Singer and actor Lenny Kravitz: biography, musical career, movie work, personal life

Lenny Kravitz is an American singer, musician and songwriter. In compositions, he manages to harmoniously combine such genres as ballad, soul, reggae and funk. For four years, since 1998, the artist received a Grammy for his vocal rock performance. In 2011, Lenny was awarded the Order of the Arts and Literature in France. Kravitz himself often works in the studio to record the parts of drums, keyboards and guitars.

Early biography

The singer was born in 1964, May 26, in New York. Lenny's real name is Leonard Albert. The artist’s father, Sai Kravitz, who worked as a producer for NBC TV News, came to the States from Ukraine. The singer’s grandfather and great-grandfather were born in Kiev. Lenny's mother, Roxy Rowker, was an actress.

Lenny spent his childhood in Manhattan, surrounded by art and famous people. One day he admitted that he was listening to Duke Ellington playing while sitting by the pianist on his lap. Lenny Kravitz himself, whose photo is located below, began to seriously take music lessons after moving to Los Angeles. At first he performed in the California Children's Choir, and soon started playing the guitar, keyboards and percussion.

Music career

At the age of 16, the guy decided to move away from his parents. Having prepared several tracks, Kravitz distributed them under the pseudonym Romeo Blue. The first label the aspiring artist collaborated with was IRS Records. Lenny soon signed with Virgin Records. In 1989, the world saw the debut album of the artist Let Love Rule.

The songs of Lenny Kravitz, as well as his vocal skills conquered a large number of people not only in the United States, but also abroad. According to the singer, his formation as a musician was significantly influenced by the work of Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Prince and Stevie Wonder.

Lenny managed to achieve greater success thanks to the joint work with Madonna on the composition “Justify My Love”. The song has long led many charts. In 1991, the premiere of the album Mama Said. His compositions are permeated with feelings and sadness generated by the divorce process. The following year, Lenny Kravitz became the producer of the debut album of Vanessa Paradis.

In 1993, the singer presented his third album Are You Gonna Go My Way. Thanks to this collection, Lenny became one of the most popular artists in the world. The album was marked by two Grammy statuettes. Then Kravitz managed to work with the band Aerosmith and Miki Jagger. The premiere of his fifth record, Circus, took place in 1995.

Then Lenny released three more albums, namely "5", Lenny and Baptism. The latter was prepared on the musician’s personal label, which he named after his mother, who died in 1995. Critics called It Is Time for a Love Revolution the best album in Kravitz’s career for 2008. The premiere of the ninth album, dubbed Black and White America, took place in 2011.

The number of music videos Lenny Kravitz is more than four dozen. The most provocative can be called a video on the composition The Chamber with the participation of a nude model. The song itself was included in the tenth album of the artist Strut.

In 2014, Lenny performed in Russia as part of the Sochi Formula 1 auto racing. His fee amounted to 88 million rubles. The latest work of the artist at the moment is the 2018 album Raise Vibration. Over the 30 years of his career, Kravitz has sold about 20 million copies of his records.

Filmography

In 2001, the singer first starred in a movie. Lenny played himself in B. Stiller’s picture “An Exemplary Male”. After 8 years, the actor got the role of nurse John in the drama "Treasure". In 2012, Lenny Kravitz played Zinn in the fantastic Hunger Games thriller. The singer also starred in the sequel to this picture. In 2013, Kravitz appeared in the political drama “Butler” in the image of James Holloway. In 2016, he began acting in the TV series Star and All for the Better. Later, the artist worked on Lee Daniels' Frozen.

Personal life

In 1987, Kravitz became the wife of actress Lisa Bonet. A year after the wedding, the artists gave birth to a girl Zoe. Today, 29-year-old daughter Lenny Kravitz is filming a movie. In addition, Zoe sings and plays the guitar perfectly. In 1993, Kravitz divorced Bonet. After Lisa got married a second time, little Zoe chose to live with her dad.

In his youth, the artist's lovers were Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbrulia, Stella McCartney and even Naomi Campbell. With a Brazilian model, Adriana Lima Kravitz was engaged. For a long time, the singer was in a relationship with Nicole Kidman. The couple planned to play a wedding, but the actress left Kravitz in connection with his betrayal. Then the artist met with Michelle Rodriguez. Later in the media began to appear information about the close relationship between Lenny and Penelope Cruz. Now, his personal life is not so closely watched by journalists.