HOW LENNY KRAVITZ KEEPS HIS EDGE
From his Bahamian beachside hideaway the prolific superstar has been working on new music, fronting a new campaign for YSL, and putting the finishing touches to his recently released autobiography. This is his strategy for tackling the challenge of life’s blank pages the Lenny Kravitz way.
In his memoir Let Love Rule (published by Sphere last October), Lenny Kravitz dedicates a whole chapter to his father. He recalls many positive sentiments: “I got a kick out of having a handsome, stylish father. When the old Italian tailor fussed over him with chalk-striped flannel suits, my dad looked like a president or a king.” But other comments suggest a far from resolved relationship: “I never lived up to his standards.” When we caught up with him during the launch of Saint Laurent’s Y fragrance campaign, which he is fronting, he told us: “Writing this book was the greatest form of therapy I could have had. I was able to step back and see people and my father like characters. I was able to really have a clear look at him for the first time, and I saw him as a man just trying to get through this life.”
It seems natural to wonder why, at 56, you already felt the need to take stock of your life and reveal yourself in an autobiography...
It’s something I never thought I would do, but I met David Ritz [the co-author] through mutual friends at a dinner and he said, “You should write a book.” By the end of the dinner he convinced me and I took it like a challenge. The creative part is the same as when you’re writing a song: you start with nothing, a blank page, and from that you continue.
Was it a case of thinking “Why not?” – like the slogan of the Y campaign?
Yes. Life is wonderful and full of challenges. People think that, as an artist, it’s just one thing you should be doing, but I play music, I act, I do photography, I design, and now I’m an author. I’m not looking to break boundaries, but I like experiencing and doing things I’ve never done before.
Talking of boundaries, have you broken any in your life?
We can start with my music. At the beginning of my career there were a lot of people who didn’t understand what I was doing: it wasn’t black enough, it wasn’t white enough... My music didn’t sound like anything else that was going on the radio, and it changed the radio. So, I think you always have to follow your intuition and your creative spirit.
Do you have any fashion icons?
Many. The Jackson 5, Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin, Isaac Hayes, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis – all of these musicians have great style.
How do you relate to fashion and Saint Laurent in particular?
I love fashion. I’ve always appreciated it, from the time when I was a child seeing my mother [Roxie Roker, who starred in the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons] and her friends wearing beautiful clothing… Saint Laurent has always been a fashion house that I admire. It has been through different designers, but I feel that the garments they create are designed for me. They fit my sensibility and my silhouette. They have a nice edge between elegance, street and rock ’n’ roll.
How do you feel about you and your daughter Zoë being the faces of the same brand?
Great. I’m very pleased to be following in my daughter’s footsteps. Normally it’s the other way round, but in this case, Zoë came before me and I’m honoured to be following her.
For the Y campaign film, you chose to play “Are You Gonna Go My Way”. Why?
It’s got so much energy and it’s a rock classic.
Are you working on anything new?
Yes. I’m working on music here in the Bahamas. I was in Paris and I came here for five days. I was supposed to go to Australia and New Zealand to finish my tour but then the world changed. So I’ve been living here for seven and a half months!
What are the most important things in your life?
My instruments – my guitar, my bass, my drums, my keyboard – my camera, a few clothes… But the number one thing I need is God and my health. The rest, I can make it work.