Old Music Time

Lenny Kravitz was born in New York the son of Jewish Hollywood producer Sy Kravitz and Bahamian actress Roxie Roker (of The Jeffersons), Lenny grew up in wealth.
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 (see picture).
At that stage, he was heavily influenced by Prince.
His parents were friends with jazz greats Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fizgerald, Bobby Short and Miles Davis so he grew up in a musical household although he would pursue a career in rock rather than jazz.
In the late 1980’s, Kravitz returned to New York to pursue a musical career. He ended sharing a house with Lisa Bonet who played Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show. The two would fall in love and would marry.
In New York, Kravitz would broaden his influences beyond Prince to classic rock and soul artists such as Hendrix, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. He signed a contract with Virgin Records.