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Lenny Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is a musician whose retro-style amalgam of Rock, Pop, Funk, and even Techno is inspired by such music icons as Jimi Hendrix
and John Lennon.
Early Life
He was born in New York the son of Jewish Hollywood producer Sy Kravitz and Bahamian actress Roxie
Roker (of The Jeffersons), Lenny grew up in wealth. His
parents moved to California Having taught himself bass, piano, guitar, and drums at an
early age and developed his singing voice in the California Boys Choir and the Metropolitan Opera, he attended Beverly Hills High School and performed under the artist name, Romeo
Blue. At that stage, he was heavily influenced by Prince. His parents were friends with jazz greats Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fizgerald, Bobby Short and Miles Davis so he grew up in a musical household although he would pursue a career in
rock rather than jazz.
In the late 1980's, Kravitz returned to New York to pursue a musical career. He ended sharing a house with Lisa Bonet who played Denise Huxtable on The Cosby
Show. The two would fall in love and would marry. In New York, Kravitz would broaden his influences beyond Prince to
classic rock and soul artists such as Hendrix, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Stevie
Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. He signed a contract with Virgin
Records.
Early Career
His 1989 debut album Let Love Rule was an moderate success
reaching #61 on the Billboard album charts. The title track would reach #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the modern rock charts. The second single "I Build This Garden" reached #25
on the modern rock charts.
Kravitz gined greater recognition with Madonna reaching
number one with a cover version of his song, "Justify My Love" on her Immaculate
Collection album of 1990. Unfortunately, Kravitz's marriage to Lisa Bonet would end in the same year.
His next album, Mama Said in 2001 reached the top 40 of the Billboard album charts and songs on the album were
influenced by his divorce from bonet. It contained the hit single "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" that reached #2 on the charts and
#10 on the Billboard r&b charts. "Always On The Run" featured Slash of Guns n' Roses reached #8 on the modern rock charts and #40 on the mainstream
rock charts. "Stand By My Woman" reached the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 while "What Comes Around Goes Around" reached
the top 40 of the Billboard r&b chart. The album would also feature a contribution by Sean Lennon which was Lennon's first appearance on record.
In 1993, Are You Gonna Go My Way was released reaching #12 on
the Billboard 200 and 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. The single would reach #1 on the Australian and Billboard mainstream
rock charts and #2 on the modern rock charts. Several singles from the album would follow including:
- "Believe" #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, #15 on the mainstream rock charts and #10 on the modern rock charts;
- "Is There Any Love In Your Heart" would reach #19 on the mainstream rock charts; and
- "Heaven Help/Spinning Around Over You" reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Heaven Help" reached #92 on the Billboard
Hot 100.
Kravitz would cover the Kiss (band) song "Deuce" for a tribute album
with the track reaching #15 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart. He would release the Circus album in 1995 which
would reach number 10 on the Billboard chart on the back of his past achievement. However, it only had two singles "Rock And Roll
Is Dead" reaching #75 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on the mainstream rock chart and #10 on the modern rock charts. "Can't Get You
Off My Mind reached #62 on the Billboard chart and #36 on the US adult chart. In 1975, his mother would die of breast cancer.
Later career
With 5 (1998), Kravitz embraced digital technology such as
synthesizers and tape loops for the first time. 5 introduced Kravitz's music to an even wider audience, particularly in
Europe, because "Fly Away" had been featured prominently in both car manufacturer and airline commercials.
5 would reach #28 on the Billboard 200 with "Fly Away" would reach #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999 and #1 on the
modern and mainstream charts. He would win the first of his four consecutive Grammy for
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in the Grammy Awards of
1999. Other hits from the album included:
- "If You Can't Say No" reached the top 40 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart in 1999 - dance producer Brian Transeau would remix the track; and
- "I Belong To you" would reach #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the Billboard adult chart in 2000
His cover version of 70s rockers "The Guess Who's" hit American Woman won him a another Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in the
Grammy Awards of 2000 and helped The Guess Who find a new
audience. The song originally came from the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was added to the 5 album as a
bonus track in 1999. The song would reach #49 on the Billboard 100, #3 on the Billboard modern rock chart and #7 on the Billboard
mainstream rock chart.
Lenny Kravitz would release a 15 track Greatest Hits compilation. It would prove to be his most successful album
reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts and achieve triple platinum status. The single "Again" would reach #4
on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on a world adult composite chart (based on the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France and Australia) and
US adult chart. The track would also earn him his third consecutive Grammy in the Best Male Rock Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 2001.
Kravitz released his sixth album Lenny in October 2001. It reached #12 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on the Canadian
charts. The first single from the album "Dig In" reached #31 on the Billboard 200 and went top ten in the world adult and US
adult charts. It also reached #1 in Argentina, went top 5 in Portugal and top 10 in Italy. It would also win him his fourth
consecutive Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal in the Grammy
Awards of 2002. Subsequent singles included:
- "Stillness of Heart" went top 10 in Italy, top 20 in the US and world adult charts and Argentina and top 40 in Canada and the
UK;
- "Believe in Me reached #1 in Portugal, went top 10 in the Netherlands, top 20 in Italy and Germany and reached the top 100
world sales and airplay charts; and
- "If I Could Fall In Love" reached the US adult top 40.
Jay-Z invited Lenny Kravitz to appear on the track "Guns and Roses" on his 2002
Blueprint 2: the Gift and the Curse. Kravitz would also join P. Diddy, Pharrell Williams
and Loon on the track "Show
Me Your Soul" from the Bad Boys
2 soundtrack. In 2004, he would appear on a track on N.E.R.D's album
Fly or Die. Jay-Z would appear on the track "Storm" on Kravitz's 2004
Baptism album.
In early 2003, Kravitz released the track "We Want Peace" as a download-only track as a protest against the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The track reached #1 on the world internet
download charts and MP3.com download chart. Kravitz will also be appearing on
Unity, the official album of the 2004 Athens
Olympics.
Kravitz's seventh album Baptism was released on March 18 2004. On his website, Kravitz says that he chose the title
because "I've made my first record all over again. That's how it feels, as pure as the beginning." Baptism would debut
at number 14 on the US album charts, in the top 50 of the Australian album charts and in the top 75 of the UK album charts. The
first single "Where Are We Running" has reached #69 on the Billboard Hot 100, top 25 on a composite European chart and top 20 on
Internet charts, Argentina, Italy and the world and US top 20 as at the end of May 2004.
Discography
- Let Love Rule
(1989)
- Mama Said (1991)
- Are
You Gonna Go My Way? (1993)
- Circus
(1995)
- 5 (1998)
- Greatest Hits (2000)
- Lenny
(2001)
- Baptism (2004)
External Links
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