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At home with
a rock legend

As a performer, Lenny Kravitz is currently on the Blue Electric Light Tour. Privately, he sat down with us for an interview: We visited the musician at his Paris townhouse in the 16th arrondissement and talked with him about religion, his relationship with his daughter Zoë, and how his strong sense of style can be intimidating to women.

  • Interview
    Rüdiger Sturm
  • Photos
    François Halard
Mr. Kravitz, what is good style?

If you present yourself truthfully and are authentic, then that’s good style. When you see somebody not being themselves or trying to be something else, it becomes awkward.

Where do you have your sense for aesthetics from?

Since I was a kid, I was always into the aesthetic around me. How I would put together my room . . . I was always into that. I just grew up around so many colorful people. My mother was doing theater; through her I got to know a lot of actors. My father was a jazz promoter and he was friends with Miles Davis and other jazz greats.

Do you think your sense of style has helped you have more luck with the ladies?

I never thought of it like that. Design is a big part of my life. I have my own design company. Right now, I’m in the middle of a hotel project, a condominium, a high rise in Miami, a fifty-story building – besides other things. But it’s very interesting when a woman comes into my life. They show up – and everything is already done. A lot of guys need a woman to do X, Y and Z, but I’ve already done it all. They look at my furniture, and I go like, “You’re not going to move that, are you? It’s in the right place already!”

You’re known as a ladies’ man in Hollywood . . .

More than Hollywood! I just wanted to get that straight. [laughs]

“Design is a big part of my life. So it’s very interesting when a woman comes into my life. They show up – and everything is already done.”
The New York Timesonce called you an “international love god” . . .

I never saw that article. But I can tell you one thing: I would love to become a family guy again. I would love to have a couple more kids.

And how are you going to do that?

Every day is a journey. I just try to be present every day, to be in the moment, to be thankful, to be aligned with God.

Is religion important for you?

Very important. I don’t see it as just religion. I believe I was created by God. I am in contact all day every day. Having a relationship with the Creator, which is what I do, is very important for me to feel connected.

“I grew up watching rock stars that were rock stars. And I’m not talking about the drugs they took or what they did, I’m talking about presentation.”
You’ve been called a recluse at times. Do you need to isolate yourself from others to feel this connection?

I love being with people, too. There are people that are close to me who I love being around. But when I am working, I’m surrounded by a crew of a hundred people and I’m always giving all day. Then I find that I need my time and my space. I went to the Bahamas for two years once and lived in a trailer in a town of four hundred people. I found being in nature and being quiet I was able to hear myself, I was able to get in contact and find things in myself that were bothering me. I was able to forgive myself for things that I had done and deal with the death of my mother and father, which I hadn’t really dealt with deeply yet. Things that were just in me.

(...)

→ Read the full home story with Lenny Kravitz in rampstyle #20, "Sunny Side Up".

Rüdiger Sturm

Rüdiger Sturm

Freelance Author
Rüdiger Sturm is a film critic living in Munich. As a film journalist, he researches the industry at home and abroad - and talks to Hollywood stars as well as all other interesting personalities.
rampstyle #20 Sunny Side Up
At home with a rock legend

rampstyle #20 Sunny Side Up

If the problems do not solve themselves, it is best to shut down the system briefly. With an emphasis on brief. The success of the action lives then naturally substantially on the fact that one can be pleased finally about a successful restart.

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