Kravitz, Lenny

Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist whose retro-style amalgam of rock, pop, funk, and even techno is inspired by such music icons as Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. more...

Like Prince and Sly Stone before him, Kravitz uses a multi-ethnic, mixed-sex group back-up band.

Biography

Early life

Kravitz was born in New York City, and is the son of Russian-Jewish American film producer Sy Kravitz and Bahamian American actress Roxie Roker, best known as Helen Willis, a regular character on The Jeffersons. Kravitz was named after his uncle, Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action in Korea while suppressing a Chinese attack and saving most of his platoon; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Some believe the Medal of Honor has been denied to Pfc. Kravitz because he was Jewish, citing similar circumstances in which others have been posthumously awarded the honor.

His parents moved to California. Having taught himself bass, piano, guitar, and drums at an early age and developed his singing voice in the California Boys Choir and the Metropolitan Opera, he attended Beverly Hills High School and performed under the artist name, Romeo Blue. At that stage, he was heavily influenced by Prince. His parents were friends with jazz greats Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, and Miles Davis so he grew up in a musical household although he would pursue a career in rock rather than jazz.

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