‘I'm in the best shape I've ever been': At 61, Lenny Kravitz keeps on rocking

Sydney Morning Herald

15 hours ago

Lenny Kravitz knows the video you're thinking of. Tank top, sunglasses, leather pants. Lifting weights at the gym. It went viral last year, not just because it lived up to the mental image most of us have of the rock star – perennially leather-pantsed, even while working out. But also because he looked 31 when he's actually 61.
'In order for me to give all of myself at my highest frequency, I have to be in a great place mentally, spiritually and physically,' Kravitz says. 'Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work on myself, and I've grown as a person. I have learnt to improve myself, and it makes the whole experience of living all that much better.'
At 61, Kravitz's discipline is unwavering. Away from the spotlight, he busily ticks all his wellbeing boxes, from meditation to yoga and breath work, and the odd 2am gym session. 'Discipline turns into a pleasure. It doesn't feel like a chore,' he says. 'I like vibrating at an optimal level, and the things you thought were annoying when you were younger, you start to do automatically and with pleasure when it comes to self-care.'
Kravitz is speaking over Zoom from New York, where he's been preparing for a coming residency in Las Vegas. More than 35 years since releasing his debut album Let Love Rule, he's one of the '90s' most stylish rock'n'roll survivors, and he still tours the world. He's the fittest and happiest he's ever been, closer to God, and has found his ultimate purpose in life – though it took a lifetime to get there.
In November, after several cancellations due to COVID, Kravitz will tour Australia for the first time since 2012 to promote Blue Electric Light, an album he recorded last year. 'I am in the best shape I have ever been,' he says. 'I am now enjoying all these experiences in life more than I ever have, and to be on the road playing shows is truly a gift. I am savouring every moment.'
Kravitz first toured Australia in 1994, a year after releasing Are You Gonna Go My Way, his first album to climb to No.1 on the Australian music charts. By then, the four-time Grammy winner had found his musical sweet spot traversing rock, soul and R&B, a melding that made him a household name.
A motorcycle ride to the Blue Mountains with a group of bikers in 1994 remains a nostalgic highlight of his time in Australia. Then came a campervan road trip to the outback, with some of that footage to be re-released as part of his music documentary Alive from Planet Earth. 'The '90s were all about being free and in the moment,' Kravitz says.
With 12 albums under his belt, Kravitz continues to make music at his state-of-the-art home studios in the Bahamas and Paris, where he splits his time. He's already working on two new albums; a dedicated multi-instrumentalist, playing drums, guitars and occasional horns allows him to tap into different sides of his personality.
'It always starts with the music for me,' he says. 'I think that as long as you're hearing the music, and you have the desire to do it, it doesn't feel like work to me.'
Kravitz has worked with many famous artists in his time, too. He co-wrote Justify My Love with Madonna in 1990, recorded a version of Give Peace a Chance with Sean Lennon in 1991, while co-writing with him on the track All I Ever from his 1991 Mama Said album. He also worked with Mick Jagger for his 2001 solo album on the track God Gave Me Everything.
But for all the perks of the job, he says it's his fans he does it for. 'My music wouldn't exist without my fans. The fact that for all these years people have enjoyed my music and made it part of their personal lives and given it life, they in turn give me life … I have more perspective, more gratitude. It's a blessing to still be doing this at my age.'
Away from music, Kravitz has dabbled in painting and art. Two months ago, he took us through his 16th arrondissement Paris home – Hotel de Roxie, named in honour of his late mother – in a video for Architectural Digest.
His lavish Parisian home is filled with designer furniture, from his own namesake Kravitz Design chairs to pieces by his favourite furniture maker Paul Evans, who crafts brutalist elegance that feels H.R. Giger-esque in his pad. There's an iconic Karl Springer table and some Paris flea-market cane chairs he's thrown in for the high-and-lowbrow juxtaposition.
Art fills the walls, too: an original Muhammad Ali Warhol print is there, as well as photographs of his mother, Roxie, and maternal grandfather, Albert Roker. The library bookshelves are filled with literature and African art books, while music memorabilia is all around. From James Brown's boot on display to garments worn by Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Bob Marley and Miles Davis, it's his shrine of worship. Yoko Ono presented him with a John Lennon shirt for his birthday once; it hangs protected behind glass here.
Kravitz's luxe interior world highlights the fruits of his labour. He's an artist who found worldwide fame and broke boundaries to become a mainstream biracial American success story.
In 2020, Kravitz released his autobiography Let Love Rule, a deep dive into the first 25 years of his life. His fraught relationship with his father, Sy Kravitz, an American-Jew, came to the fore. His bond with his showbiz mother, Roxie, who appeared in 11 seasons of the TV show The Jeffersons, was tighter by comparison, instilling him with African-American stoicism and Christian values.
Kravitz was living on Broome Street in New York in 1989 when he began writing his debut Let Love Rule; he noticed the words scrawled near an elevator in his building and thought it would be perfect for the album title. His then wife, actress Lisa Bonet, helped him write the lyrics for Rosemary and co-wrote Fear. The couple were together from 1987 until they divorced in 1993. They have one daughter together, award-winning actress Zoe Kravitz, who appeared in Big Little Lies with her father's ex-fiancée Nicole Kidman.
Kravitz lost his mother when she was 66 years old, the decade he finds himself navigating now. While on a phone call with his cousin a few days before we speak, Kravitz recited a quote his mother would often share with him.
'My mum always said, 'Don't worry about what everybody else is doing, do what you're supposed to do' – meaning, no matter how hard you're being treated or how wrong somebody could be treating you, don't worry about that, continue your life with love and integrity and respect,' Kravitz says. 'I love this because it requires a lot of self-control and non-judgmental thinking to apply it to your life.'
Roxie Roker was an actress on Broadway, while Sy Kravitz worked for NBC, producing radio and television shows, and promoted jazz on the side. Kravitz recalls a childhood spent meeting his dad's friends, from Miles Davis to Sarah Vaughan and American poet, activist and writer Maya Angelou.
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'I grew up in the middle of different religions and found my place within it all,' Kravitz says. 'For me, it's always about God and Christ consciousness, the real meaning of all of that – that's where I am.'
While he won't weigh into the politics of the world, he remains firm on his position for peace and love. 'As you know, people can take any good faith and twist it to justify something that is not what it is,' he says. 'I can take a knife and butter your toast, or I can take a knife and cut you with it. I'm all about God, which is love. That is how I have always lived it.'
Faith has never been about religion for Kravitz, but his moral code and self-love has helped him find nirvana. 'It starts with God for me,' he says. 'I lean on faith and gratitude no matter what the situation. Whether that is prayer, meditation, rest, exercise, therapy, diet – all of these techniques make you the person you are.'
He has no plans to slow down as he ages, either. 'I am still young, but I am not 20, of course,' he says. 'But I want to get the most out of each day in life as I can. We spend so much time looking back and looking forward and forget to be in the moment – yet the moment is all we have, and I am trying to be in it as much as possible.'