Lenny Kravitz career timeline: From music prodigy to movie star

Lenny Kravitz is officially considered a pop cultue icon.

The 59-year-old rock star, actor and fashion tragic is synonymous with ‘cool’ and ‘quirky’, or whatever adjective ‘wears leather pants to the gym’ conjures up for you. That’s Lenny!

“My career has been a gradual climb. I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve had longevity,” Kravitz told the Michigan Chronicle in 2018, and we have to agree.

To mark his milestone 60th birthday on May 26, here’s a look back at the ultra-famous slashie’s ultra-successful career.

WATCH ABOVE: Lenny Kravitz recieves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Lenny Kravitz the child prodigy

Born to an actress mother and news presenter father, Lenny Kravitz had creativity in his DNA.

He started using pots and pans as drums as early as age three and by age five, Kravitz declared he wanted to be a musician.

“My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on,” he said. “They took me to a lot of shows.”

At the age of 10, Kravitz’s mother Roxie Roker secured a role on sitcom The Jeffersons, prompting the family to move to Los Angeles. Here, Kravitz joined the California Boys Choir and pursued his love of music by teaching himself to play piano and bass. He also discovered rock music, citing Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix as early influences.

As a teenager, Kravitz also appeared in a number of commercials, including one for Florida Boy Orange that aired in Germany.

When Kravitz was 22, he welcomed daughter Zoë with wife Lisa Bonet. 

READ MORE: Inside Zoë Kravitz’s famous family – and the friendliest love triangle in Hollywood history

Lenny Kravitz the rock star

When Kravitz first started pursuing music professionally, he adopted the stage name Romeo Blue and wore blue contact lenses. He said this was because he wasn’t comfortable with himself at the time.

“I just felt like there was David Bowie, and there was Prince … Lenny Kravitz just didn’t fit in,” Kravitz said. “But the exercise of going outside of yourself, changing your look, changing your name, led me right back to myself. So, it was a necessary part of the process.”

After dropping Romeo Blue, the returned Lenny Kravitz released his first album ‘Let Love Rule’ in 1989.

The album was a relative success, reaching number 61 on the Billboard 200. In 1991, Kravitz released his second album Mama Said that featured his enduring hit It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over. His follow-up Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993) reached multi-platinum with the title track scoring his first Grammy nomination.

READ MORE: Lenny Kravitz leaves shoppers stunned after visiting a convenience store

From there, Kravitz solidified his rock star status with hits like Fly Away (1998) and American Woman (1999). He has won a total of four Grammy awards and in 2024, he was nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Lenny Kravitz the collaborator

Part of Lenny Kravitz’s legacy is his history as a collaborator.

He has worked on a number of songs and albums with famous musicians such as Madonna, Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Sean Lennon and many others.

Lenny Kravitz the movie star

At the height of his success as a musician, Lenny Kravitz starred in the 2001 comedy film Zoolander. His Hollywood ambitions continued from there.

Kravitz has said that acting “was never the plan”. “I was an actor when I was a teenager and it could have been the direction that I headed in,” he told Ebony Entertainment in 2013.

“But music and my relationship with music is quite deep, and it really is the nucleus of my creativity. So I gave up acting so I could pursue music fully, and I never thought about really going back.”

That was until Director Lee Daniels approached him to star in his 2009 criticially-acclaimed film Precious. Kravitz has since flexed his acting muscles in The Hunger Games franchise (2012), The Butler (2013) and Shotgun Wedding (2022).

Despite his creative turn into acting, Kravitz still plays music and released his 11th studio album in 2024. The same year, Lenny Kravitz was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The rock star was joined by his daughter, Zoe Kravitz and fellow actor Denzel Washington.

Of the honour, Kravitz said, “As a teenager, I spent a lot of time walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard seeing the names of all my idols… To see my name, Lenny Kravitz, permanently engraved on the same streets I used to walk is a surreal, indescribable feeling.”

UP NEXT: ‘We’ve grown up together’: Zoë Kravitz honours father Lenny Kravitz at Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony