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Jet, March 25, 2002 by Margena A. Christian

He's done it again. For a fourth-consecutive year rock superstar Lenny Kravitz has won a Grammy Award, music's highest honor, for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Should it have been any other way? "Blacks," Kravitz pointed out, "invented rock `n' roll music." He's just doing what he loves and that's keeping "our" music alive.

"I'm Black and I'm playing rock and roll," Kravitz told JET during a phone interview from Paris. "Music has no color. It should be shared by everyone, but if we want to be technical about it, rock and roll started out as Black music, but people tend to forget that."

But Kravitz isn't letting people forget that rock `n' roll has been alive and kicking ever since a then-dreadlocked Brotha, born Leonard Kravitz, arrived on the music scene 12 years ago. Since that time, he has been rocking and representing the art form that Little Richard ("the architect of rock `n' roll"), Chuck Berry and Fats Domino helped to birth.

Yes, Elvis Presley and the Beatles are given the most credit for performing rock `n' roll, but, let's not forget that Elvis and the Beatles often openly acknowledged that they were heavily influenced by Blacks!

"It's a shame because White people didn't take rock music away from us, we gave it to them," Kravitz said. "We throw it away and it's our music. We created all of this ... R&B, ragtime, folk, gospel, jazz, pop, rock, funk, reggae, calypso, soca, we invented all of this music. Anything with rhythm, we created it. And, it's a shame that if you're Black and you're doing something a little left of center, it's like, `Aw, Lenny he plays that White music.' No, I play rock `n' roll and soul and what I play is Black music."

No matter what people say about Kravitz's sound, one thing is for certain--people are definitely listening.

His string of multiplatinum albums include 1989's Let Love Rule (featuring the songs Mr. Cab Driver, I Build This Garden For Us and Let Love Rule); 1991's Mama Said (It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over, Always On The Run and Stand By My Woman); 1993's Are You Gonna Go My Way (Believe, Heaven Help and Are You Gonna Go My Way); 1995's Circus (Rock And Roll Is Dead and Can't Get You Off My Mind); 1998's 5 (Fly Away, American Woman and Black Velveteen), 2000's Greatest Hits (Again); and this year's Lenny (Dig In and Stillness Of Heart).

Kravitz says the album Lenny "has a very tough attitude" because he likes "extremes."

"There's a definite theme that unites these songs," he said. "It's about being positive, about moving forward and seizing the day. I'm very optimistic and that's a great place to be."

His hard work has paid off by way of making musical history: He earned the coveted Grammy honors in 1998 for Fly Away, in 1999 for American Woman, in 2000 for Again and in 2001 for Dig In.

"I'm honored knowing that I've done this four times," he said. "To be an African American and to get a Grammy for rock means a lot for those who paved the way and invented it but didn't get the props."

Throughout the course of his career, Kravitz also has earned the respect of his colleagues. Superstar singer Janet Jackson digs Kravitz so much that she wanted to introduce him before his performance at the recent American Music Awards, where he earned an honor for Favorite Pop/Rock Male. Never mind that Miss Jackson was in Tokyo. She made it a point to introduce the handsome performer, blushing and calling the sexy musician "fine," via live satellite.

A one-man band, the all-around performer usually plays every instrument on his songs like he did with Fly Away--one of his biggest songs to date--and Dig In. The multi-instrumentalist, who also produces, writes and arranges, has even played "green Heineken bottles," on a song!

Noted for sharing his musical talents with others, it's no secret that he co-wrote the lyrics and performed on Madonna's seductive hit song Justify My Love. He's gotten funky with Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Pras and Angie Stone. And he's rocked with White music legends like Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, Kiss and Tom Petty.

Though Kravitz would argue that "it's all about the music," his personal life has also been well documented.

The 37-year-old performer practically grew up in the limelight as the son of the late actress Roxie Roker, who won fame as Helen Willis on "The Jeffersons," and Sy Kravitz, an NBC TV producer. Lenny's label, Roxie Records, is named in honor of his mother, who died in 1995, and a new book, Lenny Kravitz, is dedicated to her. The song Thinking Of You, from the album 5, eulogizes her.

All eyes were on him, though he used the stage name Romeo Blue, in 1987 when he married former "The Cosby Show" actress Lisa Bonet; the two divorced in 1993. They are the parents of a 12-year-old daughter, Zoe, of whom he has had custody for the last two years.

Preparing to embark on an international tour in April, the singer also plans to tour Europe. A full North American tour is expected later this summer.