  Lenny Kravitz was born in New
York on May 26, 1964. When Kravitz emerged in
the late 80s, he brought with him a bold rock
and alternative sound combining the feeling
of the 60s with the urgency of the 80s. His
musical style (reminiscent of Hendrix) and songwriting
talents (compared to Lennon) first caught the
ears of music critics, and soon music lovers
yearning for a new distraction from pop
radio. Even though his look on stage reminded
viewers of the 60s, his moves and musical
innovation proved it was a different decade.
Kravitz, who is half-Jewish and
half-Bahamian, grew up in Manhattan,
Brooklyn, and Los Angeles with his mom,
actress Roxie Roker of (Helen Willis on The
Jeffersons), and dad, TV producer, Sy
Kravitz. Kravitz said of youth: "I grew
up with a lot of artists around... here I
was, 8 years old, hanging out with Duke
Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella,
Bobby Short, Miles, all these incredible
people." While growing up, Kravitz
taught himself how to play various music
instruments and began writing his own songs.
Kravitz was a member of the California Boys
Choir until his voice changed: "I went
to high school, picked up the guitar again
and got back into the rock 'n roll."
Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School
along with Slash of Guns
N' Roses and Maria McKee of Lone
Justice. His first brush with his
own notoriety came when he married actress
Lisa Bonet (of The Cosby Show) in
1987 (the couple divorced 6 years later after
a 2 year separation).
 Kravitz's debut LP, Let
Love Rule, was released with the tracks
"Freedom Train," "I Build This
Garden For Us," and hit "Let Love
Rule." The LP helped launch the singer
with his trademark dreadlocks into the
mainstream of alternative rock music.
The video for "Let Love
Rule" was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best New Artist.
 # 50
Singles Artist of the Year
 Kravitz's second LP, Mama
Said, was released and became his
first platinum LP. Kravitz hit the Top 5 on
the pop charts with "It Ain't Over Till It's
Over"
and found success with "Always On The
Run" and "Stand By My Woman."
Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"It Ain't Over Till It's
Over."
Kravitz hit the Top 10 with "It Ain't Over Till It's
Over."
Kravitz could be heard providing
background vocals for a hit song he wrote and
recorded with Madonna, "Justify My
Love" and creating a new version of John Lennon's "Give Peace A
Chance" recorded by several artists as
the Peace Choir (in response
to the Gulf War) and produced by Kravitz.
Mama
Said was certified gold.
 # 131
Singles Artist of the Year
 Kravitz released Are
You Gonna Go My Way? Tracks such as "Believe," "Heaven Help," and "Are
You Gonna Go My Way?" were hits on rock
and alternative radio as well as on the video
channels. Rolling
Stone described the LP as
"(echoing the) sounds from psychedelia
and Philly soul to reggae and hard-core
R&B." Musician called the
LP, "...the strongest statement yet of
Kravitz's style and sensibility, and
encapsulation of a 90s view of the rock-soul
past bounded by neither the assumptions of
Elvis or Dylan, on the one hand, nor punk on
the other..."
Are
You Gonna Go My Way? was certified gold.
Are
You Gonna Go My Way? was certified
platinum.
Kravitz topped the Billboard
Album Rock Tracks chart for 2 weeks with
"Are You Gonna Go My Way?."
 Kravitz won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Male Video ("Are
You Gonna Go My Way") and the video was
nominated for Best Art Direction.
Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"Believe."
 # 138
Singles Artist of the Year
Kravitz could be heard on the Reality
Bites soundtrack with "Spinning
Around Over You."
Kravitz was nominated for 2 Grammy
Awards: Best Rock Song (songwriter) and Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Are You Gonna Go My Way").
Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"Heaven Help."
 Kravitz recorded a cover tune
for a Kiss tribute LP, Kiss
My Ass. - "Deuce."
 # 194
Singles Artist of the Year
Are
You Gonna Go My Way? was certified 2x
platinum.
Mama
Said was certified platinum.
Let
Love Rule was certified gold.
 Circus was released and the
LP was described as a more raw-rock endeavor.
Kravitz found some success with the track
"Rock And Roll Is Dead."
Circus was certified gold.
Kravitz apeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
The year ended on a sad note for
Kravitz, when his mother. Roxie Roker, died.
 # 203
Singles Artist of the Year
Kravitz was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Rock And Roll Is Dead").
 # 143
Singles Artist of the Year
 Kravitz released 5 which was described as
his most personal effort with songs about the
death of his mother and fatherhood. Since his
last LP, Kravitz has had to deal with the
death of his mother, actress Roxie Roker (of The
Jeffersons). Kravitz told CNN, "I
had to put my priorities in order. Witnessing
a death, or rather a transformation into the
next, really made me think about my life. I
had great success and wasn't enjoying a lot
of it. That's sad. I decided that if I wasn't
going to have some sort of enjoyment out of
something, I wasn't going to do it. So when I
went into the studio, it was a real free
experiences. I felt as though it was my first
record again, and that was a blessing... My
main objective this time was to have fun,
which is why I got into it in the first
place." The track "Thinking Of
You" on 5 is a tribute to
Kravitz's mother. Another track, "Little
Girl's Eyes" was written as a birthday
gift for his 9 year-old daughter.
 Kravitz talked with Rock
Daily about such things as why he cut
off his dreadlocks: "It was time for
them to go, man... they held a lot of vibes
and have been through all my experiences with
me... I needed to shed them." Kravitz
wrote the song "Little Girl's Eyes"
for his daughter, Zoe: "That is actually
one of the most difficult songs to write
because I knew it was specifically for my
daughter... I was more nervous doing that
than getting up in front of 100,000
people..."
Throat problems plagued
Kravitz's tour with cancellations. Kravitz
only played for 35 minutes in Cincinnati
before he had to cancel the remainder of the
show, followed by a cancellation in
Pittsburgh.
He had also cancelled shows in
Indiana and Ohio earlier in the month due to
the same throat problems.
5 was certified gold.
 Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"Fly
Away."
Kravitz topped the Billboard
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart with "Fly
Away"
for 3 weeks and the Modern Rock Tracks chart
for 2 weeks.
Kravitz won the Most Fashionable
Artist, Male Award at the VH1/Vogue Fashion
Awards.
 # 19
Singles Artist of the Year
5 was certified
platinum.
Kravitz won his first Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Fly
Away").
Kravitz hit the Top
10
with "Fly
Away."
 Kravitz hit the Top 3 with
"Fly
Away"
and could also be heard on the soundtrack for
Austin
Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with the Guess
Who cover of "American
Woman"
(which was later added to future 5 pressings) and the
compilation, Elton
John And Tim Rice's Aida, with "Like
Father Like Son."
Kravitz told WallOfSound:
"I'm gonna make a film on my own and put
it out at the end of this year."
Kravitz collapsed of heat
exhaustion backstage after a concert in New
Jersey after singing 4 songs.
 Kravitz hit the Top 40 with his
cover of "American
Woman."
Kravitz was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Male Video and Best Rock Video ("Fly
Away").
Kravitz was nominated for a VH1
Fashion Award for Most Fashionable Artist
(Male).
5 was certified 2x
platinum.
Kravitz was nominated for a MTV
Europe Music Award for Best Rock Artist.
Persistent throat problems
reportedly led to the end of his
"Freedom Tour."
MTV: 100
Greatest Videos Ever Made includes "Are You
Gonna Go My Way?" at # 90.
 # 30
Singles Artist of the Year
Kravitz was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite
Male Artist.
 Kravitz won a 2nd Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("American
Woman").
Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"I
Belong To You."
Kravitz hit the Top
10
with "I
Belong To You."
Kravitz could
be heard on Busta Rhymes' LP, Anarchy, on the track
"Make Noise"
 Kravitz released Greatest
Hits with the new track "Again" which hit the
Top 40.
Kravitz hit #1 on the Billboard
Internet Sales chart for 1 week with Greatest
Hits.
Kravitz came in at # 93 on VH1: 100
Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Greatest
Hits was certified platinum.
Kravitz was handcuffed and
questioned by police in Miami because he
matched the description of a bank robber
being searched for by the police.
 Kravitz hit the Top
10
with "Again."
 # 39
Singles Artist of the Year
Greatest
Hits was certified 2x platinum.
Kravitz won his 3rd Grammy Award in a row for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
and was also nominated for Best Rock Song (both for "Again").
Kravitz won a Blockbuster
Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Artist
- Rock and was nominated for Favorite Male
Artist - Pop.
Greatest
Hits was certified 3x platinum.
VH1: 100
Greatest Videos includes:
# 52
- "Are You Gonna
Go My Way."
Lenny was nominated for
a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Male Video ("Again").
 Lenny hit the Top 40
with "Dig In."
Lenny released his next
LP, Lenny.
Lenny could be heard helping out
Mick Jagger on his solo LP, Goddess
In The Doorway on the track "God Gave Me
Everything."
 Lenny hit the Top 10 with "Dig In."
Lenny was certified
platinum.
Lenny won a My VH1 Award for
Favorite Male Artist.
 # 62
Singles Artist of the Year
Lenny won an American Music
Award for Favorite Male Pop/Rock
Artist and performed at the ceremony.
Lenny won his
4th consecutive Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Dig In").
Kravitz hit the Top 40 with
"Stillness Of Heart."
Kravitz ranked
# 14 on VH1: 100
Sexiest Artists.
 Kravitz could be heard helping
out Jay-Z on the track
"Guns & Roses" for Jay-Z's LP, The
Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse.
Kravitz released the DVD, Lenny
Live, with performances from his
world tour this year.
 Kravitz recorded the anti-war
song "We Want Peace" as the US
began invading Iraq. The song was performed
with musicians from Iraq (Kadim Al Sahir),
Palestine (Simon Shaheen), and Lebanon (Jamey
Hadded). The song was made available for free
at www.rockthevote.org.
VH1: 100 Best
Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "Are You
Gonna Go My Way?" at # 50.
 Kravitz was heard on the Bad
Boys 2 soundtrack with the
track "Show Me Your Soul."
 # 40
Singles Artist of the Year
Kravitz was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male ("If
I Could Fall In Love").
| 
