia on May 2, 2009.

During the Italian leg of his 53 date Let Love Rule (20)09 European tour, Kravitz has been instructed to cancel some shows due to a bad bout of bronchitis. Under strict orders from his doctor, the singer has been put to rest so that he could make a quick recovery and return to the stage for the rest of his high energy tour. Shows scheduled for Rome on June 5 and Brescia on June 6 have been postponed to late July.

Additional

Detroit based rock band Electric Six devoted a song to Kravitz on their fourth album I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master. The song was entitled "Lenny Kravitz", and mentions him by name in the lyrics.

At the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2001, Kravitz was asked to guest on All Along the Watchtower during Dave Matthews Band's set. Matthews and Kravitz traded lead vocals.

The song "Always On the Run" is a playable track on the music video game "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith", and "Are You Gonna Go My Way" is a playable track on the sequel, "Guitar Hero: World Tour."

The songs "Are You Gonna Go My Way", "Mr. Cab Driver", "Let Love Rule", and "Freedom Train" were released as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2 on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

Kravitz, with Stevie Wonder on harmonica, covered Deuce originally by Hard Rock American band Kiss on the Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved album, released June 21 1994.

Discography

Main article: Lenny Kravitz discography

Albums

All albums were released by Virgin Records America.

Year	Album	Chart Positions					RIAA Certification	Worldwide Sales
Year	Album	US	UK	AUS	ITA	CAN	RIAA Certification	Worldwide Sales
1989	Let Love Rule	61	56	45	—	—	Gold	2 million+
1991	Mama Said	39	8	10	—	—	Platinum	3 million+
1993	Are You Gonna Go My Way	12	1	1	13	—	2× Platinum	4 million+
1995	Circus	10	5	2	13	—	Gold	1.5 million+
1998	5	28	18	17	5	—	2× Platinum	6 million+
2000	Greatest Hits	2	12	14	1	—	3× Platinum	11 million
2001	Lenny	12	55	44	6	9	Platinum	3 million
2004	Baptism	14	74	42	5	—	Gold	1.5 million
2008	It Is Time for a Love Revolution	4	42	47	3	5	—	1.1 million
"—" denotes the album wasn't released, failed to chart, or hasn't been certified

Videography

Main article: Lenny Kravitz videography

1991: Video Retrospective
1994: Lenny Kravitz: Alive From Planet Earth
2002: Lenny LIVE
2004: "Where Are We Runnin'?"
2008: It Is Time For A Love Revolution: Deluxe Edition

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes and Awards
1998	The Rugrats Movie	Newborn baby	Voice role, minor
2001	Being Mick	Himself	Supporting role
2001	Zoolander	Himself	Cameo role
2009	Precious	John	Supporting role (TBR)

Tours

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Universal Love Tour
Circus Tour
The Freedom Tour
Lenny Tour
The Baptism Tour
Electric Church Tour: One Night Only
Get On The Bus Mini-Tour
Love Revolution Tour
LLR 20(09) Tour

Awards

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

MTV Video Music Awards
- 1993 - Best Male Video ("Are You Gonna Go My Way?")
Brit Awards
- 1994 - International male
VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards
- 1998 - Most Fashionable Artist, Male Award
Grammy Awards
- 1993 - Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance ("Are You Gonna Go My Way" - Nominee only.)
- 1995 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Rock and Roll Is Dead" - Nominee only.)
- 1998 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Fly Away")
- 1999 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("American Woman")
- 2000 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Again")
- 2001 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Dig In")
- 2003 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("If I Could Fall In Love" - Nominee only.)
Radio Music Awards
- 2001 - Artist of the Year/Pop Alternative Radio
My VH1 Awards
- 2001 - Favorite Male Artist
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
- 2001 - Favorite Male Artist - Rock
American Music Awards
- 2002 - Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist
Microsoft Windows Media Innovation Awards
- 2002 - Microsoft Windows Media Innovation Award^[23]

Notes

^ The face - Times Online
^ Harrison, Donald H. (April 13, 2001). "Did anti-Semitism block medal for rocker's namesake?". San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c Henderson. (2002).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hodgkinson, Will (July 5, 2002). "Lenny Kravitz". The Guardian.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Norment, Lynn (June 1994). "Lenny Kravitz: brother with a different beat - musician". Ebony. Retrieved on August 19, 2007
^ Evans, Mia "The Faith of Zoro". CBN.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
^ Stevenson, Jane (5 February 1996). "Bursting rock's balloon". Jam!/Canoe. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/K/Kravitz_Lenny/1996/02/05/746706.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
^ Simon, Scott (12 February 2005). "Lenny Kravitz Takes Spiritual Turn on 'Baptism'". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4495463. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
^ Breimeier, Russ (2004). "Glimpses of God: Lenny Kravitz / Baptism". Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/glimpses/2004/baptism.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
^ Pepper, Tracey (1998). "Lenny's 5". Deep Joy. http://www.lenny-kravitz.com/interviewdeepjoy.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
^ "Movie Moguls Let Fur Fly, Too". New York Post. 2002-11-17. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:NYPB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F775010F849D222&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB579A3BDA420. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ ^a ^b "Behind The Music: Lenny Kravitz". (1999).
^ Craig Ross Official Site
^ Marin, Rick (July 21, 2005). "But What I Really Want to Do Is Design". The New York Times. Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
^ http://liveearth.msn.com/artists/lennykravitz
^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (July 13, 2007). "Back In Action: Lenny Kravitz". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on August 19, 2007.
^ Tipitina's Foundation. "[1]".
^ CFL 2007 Grey Cup official site
^ Press release from Evempro regarding concerts cancellation in Colombia and South America
^ "Cause And Effect"
^ Fleming, Michael (2007-10-29), "Lee Daniels to direct 'Push'", Variety, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974944.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
^ McCarthy, Todd (2008-12-03), "Sundance unveils competition lineup", Variety, http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=2470&articleid=VR1117996739&cs=1
^ Microsoft Unveils Windows Media Innovation Award, Honors Lenny Kravitz as First Recipient

References

Anderson, Ashely (November 9, 2000). "Brown eyes blue". The Silhouette. Volume 71, Number 12. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
Cooper, Carol (1990). "Let love rule - Lisa Bonet and husband Lenny Kravitz". Essence Magazine. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
Halbersberg, Elianne (November 1, 2004). "Flying (Almost) Solo". Mix. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
"Behind The Music: Lenny Kravitz". Harper, William & Williams, Paulina (Directors). Behind The Music. VH1. June 27, 1999. No. 35, season 2.
Henderson, Ashyia N. (2002). Contemporary Black Biography: Profiles from the International Black Community. Gale Group. ISBN 9780787660499
Pepper, Tracey (July, 1998). "Deep joy - musical artist Lenny Kravitz - Interview". Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
"Artist Profile - Lenny Kravitz". EMI Music Publishing. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
"HELLO! Profiles - Lenny Kravitz". Hello!. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
"Lenny Kravitz". Allmusic. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.
"Romeo Blue Discography, Biography and Links". Mr. Bill's I.R.S. Records Corner. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
Kravitz's Condo for Sale

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lenny Kravitz

Awards and achievements
Grammy Award
Preceded by Bob Dylan for "Cold Irons Bound"	Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 1999 for "Fly Away"	Succeeded by Lenny Kravitz for "American Woman"
Preceded by Lenny Kravitz for "Fly Away"	Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 2000 for "American Woman"	Succeeded by Lenny Kravitz for "Again"
Preceded by Lenny Kravitz for "American Woman"	Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 2001 for "Again"	Succeeded by Lenny Kravitz for "Dig In"
Preceded by Lenny Kravitz for "Again"	Best Male Rock Vocal Performance 2002 for "Dig In"	Succeeded by Bruce Springsteen for "The Rising"
MTV Video Music Awards
Preceded by Eric Clapton for "Tears in Heaven"	Best Male Video 1993 for "Are You Gonna Go My Way"	Succeeded by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers for "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

Preceded by Nelly Furtado	Grey Cup Halftime Show 2007	Succeeded by Theory of a Deadman

v • d • e Lenny Kravitz

Studio albums	Let Love Rule (1989) · Mama Said (1991) · Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993) · Circus (1995) · 5 (1998) · Lenny (2001) · Baptism (2004) · It Is Time for a Love Revolution (2008) · Funk (TBR-2009)

Compilations	Greatest Hits (2000)

Soundtrack albums	Reality Bites (1994) · Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) · Bad Boys II (2004) ·

Extended plays	Is There Any Love in the World (1994) · Maximum Kravitz (2001) ·

Video albums and singles	Video Retrospective · Lenny Kravitz: Alive From Planet Earth · Greatest Hits: Limited Tour Edition (2004) · Lenny LIVE (2002) · "Where Are We Runnin'? (2004) · It Is Time For A Love Revolution: Deluxe Edition (2008) ·

Promos	"The Soul of Lenny Kravitz" (1999) · "Super Soul Fighter" (1999)

Tours	Universal Love (1993-1994) · Circus (1996) · The Freedom Tour (1998) · Lenny (2002-2003) · Baptism (2005) · Electric Church (2006) · Get On The Bus Mini-Tour (2008) · Love Revolution (2008-2009)

Filmography	The Rugrats Movie (1998) · Being Mick (2001) · Push (2009) ·

Related articles	Discography · Videography · Virgin Records America · Roxie Roker · Sy Kravitz · Zoë Kravitz · Al Roker · Lisa Bonet

v • d • e Lenny Kravitz singles discography

Let Love Rule	"Let Love Rule" (1989) · "I Build This Garden For Us" (1990) · "Freedom Train" (1990) · "Does Anybody Out There Even Care" (1990) · "Mr. Cab Driver" (1990) · "Be" (1990)

Mama Said	"Always on the Run" (featuring Slash) (1991) · "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" (1991) · "Fields of Joy" (1991) · "Stand By My Woman" (1991) · "What The Fuck Are We Saying" (1991) · "Stop Draggin' Around" (1991) · "What Goes Around Comes Around"

Are You Gonna Go My Way	"Are You Gonna Go My Way" (1993) · "Believe" (1993) · "Heaven Help" (1993) · "Is There Any Love in Your Heart" (1993) · "Heaven Help" / "Spinning Around Over You" (1994)

Circus	"Rock and Roll Is Dead" (1995) · "Circus" (1995) · "Can't Get You Off My Mind" (1996) · "The Resurrection" (1996)

5	"If You Can't Say No" (1998) · "Thinking of You" (1998) · "I Belong to You" (1998) · "Fly Away" (1999) · "American Woman" (1999) · "Black Velveteen" (2000)

Greatest Hits	"Again" (1999) · "Black Velveteen" (2000)

Lenny	"Dig In" (2001) · "Stillness of Heart" (2002) · "Believe in Me" (2002) · "If I Could Fall in Love" (2002) · "Yesterday Is Gone" (2002)

Baptism	"Where Are We Runnin'?" (2004) · "California" (2004) · "Storm" (featuring Jay-Z) (2004) · "Calling All Angels" (2005) · "Lady" (2005)

It Is Time For A Love Revolution	"Bring It On" (2007) · "I'll Be Waiting" (2008) · "Love Love Love" (2008) · "Dancin' Til Dawn" (2008)

Soundtracks	"Spinning Around Over You" (1994) · "American Woman" (1999) · "Show Me Your Soul" (featuring P.Diddy, Pharell Williams, Loon) (2004)

Other singles	"Deuce" (featuring Stevie Wonder) (1994) · "We Want Peace" (2003) · "Breathe" (2006)

Promo singles	"The Soul of Lenny Kravitz" (1999) · "Super Soul Fighter" (1999)

Persondata
NAME	Kravitz, Lenny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kravitz, Leonard Arbert
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 26, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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		Black Biography. Contemporary Black Biography. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lenny Kravitz". Read more

I Belong to You [5 Tracks] Buy this CD	Circus Buy this CD	California Buy this CD	Lenny Buy this CD	Greatest Hits Buy this CD
Maximum Kravitz Buy this CD	American Woman [US #1] Buy this CD	Are You Gonna Go My Way Buy this CD	Live [DVD] Buy this CD	Live [Limited Edition DVD] Buy this CD

Lenny Kravitz

Biography

Contents

Biography

Early life

Personal life

Career

1989-1990: Virgin Records and the career début

1991-1996: Popularity established

1997-2000: Increasing success, 5 and first Grammy Awards

2001-2005: Lenny and Baptism

2006-Present: Live Earth, charity work and It Is Time For A Love Revolution

Additional

Discography

Albums

Videography

Filmography

Tours

Awards

See also

Notes

References

External links