The Lenny Kravitz Universe With more than 20 years in Lenny Kravitz’s under his belt, the man can boast an impressive background thanks to the artistic influence of his parents. The New York artist has never stopped listening to the indie music influences from his childhood. His other inspirations include the legendary Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.
Lenny ultimately polished off the record in Paris, a city where he feels as at home as in his native New York. His frequent appearances in France have earned him the honour of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Lenny has over 35 million albums sold and four Grammys under his belt.
With over 35 million albums sold and four Grammys under his belt, Lenny Kravitz has transcended the world of music. His chic rocker style is like a tailored suit for the modern world of show business, and not least for a slew of beautiful women who have fallen under his music's spell. Nicole Kidman, Naomi Campbell, Natalie Imbruglia, Kylie Minogue and Vanessa Paradis round off his documented list of girlfriends.
This kind of profile would not escape Hollywood's watchful eye. A small role in Zoolander (2001) and several scenes in the award-winning Precious (2009) were, until recently, Kravitz's solitary ventures into film. In 2012, however, we will have a chance to see him in The Hunger Games, a movie based on the eponymous novel by Suzanne Collins who is already preparing its sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” for next year.
Despite his packed schedule, Lenny makes time to manage the fledgling career of Zöe, his daughter with actress Lisa Bonet. Zöe Kravitz threatens to continue in the family footsteps, combining her parents' talent for music and performance.
With his life split between the Bahamas' sands and Paris, Kravitz's visits to New York have become increasingly infrequent. So much so that he decided to sell his spectacular Manhattan penthouse and invest in Kravitz Design Inc., a prosperous interior design company with several ambitious projects in Miami. Lenny is always welcome in this city, where he had his last concert earlier this year at the Jackie Gleason Theatre. It was undoubtedly a huge successful.
Yet, for Lenny, the perfect day has nothing to do with business endeavours. His proclivity for living a peaceful beach life in the Caribbean has helped him acquire a taste for a more minimalistic lifestyle; one in which musical exploration takes centre stage.
In France, his investigation of musical universes brought him into contact with 1920s Paris, a fascinating time of jazz and legends like Josefine Baker. What's more, this larger universe has drawn him nearer his own, as the son of an interracial and multi-religious marriage. Black and White America is the by-product of this exploration, which Lenny has discovered for the world. It is, perhaps, the Kravitz universe's most intimate album AUTUMN 2012
uke Ellington held him tightly on his lap as little Lenny pounded the piano keys, astonished to discover new sounds. It was the late 1960s, and at the Kravitz household, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn and Count Basie were regular guests. The boy's parents, artists and producers, unlocked the doors to an infinite musical universe. The Kravitz universe. Lenny Kravitz's career began in 1989 with the album Let Love Rule. Yet he would not gain international fame until 1993, following the release of Are You Gonna Go My Way.
In addition to his parents' artistic influence, Lenny amassed his own musical education based primarily on absorbing all kinds of music. He admits that his iPod features a potpourri of bands and styles, all equally adored. His music is drenched in the indie influences from his childhood and plenty of 1970s soul and funk, along with the acquired sounds of classics like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. The ABCs for any aspiring rock star.
Between 1999 and 2002, Kravitz owned the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance category at the Grammys; years which helped him consolidate his place in the pantheon of rock music. Later, Kravitz decided to swap his New York residence for a carpeted Airstream trailer in Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas. He built a recording studio a few metres from his singular abode and used it to construct his latest effort, Black and White America. The title makes reference to his African-American mother, actress Roxie Rocker, and his white Jewish father, television producer Sy Kravitz.