Lenny Kravitz's Real Name: Leonard Albert Kravitz

Quick answer: Lenny Kravitz was born Leonard Albert Kravitz on May 26, 1964, in New York City. Lenny is the familiar form of Leonard. He is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose hits include "Let Love Rule," "Are You Gonna Go My Way," and "Fly Away." From 1999 to 2002 he won four consecutive Grammys for best male rock vocal performance (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority lists him as "Kravitz, Lenny," with the variant "Kravitz, Leonard Albert." One cited source reads "Leonard Albert Kravitz; b. 26 May 1964, Brooklyn." Britannica gives his birthplace as Manhattan. Both places fit his childhood, which Britannica says was split between his parents' Upper East Side apartment and his grandparents' home in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant.

His mother was Roxie Roker, who played Helen Willis on The Jeffersons, and his father, Sy Kravitz, was a television news producer and jazz promoter. In his 2020 memoir Let Love Rule, written with David Ritz, he describes himself as "Black and white, Jewish and Christian, Manhattanite and Brooklynite." Britannica recounts that Duke Ellington's band sang "Happy Birthday" to him when he turned five. He got his first guitar at 10, and in 1974 the family moved to Los Angeles when his mother was cast in The Jeffersons.

Career highlights

Britannica says that as a young musician Kravitz turned down early record deals rather than compromise his music. His debut album, Let Love Rule (1989), included lyrics by his wife at the time, actress Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show. It was followed by Mama Said (1991), Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993), and Circus (1995).

His later run brought Grammys in 1999 for "Fly Away" and in 2000 for his cover of the Guess Who's "American Woman." He went on to win the best male rock vocal performance award again in 2001 and 2002. Britannica calls that four-year streak the most wins ever in the category.

He also acts. His roles include Precious (2009), Cinna in The Hunger Games (2012) and Catching Fire (2013), and The Butler (2013), plus the TV series Better Things (2016) and Star (2016–17). In 2003 he founded Kravitz Design, a creative studio for branding and interior design. He is the father of actress Zoë Kravitz.

Name notes for searchers

Leonard is his legal first name, and Lenny is the nickname he records under. Albert is his middle name, and Kravitz comes from his father. Sources differ on the borough of his birth: Brooklyn in one LOC citation, Manhattan in Britannica.