'90s Rock Icon Ranked Among 'Greatest Hard Rock Artists of All Time' Turns 62
You'd never know it to look at him, but Lenny Kravitz turns 62 today, May 26. It's hard to believe the iconic rocker's debut album came out over 35 years ago, but he's still going strong...and it seems he always knew he was destined for success.
The son of Roxie Roker, star of the '70s sitcomThe Jeffersons, and TV producer/jazz promoter Sy Kravitz, the future rock star grew up around legends like Duke Ellington. As Kravitz explained to Classic Rock in 2014, being surrounded by great talent as a child was "all part of the road map" to his success.
"I got to watch these people, be around them, see them performing and personally hanging out with us," he recalled. "Duke and Miles Davis, and great writers, like Maya Angelou, and Nina Simone were around our crew. And you're watching your mother act in plays, and you see people around and they're doing poetry readings, and there's Lorainne Hansberry - she inspired Young, Gifted And Black. I mean, wow!"
Kravitz cited his family's move from NYC to L.A. as having a major influence on his musical style.
"I'd left New York City, where it was all about R&B and soul, gospel and jazz," he said. "And then I went to L.A., and at that time the whole Dogtown skateboarding scene which I became part of were listening to English rock, and Hendrix and American rock'n'roll as well. That's where I learned about Led Zeppelin and The Who and Queen and Jimi. That electric guitar side of it - that heavy, distorted, powerful feeling."
It was a demo of his first hit, "Let Love Rule," that finally landed Kravitz a record deal with Virgin Records, after he managed to wrangle a meeting with A&R person Nancy Jeffries.
"She said: ‘I've got fifteen minutes.' I had a cassette, and popped in the song 'Let Love Rule,'" Kravitz said.
After listening, Jeffries brought in a series of fellow execs so they could hear the demo.
"They kept writing on papers, and passing them back and forth. And at the last song, they looked at me and said: ‘Do you want a record deal?'" Kravitz said, adding, "I was in shock. When I looked at the papers they'd passed, they said things like: ‘John Lennon Meets Prince.' And they told me straight up: ‘We can't say this is gonna sell, because it doesn't sound like what's on the radio. But we really dig it.'"
Of course, "Let Love Rule" did sell, as did a long list of other hits to follow, from "Always on the Run" to "Are You Gonna Go My Way" to "Fly Away" and others. Ranked #93 on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists of All Time," Kravitz even broke a Grammys record by winning the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, which set the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male performer.
Related: '90s Rock Icon, 61, Nearly 'Snaps' After Having Continued Guitar Issues Mid-Show
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 9:59 PM.