Lenny Kravitz was born on this date in 1964. He is a Black singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor.
Leonard Albert Kravitz was born in the New York City borough of Manhattan, the only child of actress Roxie Roker and network television news producer Sy Kravitz. His mother was of Black and Bahamian descent, and his father was a white-Russian Jew. Kravitz is a second cousin of television weatherman Al Roker through his mother, as their grandfathers were brothers.
During his early years, Kravitz spent weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with his parents, attending P.S. 6 for elementary school and weekends at his grandmother Bessie’s house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 1985, Kravitz met Cosby Show actress Lisa Bonet backstage at a New Edition concert in California. They were close friends for two years before beginning a relationship. Kravitz moved back to New York City, where The Cosby Show was produced, 1987 to move in with Bonet. They eloped to be married in a Las Vegas ceremony in 1987, her 20th birthday. Kravitz, still known as Romeo Blue at the time, suddenly found himself in the headlines of tabloids. He and Bonet had a daughter, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, in 1988, who became an actress, singer, and model. Kravitz and Bonet separated in 1991 and divorced amicably in 1993.
Kravitz dated French singer and model Vanessa Paradis from 1992 to 1996. He began dating Brazilian model Adriana Lima in 2001, and they lived together before becoming engaged in 2002. However, the engagement was called off in April 2003. Lima was featured in the music video for Kravitz’s 2002 single “Yesterday Is Gone (My Dear Kay).” He then briefly dated and was engaged to Australian actress Nicole Kidman from 2003 to 2004.
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 setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male. He has been nominated for and won other awards, including American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, Brit Awards, and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. He was also ranked at No. 93 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”. He was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 2011 and has played Cinna in the Hunger Games film series. His music incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.
Kravitz Design Inc. is a New York City-based company founded by Kravitz in 2003. Swarovski selected Kravitz Design Inc. in 2005 and 2006 to participate in their Crystal Palace Collection. Kravitz Design Inc. has also envisioned a luxury recording studio for The Setai Resort and Residences in Miami Beach, New York, Paris, and New Orleans. Kravitz Design focuses on commercial, residential, and product creative direction and design. Its clients are the Morgans Hotel Group, Swarovski Crystal, and The Setai Group. Morgans Hotel Group In 2010, Kravitz Design Inc. collaborated with Flavor Paper wallpaper on the Tropicalismo Collection, a line inspired by Brazil’s Tropicalia art movement of the late 1960s.
He identifies himself as a Christian in a religious sense “through choice” but states, “I’m also a Jew; it’s all the same to me.” During another interview, Kravitz stated, “I’m half Jewish, half black, I look in-between.” He also notes that spirituality “has been an important issue in [his] growth,” given his upbringing by parents of different faiths. Such spirituality is prominently featured in 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.”
As late as 2011, Kravitz stated that his 2005 religious commitment to remain celibate until remarriage was unchanged. Kravitz is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism and worked with them on a radio PSA. Kravitz has partnered with Leica on two occasions. In 2015, a Leica M-P edition was titled “The Correspondent,” and again, in 2019, a Monochrome edition was titled “Drifter.” The 2019 collaboration also included a gallery of his work, unveiled on May 24, 2019, and was on display for 3 months in the Leica Gallery in Wetzlar, Germany.
Written by Dianne Washington