Lenny Kravitz: brother with a different beat

Ebony, June, 1994 by Lynn Norment

With these simple words Lenny Kravitz begins "Eleuthelia," the easy-flowing reggae tune on his double-platinum tb rd album, Are You Gonna Go My Way. But as one takes a closer look at the 29-year-old multi-talented artist, his eclectic music and his dramatically different lifestyle, one soon discovers that a key element of his perfect life is Eleuthera, the picturesque Bahamian island and the essence of the meaning of the word itself, "freedom."

"Our own lives have their ups and downs and their mistakes, but it's your life, and no one else can live your life," he explains, his long sun-reddened dreadlocks glistening in the Caribbean sun. Reclining on the sundeck of his under-construction temporary home, which Lenny refers to as his "shack," in the heart of the island noted for its sweet pineapples and expansive pink beaches, he says: "God gave you your life and that's your perfection. It is perfect unto itself, because what you go through in your life makes you who you are. It builds your character. So, I think that was the day I accepted it, you know, all the crap, the experiences you feel are negative. So, I just said light there: everything is perfect. I'm dealing with it the way it comes."

Lenny was traveling from his former Manhattan loft en route to a New Jersey recording studio where he was finishing his current album when the spontaneous lyrics and melody helped clarify his life. The recording has achieved double-platinum sales and attracted legions of fans around the world who love his blazing guitar, funky drums and message lyrics.

And once you see him, you can hardly forget Lenny Kravitz. In addition to the dreads, there are the '60s bell-bottoms, the six tattoos (one of which depicts a doodle his 5-year-old daughter, Zoe scribbled on his arm as a toddler), the four earrings, and the nose ring that reminds you of the several oddities he shared with his ex-wife, actress Lisa Bonet, formerly of The Cosby Show. "That I got because [she] had one," he says of the tiny silver hoop that pierces his left nostril. "We got them before the marriage, but I got it to be like Lisa. It's been in there about six years."

After the eccentric couple married on November 16, 1987, they were often seen in the tabloids and most people knew Lenny as Bonet's husband and actress Roxie Roker's son. "I just married someone I loved and they just happened to be in the media and all of a sudden I was |Lisa Bonet's husband,'" he says. "But I was my own person."

Lenny emphasizes that their marital problems were mostly personal, "but the whole media rigmarole didn't help," he interjects. "We were young as well. We were babies. But I still love her very, very much. And she's a great mother, great people. Lisa is doing a fabulous job raising our daughter."

When asked if the two might reunite romantically, a wide grin lights his handsome face. "I don't know, but that would be a great thing. It ain't over |til it's over," he adds, referring to his song. "That's why I wrote that one. That whole second album [Mama Said, released 1991] was about her, dedicated to her. We had just split up. But I say as long as we're living and breathing, you never know. It might be in 50 years; you just don't know."

If there is a next time, Lenny Kravitz won't be known only as Lisa Bonet's husband, for he has emerged as a credible artist in his own right. Ironically, his musical star began rising after his separation from Bonet. While Mama Said documented his "deep depression" over their breakup, it also made him a star in Europe and Japan and a respected talent at home. And it led to his recording with Mick Jagger and Aerosmith. In addition, he single-handedly put together an album for French performer Vanessa Paradis. Lenny's most famous collaboration was Madonna's steamy, controversial hit "Justify My Love," which he co-wrote and produced in 1991.

For his 1989 debut, Let Love Rule, Lenny wrote all the music--which covered rock soul, R&B, psychedelic--and played most of the instruments, generating comparisons to Prince. There are also influences from funk, blues, gospel and classical music. "All of that is in my music," he says. "I love all styles of music. I would be bored if I had to do one thing all the time." Even Lenny's most vocal critics acknowledge that he's talented, and different. so different, in fact, they don't really know what to call him: rock artist, retro-'60s hippie, Rastafarian, soulful White boy or a weird Black guy.

But to Lenny, of course, it's all quite clear. "That's what I am, a musician," he says. "Music is something I've always done. I knew I was going to play no matter what. It was like I had blinders on." When asked what makes him happy, he says, "music." What makes him angry? "Being without music."

He plays guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, as well as sings, arranges and produces, so Lenny's life is seldom without music. Because he travels constantly, he gave up his New York loft and moved to the island. At home in Eleuthera, his guitar is always nearby, propped against the canopied, antique Balinese bed. A compact Sony stereo system stands out like a high-tech abnormality in his rustic abode. (On this particular day, the electricity and water have finally been turned on.)