![]() | |||||||||||||
| Home > singers > Lenny Kravitz > Full Biography | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Lenny Kravitz Biography |
|||||||||||||
| Leonard Albert Kravitz is an American rock/hard rock singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist whose retro-style amalgam of rock, pop, funk, and even techno is inspired by such music icons as Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. Like Prince and Sly Stone before him, Kravitz uses a multi-ethnic, mixed-sex group back-up band. Kravitz plays guitar, bass, drums, piano, saxophone, trumpet and sitar. He usually plays all the instruments on each recorded track. Kravitz was born in New York City, and is the son of Russian-Jewish American film producer Sy Kravitz and Bahamian American actress Roxie Roker, best known as Helen Willis, a regular character on The Jeffersons. Kravitz was named after his uncle, Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action in Korea while suppressing a Chinese attack and saving most of his platoon; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. 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 Fitzgerald, 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 1980s, Kravitz returned to New York to pursue a musical career. He ended up sharing a house with Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show. The two would fall in love and marry on November 16, 1987, Lisa's 20th birthday; they are divorced and have a daughter called Zoe. Kravitz would broaden his influences beyond Prince to artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. He signed a contract with Virgin Records. | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Discuss and Share. |
| Advertisement |
|---|
|
Katie Holmes Debuts New Jeans Added on: 1st Oct |
|
Heather Locklear Sees Jack Wagner After DUI (Setup?) Added on: 1st Oct |
|
Christina Aguilera Leaving Sunset Bronson Studios Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Nicolette Sheridan At Westwood Carpets Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Naomi Watts Looking Preggers And Cute! Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Kingston Pursued By An Older Girl! Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Gwen, Gavin, and Kingston Go Furniture Shopping Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Nick Jonas Test-Drives His New Mustang! Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Paris Hilton's BFF Red Carpet Premiere. Added on: 1st Oct |
|
Karina Smirnoff At Crown Night Club. Added on: 1st Oct |
|
Kim Kardashian speaks after being kicked off DWTS Added on: 1st Oct |
|
'High School Musical 3' Stars in Paris Added on: 1st Oct |
|
New Music: T.I., Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke Added on: 30th Sep |
|
Ashlee Simpson Performs On Dancing With The Stars, Later Shops At Opening Ceremony Added on: 1st Oct |
|
Miley And A Friend Get Their Nails Done At CT Nails III Added on: 1st Oct |
| Watch More Videos | |
| LATEST PHOTOS OF TOP CELEBS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Anne Hathaway | Britney Spears | Elizabeth Hurley |
| Jessica Simpson | Kelly Brook | Paris Hilton |
|
||||||||||
![]() READ ALL STORIES |
||||||||||