Lenny Kravitz

Leonard Albert “Lenny”
Kravitz (born May 26,
1964) is a rock singersongwriter,
multiinstrumentalist,
record
producer, actor and
arranger, whose “retro”
style incorporates
elements of rock,
soul, R&B, funk,
reggae, hard rock,
psychedelic, folk and
ballads. In addition
to singing lead and
backing vocals,
Kravitz often played
all the guitar, bass,
drums, keyboards
and percussion
himself when
recording. He is
known for his
elaborate stage
performances
and music videos.
He won the Grammy Award for Best
Male Rock Vocal Performance four
years in a row from 1999 to 2002,
breaking the record for most wins in
that category as well as setting the
record for most consecutive wins in
one category by a male. He has been
nominated for and won other awards,
including American Music Awards,
MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music
Awards, BRIT Awards and Blockbuster
Entertainment Awards. On December
1, 2011, Kravitz was made an Officer of
Lenny Kravitz
the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He
plays the role of Cinna in the Hunger
Games film series.
Kravitz was born in New York City
on May 26, 1964. He is the son of
Roxie Roker, an actress known for her
character Helen Willis in the 1970s
hit television sitcom The Jeffersons,
and Sy Kravitz, an NBC television
news producer. His father was
from a Russian Jewish family (with
origins from Ukraine). His mother
was of Afro-Bahamian and African-
American descent, and was from
a Christian family. During his early
years, Kravitz did not grow up in a
religious environment. After a spiritual
experience when he was thirteen, he
started attending church, becoming a
non-denominational Christian.
Kravitz was named after his uncle,
Private First Class Leonard M.
Kravitz, who was killed in action in
the Korean War at the age of 20,
while defending against a Chinese
attack and saving most of his platoon;
he was posthumously awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross but was
denied the Medal of Honor. On March
18, 2014 Private First Class Kravitz
received the Medal of Honor in a
ceremony that awarded it to 23 other
servicemen who were passed because
of their ethnicity.
Kravitz grew up spending weekdays
on the Upper East Side of Manhattan,
with his parents, attending P.S.6 for
elementary school, and weekends
at his grandmother Bessie (Mitchell)
Roker’s house in the Bedford-
Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Kravitz began banging on pots and
pans in the kitchen, playing them as
drums at the age of three. At the age
of five, he wanted to be a musician.
He began playing the drums and soon
added guitar. Kravitz grew up listening
to the music his parents listened to:
R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel,
and blues. “My parents were very
supportive of the fact that I loved music
early on, and they took me to a lot
of shows,” Kravitz said. Around the
age of seven, he saw The Jackson 5
perform at Madison Square Garden,
which became his favorite group. His
father, who was also a jazz promoter,
was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah
Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald,
Bobby Short, Miles Davis and other jazz
greats. Ellington even played “Happy
Birthday” for him one year when he
was about 5. He was exposed to the
soul music of Motown, Stax, James
Brown, Aretha Franklin, Al Green,
Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys
Knight, The Isley Brothers and Gamble
and Huff growing up who were key
influences on his musical style. Kravitz
often went to see New York theater,
where his mother worked. His mother