1. Leonard Albert Kravitz was born on May 26,1964 and is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor.
66 Facts About Lenny Kravitz
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Lenny Kravitz released his debut album Let Love Rule in 1989.
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Lenny Kravitz has won several awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, which he received four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category, and setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male performer.
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Lenny Kravitz has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and was ranked 93 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".
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Lenny Kravitz was born on May 26,1964, in New York City, the only child of NBC television news producer Sy Lenny Kravitz and actress Roxie Roker.
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Lenny Kravitz's mother came from a Christian family that was of African-American and Bahamian descent.
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Lenny Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three.
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Lenny Kravitz decided that he wanted to be a musician at the age of five.
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Lenny Kravitz began playing the drums and soon added guitar.
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Lenny Kravitz's father, who was a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis, and other jazz greats; Ellington played "Happy Birthday" for him on his fifth birthday.
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In 1974, at the age of 10, Lenny Kravitz relocated to Los Angeles with his parents when his mother landed her role on The Jeffersons.
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Lenny Kravitz took part in Mahler's Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl.
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Lenny Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School, where he was classmates with Maria McKee, Nicolas Cage, and Slash.
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Lenny Kravitz taught himself to play piano and bass and made friends with Zoro, who would later become his long-time collaborator.
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Lenny Kravitz had met the recording engineer, keyboardist, and bassist Henry Hirsch in 1985 when recording a demo at his Hoboken, New Jersey, recording studio.
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Lenny Kravitz would go on to collaborate with Hirsch on most of his albums.
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Lenny Kravitz began working on his debut album with Hirsch over the next year and a half, with Lenny Kravitz's father paying for the studio time.
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Lenny Kravitz met saxophonist Karl Denson and invited him to play on the song "Let Love Rule".
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Lenny Kravitz was so impressed with his playing that Denson played on much of the album.
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In October 1988, after completing most of the recording, Lenny Kravitz approached friend Stephen Elvis Smith, who had served as the music supervisor on Lisa Bonet's The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World.
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Lenny Kravitz urged Smith to manage his career and assist him in finding a record deal.
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Lenny Kravitz released his debut album Let Love Rule in 1989, a combination of rock and funk with a 1960s vibe.
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Music critics were mixed: some felt Lenny Kravitz was a gifted new artist, others felt he was overpowered by his musical influences.
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Lenny Kravitz launched a LLR tour of Europe and the United States in support of the re-release.
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In 1990, Lenny Kravitz produced the song "Justify My Love" for Madonna, which he co-wrote with Ingrid Chavez.
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Lenny Kravitz separated from Lisa Bonet in 1991, amid rumors of an affair between him and Madonna.
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Lenny Kravitz produced the self-titled album Vanessa Paradis for French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis.
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Lenny Kravitz played most of the instruments and co-wrote most of the songs on the album.
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In 1994, Lenny Kravitz recorded "Main Squeeze" with Teena Marie from her Passion Play CD.
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Lenny Kravitz made a video to pay tribute to Teena Marie when she suddenly died on December 26,2010.
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Lenny Kravitz recorded a funk-rock version of the song "Deuce" for the KISS cover album Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved.
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Lenny Kravitz's cover version of the Guess Who's hit "American Woman" won him another Grammy at the Grammy Awards of 2000 and helped the Guess Who's song reach a new audience.
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Lenny Kravitz worked on two songs for Michael Jackson's Invincible album released in 2001; a snippet of "Another Day" was leaked, and the full version was officially released on the album Michael in 2010.
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In January 2006, Lenny Kravitz contributed "Breathe" to absoluttracks, a project sponsored by Absolut Vodka.
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Lenny Kravitz appeared in the audience of Madonna's Confessions Tour during numerous shows.
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Lenny Kravitz later joined Madonna live on stage to play guitar on the song, "I Love New York", at the last of four Paris shows.
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Lenny Kravitz founded a design firm named Lenny Kravitz Design, stating if he hadn't been a musician he would have been a designer.
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Lenny Kravitz Design, focused on interior and furniture design, has designed residential spaces, as well as a chandelier for the crystal company Swarovski, named "Casino Royale".
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On July 7,2007, Lenny Kravitz performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro, making him one of three major international rock stars to perform two huge free concerts at the world-famous Copacabana Beach along with Macy Gray and the Rolling Stones.
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Lenny Kravitz had already played there on March 21,2005, drawing 300,000 people on a concert of his own.
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Also in 2007, Lenny Kravitz released a version of "Cold Turkey" by John Lennon on the charity CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
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Lenny Kravitz spent time recording his latest album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution, released February 5,2008.
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Lenny Kravitz was on the song "Whole Lotta Lovin'" along with Rebirth Brass Band, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and Maceo Parker.
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Lenny Kravitz made his feature film acting debut in Precious which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.
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In 2011 Lenny Kravitz was honored with one of the highest cultural awards in France when he was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French cultural minister Frederic Mitterrand in Paris.
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Lenny Kravitz stated he was "particularly touched" to receive the award in France as his success in the country pre-dated his success in the United States and still enjoys great record sales in the country today.
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Lenny Kravitz joined other American recipients such as Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, and Bob Dylan.
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Lenny Kravitz played the part of Katniss' creative stylist, Cinna, in the first two Hunger Games films, The Hunger Games released on March 23,2012 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire released on November 22,2013.
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In 2014 Lenny Kravitz released his tenth studio album Strut on his own Roxie Records via Kobalt Label Services.
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In 2015, Lenny Kravitz performed alongside Katy Perry at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show.
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BMG had acquired Lenny Kravitz's music publishing rights in 2013, as part of Virgin Music Publishing.
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In 2023, Lenny Kravitz wrote and performed a song for the film Rustin entitled "Road to Freedom".
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Lenny Kravitz won Music Icon of the Year at the 49th People's Choice Awards.
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Lenny Kravitz has partnered with Leica on two occasions: in 2015, a Leica M-P edition titled "The Correspondent", and again in 2019 with a Monochrom edition titled "Drifter".
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Lenny Kravitz Design focuses on commercial, residential and product creative direction and design.
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Lenny Kravitz Design envisioned a luxury recording studio for The Setai Resort and Residences in Miami Beach, New York, Paris, and New Orleans.
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In 2010, Lenny Kravitz Design collaborated with Flavor Paper wallpaper on the Tropicalismo Collection, a line inspired by Brazil's Tropicalia art movement of the late 1960s.
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In 1985, Lenny Kravitz met actress Lisa Bonet backstage at a concert in California.
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In 1987, Lenny Kravitz moved back to New York City, to move in with Bonet.
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Lenny Kravitz, still known as Romeo Blue at the time, found himself in the headlines of tabloids.
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Lenny Kravitz dated French singer and model Vanessa Paradis from 1991 to 1996.
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Lenny Kravitz began dating Brazilian model Adriana Lima in 2001, and they lived together before becoming engaged in 2002.
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Lenny Kravitz briefly dated and was engaged to Australian actress Nicole Kidman from 2003 to 2004.
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In 2024, Lenny Kravitz reaffirmed his desire to remain celibate , stating that it was his father's infidelity that inspired him to make a change.
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Lenny Kravitz owns a house in Paris, a farm compound in Brazil, and a trailer with the surrounding land in The Bahamas.
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Lenny Kravitz follows veganism with a primarily raw vegan diet, and uses his land in Brazil and The Bahamas to grow his own food.