Lenny Kravitz, Duke Ellington.Photo:Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; CBS via Getty
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; CBS via Getty
Lenny Kravitzhad a rather extraordinary childhood.
“I was very fortunate to have those experiences because of my parents, because of the world they were in and the people that they knew, they were part of their circle,” Kravitz says.
The “Are You Gonna Go My Way” artist is the son of lateJeffersonsstarRoxie Rokerand late NBC producerSy Kravitz.
“I got to experience these people firsthand.”
However, Lenny admits that it took him some time to realize the significance of his upbringing.
“When you’re 5 years old and you’re sitting on Duke Ellington’s lap, you don’t know who Duke Ellington is. You don’t realize what that means, but I knew that I liked him and he was a sweet man,” the 4-time Grammy winner tells PEOPLE.
Duke Ellington.
He adds that he “loved” his childhood experience of the “It Don’t Mean a Thing” musician allowing him to feel as though he were playing the piano himself, just as well as the composer.
“I loved being on his lap and having his arms around me playing and watching his hands,” Lenny says, noting that he also spent part of his formative years in the presence ofMiles Davis.
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Lenny Kravitz for PEOPLE.Melodie McDaniel
Melodie McDaniel
Lenny also reflected on his feelings once he was old enough to comprehend those special moments.
“Then you grow up and you realize, oh my God. When you realize who these people are, when you start becoming a teenager and you’re really understanding what that means, and there’s no photographs. It’s just a memory, but I remember it so well. Yeah.”
Another one of his fond memories was seeing the Jackson 5 live in concert for the first time at Madison Square Garden.
In the same interview, he referred to the group of siblings as “rock stars.”
“Those were young Black rock stars that were doing it to the fullest. The art form, the music, the singing, the choreography, the fashion,everything was perfection. So dynamic and that’s what took me. And so I am proud to be part of that lineage,” he said of the band of brothers which featured the lateMichael Jackson, the youngest in the group, as the lead singer.
Lenny Kravitz on the cover of PEOPLE.Melodie McDaniel
For more on Lenny Kravitz’s life and other Black History Month stories, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstands now.
source: people.com
