It’s been 35 years sinceLenny Kravitzburst onto the music scene with his debut single and albumLet Love Rule.
“It seems like lifetimes ago, but then again, it seems like yesterday,” the 4-time Grammy winner and actor, 59, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story, kicking off Black History Month.
The rock star is gearing up to release his twelfth studio album on May 24, following hisinternet-breaking music videofor latest single “TK421”, but he can still recall the uphill battle he faced to get his music to the masses.
Lenny Kravitz for PEOPLE.Melodie McDaniel
Melodie McDaniel
When he first began shopping his rock music to labels in the ’80s, naysayers felt that as a Black artist, he didn’t fit the bill.
“I was told my music wasn’t Black enough or wasn’t white enough," says the New York City native, whose late mom,JeffersonsstarRoxie Roker, was Bahamian American, while his dad, NBC producerSy Kravitz, was Ukrainian Jewish.
Lenny Kravitz with Parents Sy Kravitz and Roxie Roker.Frank Micelotta/Getty ; Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
When it came to the eclectic musical interests he pursued, “[record labels] said I had to make a choice, but I never did.”
Specifically, Kravitz says “I was told that I need to make the music that Black people commercially are making that’s on the radio, so you’ll have success. And I just could never get with any of that. I was going to make the music that I made.”
Lenny Kravitz’s Let Love Rule.
“The inspiration was everything that I’d learned from a child to then musically. Blues, gospel, jazz, reggae, pop, R&B, rock and roll, everything. Mixed with the world that [daughter]Zoë’s mom and I were creating. Our world, our family, our circle of friends, just peace and love and spirit. And that’s what came out.”
Lisa Bonet, Lenny Kravitz and daughter Zoë in New York City in 1989.Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
The star recently made headlines fornoting the lack of recognition his music has receivedfrom Black awards shows, but he says his point was that Black is not a monolith, and rock and roll isn’t a White art form.
Adds Kravitz, “We have to remember that and retain our heritage and our creations.”
“It’s sort of amazing to me that I could be where I am now and feel fresh and hungry.” Asked what the best part is about being a bona fide rock star he says, “This is who God created me to be. I’m just trying to walk in that destiny.”
Lenny Kravitz on the cover of PEOPLE.Melodie McDaniel
For more on Lenny Kravitz’s life and other Black History Month stories, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
