Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964 in Brooklyn , New York City ; formerly a musician under the pseudonym Romeo Blue ) is an American rock singer , musician , songwriter , record producer and actor .
Life
Kravitz is the son of the Ukrainian-Jewish television producer Seymour Kravitz and the Bahamian-Afro-American actress Roxie Roker .
Kravitz married the actress Lisa Bonet in 1987 , with whom he has the daughter Zoë Kravitz (* 1988). Bonet divorced Kravitz in 1993. From around 1998 Zoë lived with him in New York and Miami . Kravitz has lived in Paris since the beginning of 2008.
Career
Kravitz, who had already come into contact with music through his parents' house (his father was a promoter for jazz concerts ), had the desire to become a musician himself at an early age . So Kravitz grew up until he was around ten years old with various musical influences such as jazz, soul , blues and gospel , but also with classical music . After the family moved to Los Angeles , he also came into contact with rock music .
Kravitz himself called The Jackson Five his first favorite band. Later he liked the music of Led Zeppelin , Pink Floyd , Jimi Hendrix , Kiss , Cream and The Who . In addition, his musical role models are the soul singer Curtis Mayfield and the musician Prince , on whose album The Gold Experience (1995) Kravitz participated.
Kravitz made his first appearance as an actor in a 1971 commercial . Kravitz said in a television interview that German viewers had known him for a long time. He was the boy who pushed a handcart through orange plantations in a Pepsi commercial for the Florida Boy Orange beverage brand.
Kravitz's musical career began during his high school days. He recorded the first tapes under the pseudonym Romeo Blue and had his first appearances in the early 1980s. Several labels were interested in Kravitz because of demo tapes, but wanted the music to be more "radio-friendly", so Kravitz initially refused to work with them. It was not until 1989 that he signed his first recording deal with Virgin Records . In the autumn of the same year, the debut album Let Love Rule was released , which was able to achieve its first chart positions in Europe as well as in the USA.
In 1990 Kravitz wrote and produced the controversial song Justify My Love with Madonna . The song landed at number 1 on the US Billboard charts. At the same time he was said to have had an affair with Madonna, which was neither confirmed nor denied.
Kravitz made his final breakthrough in 1991 with his second album Mama Said . The single It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over reached number 2 on the American Billboard Hot 100 . In 1993 the third album Are You Gonna Go My Way followed , which conquered the top of the British album charts. The title song of the same name also had great success as a single. The video for it was awarded the MTV Video Music Award . 1994 contributed Kravitz along with Stevie Wonder , who when recording harmonica , played a song for Kiss - tribute album Kiss My Ass in. His album Circus , released in 1995, fell short of expectations compared to Are You Gonna Go My Way .
With his fifth album 5 , Lenny Kravitz managed to build on his old successes again. The single Fly Away became number 1 in several countries. For this song, Kravitz also received the first of four consecutive Grammy Awards in 1999 in the Best Male Rock Performance category . This was followed by the awards for American Woman (2000), Again (2001) and Dig In (2002).
In 2000 Kravitz released his greatest hits album, which - like his single Again - was again very successful.
2001 Kravitz released the next album called Lenny , from which the singles Dig In , Stillness Of Heart and Believe in Me come. The same album also featured the song Bank Robber Man, a track in which Kravitz recounts his experience when he was arrested by the police in Miami as a suspected bank robber .
Because of the Iraq war he released an anti-war song with the Iraqi singer Kazem Al Sahir under the name We Want Peace with the organization Rock the Vote .
His seventh studio album Baptism , which was released in 2004, could not build on the successful predecessor. In February 2008 the album It Is Time for a Love Revolution was released. The first single, the ballad I'll Be Waiting , reached number 6 in the German charts, making it his most successful single in Germany.
Lenny Kravitz often worked with other artists. In 1990 he wrote and produced the song Justify My Love for Madonna . He also worked with Vanessa Paradis on her album Vanessa Paradis , which was released in 1992. Even Mick Jagger elected him several times as its producers. Kravitz produced other projects with Busta Rhymes , Mary J. Blige , Aerosmith , Chicago , Slash , Jay-Z , Nikka Costa , Pharrell Williams , Al Green and Curtis Mayfield . In July 2008 Lenny Kravitz sang a few new songs in Vienna , including the campaign song for Barack Obama , Change .
In 2009, Kravitz made his acting debut in Lee Daniels ' drama Precious (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) . He played a male nurse who befriended the main character and won their trust.
In January 2010, a 30-second excerpt from the song Another Day , a cooperation between Kravitz and Michael Jackson , appeared on the Internet . Kravitz wrote the lyrics and played the instruments, and he sings along in the chorus. A version over three minutes long was later published on various Internet platforms. The song was originally planned for Jackson's album Invincible . Eventually it was released as (I Can't Make It) Another Day on Jackson's posthumous album Michael .
In 2011 he also released his funk- influenced album Black and White America . In the film adaptations of the novels The Hunger Games - The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games - Catching Fire , which opened in cinemas in March 2012 and November 2013 , Kravitz can be seen in the role of stylist Cinna .
In September 2014 Kravitz released his tenth music album Strut . On February 1, 2015, Kravitz appeared with Katy Perry and Missy Elliott on the Super Bowl XLIX half-time show. In July 2016, he supported four concerts on Guns n 'Roses' Not In This Lifetime World Tour .
In December 2017 Lenny Kravitz announced the “Raise Vibration Tour”, which also took him to Germany, Switzerland and Austria in May and June 2018, including the 25th Jazz Open in Stuttgart. He presented the title of his new album Raise Vibration , which was released on September 7, 2018.
Music genre
Lenny Kravitz's music can basically be described as rock . However, Kravitz mixed a range of different styles in his albums. These include soul , funk , hard rock , reggae and rock ballads . His style has often been characterized as retro , as it is reminiscent of music from the 1960s and 1970s.
Lenny Kravitz is a multi-instrumentalist. On his albums he often not only sings all the voices himself, but also plays all the instruments himself, which can also be seen in the music video for his song I'll Be Waiting , where he plays all the instruments himself. Musicians like the saxophonist Karl Denson are also active in his bands . To reinforce the retro style, Kravitz used analog recording technology , especially in the earlier releases .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1989 | Let Love Rule | - | - |
CH12  (16 weeks)CH |
UK56 (4 weeks)UK |
US61 (28 weeks)US |
First published: September 19, 1989
Sales: + 875,000 |
| 1991 | Mama Said |
DE20th (29 weeks)DE |
AT12 (22 weeks)AT |
CH5 (26 weeks)CH |
UK8th  (28 weeks)UK |
US39 (40 weeks)US |
First published: April 2, 1991
Sales: + 2,180,000 |
| 1993 | Are you gonna go my way |
DE7th (24 weeks)DE |
AT3 (24 weeks) AT |
CH1 (29 weeks)CH |
UK1 (50 weeks)UK |
US12 × 2
(60 weeks)US |
First published: March 9, 1993
Sales: + 3,520,000 |
| 1995 | Circus |
DE8 (11 weeks) DE |
AT3 (16 weeks) AT |
CH1 (12 weeks)CH |
UK5 (5 weeks)UK |
US10 (16 weeks)US |
First published: September 12, 1995
Sales: +1,112,500 |
| 1998 | 5 |
DE6th (67 weeks)DE |
AT1 (48 weeks)AT |
CH3 (66 weeks)CH |
UK18th (19 weeks)UK |
US28 × 2
(110 weeks)US |
First published: May 12, 1998
Sales: + 4,185,000 |
| 2001 | Lenny |
DE5 (55 weeks)DE |
AT1 (48 weeks)AT |
CH3 (53 weeks)CH |
UK55 (2 weeks) UK |
US12 (17 weeks)US |
First published: October 30, 2001
Sales: + 2,200,000 |
| 2004 | Baptism |
DE2 (15 weeks)DE |
AT4th (19 weeks)AT |
CH3 (20 weeks)CH |
UK74 (1 week) UK |
US14th (33 weeks)US |
First published: May 18, 2004
Sales: + 775,000 |
| 2008 | It is time for a love revolution |
DE3 (21 weeks)DE |
AT2 (22 weeks)AT |
CH1 (34 weeks)CH |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
US4 (9 weeks) US |
First published: February 5, 2008
Sales: + 365,000 |
| 2011 | Black and White America |
DE1 (14 weeks) DE |
AT2 (8 weeks) AT |
CH1 (21 weeks)CH |
UK75 (1 week) UK |
US18 (3 weeks) US |
First published: August 30, 2011
Sales: + 25,000 |
| 2014 | Strut |
DE2 (13 weeks) DE |
AT3 (14 weeks) AT |
CH2 (19 weeks) CH |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
US19 (4 weeks) US |
First published: September 19, 2014
|
| 2018 | Raise vibration |
DE3 (8 weeks) DE |
AT4 (7 weeks) AT |
CH3 (13 weeks) CH |
UK19 (1 week) UK |
US43 (1 week) US |
First published: September 7, 2018
|
Filmography
- 2001: Zoolander
- 2007: Butterfly and diving bell (Le scaphandre et le papillon)
- 2009: Precious - Life is Precious (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire)
- 2012: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games)
- 2013: The Butler (The Butler)
- 2013: The Hunger Games - Catching Fire (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
- 2016–2019: Star (TV series) , 2 episodes as Roland Crane
Awards
Kravitz has received a number of awards in his career. The most famous were:
- 1993: MTV Video Music Awards : Best Male Video for Are You Gonna Go My Way
- 1994: BRIT Awards : International Male Artist
- 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001: Grammy : Best Male Rock Performance
Web links
- Official Homepage (English)
- I've been single for too long , Interview, Katja Schwemmers, Focus Online , November 2nd, 2011
- Lenny Kravitz at laut.de
- Lenny Kravitz at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Lenny Kravitz on MusicBrainz (English)
- Literature by and about Lenny Kravitz in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nico Heister: Lenny Kravitz on the death of Prince. In: rollingstone.de. April 26, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2018 .
- ↑ Dale Sherman: Black Diamond 2 - The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Kiss. Collector's Guide Publishing Inc., 1997, ISBN 1-896522-36-X , pp. 78-80.
- ^ Lenny Kravitz was secretly in Vienna , ORF, July 23, 2008
- ^ Strut - album review on laut.de.
- ↑ Lenny Kravitz scratches the rocker image of Guns N 'Roses In: vip.de , accessed on February 27, 2018.
- ↑ Lenny Kravitz: Four Germany Concerts 2018 In: rollingstone.de , accessed on February 27, 2018.
- ↑ dpa : Lenny Kravitz on dreams, the Bahamas and Prince In: ksta.de , accessed on April 19, 2018.
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kravitz, Lenny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kravitz, Leonard Albert (full name); Romeo Blue (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer and musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 26, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |