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LENNY KRAVITZ BIOGRAPHY |
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Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer,
songwriter, record 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 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. Some
believe the Medal of Honor has been denied to Pfc. Kravitz
because he was Jewish, citing similar circumstances in which
others have been posthumously awarded the honor. 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. Kravitz
would broaden his influences beyond Prince to classic rock and
soul artists such as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin,
Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. He signed a
contract with Virgin Records.
His 1989 debut album Let Love Rule was a 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 For Us"
reached #25 on the modern rock charts. Kravitz gained greater
recognition when Madonna reached number one with a cover version
of his song, "Justify My Love" on her Immaculate Collection
album of 1990. Kravitz's marriage to Lisa Bonet would end in the
same year. His next album, Mama Said in 1991, 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", which reached #2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the Billboard R&B charts. "Always
On The Run" featured Slash of Guns N' Roses and 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, peaking at #76, while "What Goes Around Comes 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 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles charts. Kravitz covered the Kiss
song "Deuce" for a tribute album, with the track reaching #15 on
the Billboard rock chart. He released the Circus album in 1995,
which reached number 10 on the Billboard chart on the back of
his past achievement. However, it only had two singles: "Rock
And Roll Is Dead" peaked at #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. |
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