Lenny Kravitz is a a full fledged Superestar, but it didn't come easily. He first became known as "Lisa Bonet's Musician BoyFriend Romeo Blue" in the pages of the tabloids. Born to a jewish television exec father Sy Kravitz and his mother, actress Roxie Roker who was most known for her recurring role on The Jeffersons. After years of writing and recording his own material he eventually landed a deal with Virgin Records and released his debut album "Let Love Rule" which was a minor hit in the U.S. It wasn't until his third album "Are you gonna go my way" with it's clear and definitive Hendrix influences that Lenny really began to take off .
Let Love Rule.
The Second Single from Lenny's Debut - "Mr. Cab Driver" about the bigotry he faced in New York.
As you can tell, Lenny's come a very long way since his first record. On his second album which took place during the breakup of his marriage to Bonet, Kravitz co-wrote with his former Hollywood High School pal Saul "Slash" Hudson (who like him is also half jewish, half black) of Guns N' Roses to produce the song "Always on the Run" as a tribute to his mother Roxie.
Even this didn't truly catapult his career. It wasn't until his follow up to "Are You Gonna Go May", "Fly Away" on his third album Circus that his he began to really take off after finally finding a comfortable balance between his funky R&B and classic rock influences.
In 1998 he co-produced the solo CD for Cree Summer, an singer and actress who had formerly starred with his ex-wife in the Cosby Show spin-off 'A Different World", nearly a decade after her original band Subject to Change had recorded and released their debut album. He dueted with her on the song "Mean Sleep".
His Funk Rock cover of the Guess Who's "American Woman" became the biggest hit from his fifth album "5" even though it was a bonus track originally recorded for the Austin Power soundtrack and bonus track.
After now winning multiple back-to-back Male Rock Vocalist Grammy's (Four Years In a Row), Kravitz has begun to branch out into movies appearing in the films "Precious" and "The Hunger Games". He's slated current to play the title role in an upcoming movie on the life of "Marvin Gaye".
