Lenny Kravitz: Renaissance Man
“Let Love Rule” singer shines in pop culture spotlight with latest album and triumphant tour
Lenny Kravitz is having a moment. He never went away so it’s not really a comeback, but audiences have responded enthusiastically to his latest live appearances as he prepares for his first Las Vegas residency. His twelfth studio album Blue Electric Light has received universal praise from critics since its release in May, with the video for second single “Human” taking Best Rock Video honors at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.
Audiences at the Sept. 11 ceremony witnessed a fired up Kravitz, fresh from the European leg of the Blue Electric Light Tour, playing a medley of “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Human” and “Fly Away.” Kravitz and his band, featuring longtime collaborator Craig Ross on guitar, had played the same three-song set in reverse order June 1 at Wembley Stadium when they performed at the kick-off show of the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final 2024.
The two appearances were nice bookends to more than 25 summer festival and arena dates. Kravitz filmed a video for “Paralyzed,” the third single from Blue Electric Light, while he was in Paris. The 60-year-old vegan owns a house there where the designs of everything from the furniture to the wallpaper emanate from Kravitz’s imagination
He’s not a dilettante. Manhattan-based Kravitz Design was established in 2003. The company has private residences from around the world, recording studios, cameras, high-end accessories and Las Vegas luxury suites in its portfolio. Kravitz himself was enlisted as creative director for Dom Perignon in 2018, resulting in photo-shoot campaigns and limited edition bottles.
When it comes to music though, it was when Kravitz stopped trying to write songs by design that all of the influences he absorbed in life coalesced into his own sound for his 1989 debut album. Let Love Rule demonstrated appreciation for Curtis Mayfield, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Prince rather than approximation. He reached a high, musically and chart-wise, when transcendentally soulful “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over” (featuring Earth, Wind & Fire’s Phenix Horns) from 1991’s Mama Said reached No. 2.
It was 1993’s No. 1 album Are You Gonna Go My Way that put Kravitz over the top and set him on course to becoming the institution he is today. The video for the rocking title track, with Kravitz’s dreadlocks flailing and Cindy Blackman epitomizing cool in shades behind the drum kit, became iconic.
Kravitz has received praise for, if not returning to his studio album roots, allowing music to flow out of him organically on Electric Blue Light similarly to way it did in his early career. Two songs, “Heaven” and “Bundle of Joy,” originated with back-in-the-day demo tapes that Kravitz meticulously recreated with new technology.
That may be why the drums on “Human” sounds so Prince, and Kravitz delivers one of his most impassioned vocals ever. He’s in great shape, flowing with inspiration and wants to contribute to the world positively. “As far as I’m concerned my music is to amplify love,” he told interviewer Zane Lowe in a June Apple Music podcast. “ I can’t help it. It’s what I do.”