Grammy-winning musician and record producer Lenny Kravitz has carved his niche in Hollywood by rising to fame as a multifaceted artist, adding acting and designing to his long list of credentials.
Lenny Kravitz has an estimated net worth of $40 million, mainly from his musical journey, acting in a few movies, and most recently by designing homes and TV show sets for his celebrity friends.
Born on May 26, 1964 as Leonard Albert Kravitz, Lenny is the child of actress Roxie Rocker and NBC television news producer Sy Kravitz. Both of his parents lived in New York City, so Lenny Kravitz had a Manhattan upbringing. He attended East Manhattan’s PS6 public elementary school and graduated from Beverly Hills High School. His father helped him launch his musical career by paying for the recording of his demo. Being multiracial, music labels struggled to find his music appeal for either ethnicity, which made starting out that much harder for Kravitz.
After working on his full-length album in 1985, Kravitz got in touch with Stephen Elvis Smith, a music supervisor who’d earlier worked with his wife (now ex-wife), actress Lisa Bonet, on The Cosby Show. Promptly after joining forces with Smith, offers began pouring in for Kravitz from major record labels like Virgin, Capitol, and Warner Music. Kravitz chose Virgin and he released his first hit album, Let Love Rule, in 1989. The album had middling reception in the U.S., but was a big hit across Europe. By 1990, Kravitz had begun songwriting and producing songs for artists like Madonna, Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler, Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, Vanessa Paradis, and many more.
In 1999, he won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for his track “Fly Away.” Barely a year later, his cover of The Guess Who’s hit “American Woman” won him another Grammy in the same category. In the following years, Kravitz went on to receive two more Grammys for his songs “Again” in 2001 and “Dig In” in 2002. In 2002, Jay Z invited Kravitz to appear in his album The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse, producing the soundtrack “Guns and Roses.” Kravitz also joined P. Diddy, Pharrell Williams, and Loon on the track “Show Me Your Soul” from the Bad Boys II movie soundtrack.
After becoming an all-round musician and solidifying his net worth as an artist, Lenny Kravitz naturally started guest appearing in TV shows and movies. He has acted through modest roles in films like Zoolander (2001), Precious (2009), The Butler (2013), Holy Ghost (2014), and The Hunger Games saga (2012 to 2014). He is also starring in this year’s sequel, Zoolander 2, opposite Ben Stiller.
In the last couple of years, Lenny Kravitz has shifted his focus toward his passion for interior designing. Using his company of his A-list friends, Lenny started making it big by designing for many high-profile clients. In 2003, he opened his own interior designing firm called Kravitz Design Inc. The firm’s popular projects designing penthouses in the prestigious SLS South Beach Hotel in Miami, Florida grabbed the attention of many notable producers.
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who was producing The Queen Latifah Show, introduced Kravitz to Latifah and the former was convinced in letting him design her show’s set. The set had a hint of neutral tones with an influence of the ‘60s and ‘70s design era. After the success of the show’s set, more offers started pouring in. Kravitz’s company recently designed Jennifer Aniston’s Bel Air mansion. Aniston and her fiancé, Justin Theroux, reportedly loved his one-of-a-kind styled furniture and the ‘70s influence in his work.
Kravitz has a shrewd way of splurging his $40 million net worth. With respect to his assets, Lenny Kravitz secured estates across the world. In the past few years, however, he has sold some of his luxurious possessions. For around $12 million, Lenny Kravitz sold his West Village penthouse duplex to singer Alicia Keys and her producer fiancé Swizz Beatz. Back in 2009, Kravitz offloaded his waterfront house in Miami Beach, Florida for just over $2 million. He has also recently listed the first home he’d bought in L.A. back in 1994. It was listed for only $775,000, which is a reasonable price, considering the house is a 220-year-old Creole cottage with just 1,775 square feet of livable space with one bedroom and two bathrooms.
One of the rock star’s most prized possessions is his penthouse in Paris, which he has, of course, designed for himself. He also owns a custom-made motorcycle and some pretty decent cars. Kravitz has reportedly been seen driving one of his fancy rides, a Porsche Panamera, on Hollywood streets. Apart from all this, Kravitz also owns an over 50-acre oceanfront estate on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas and about a thousand acres of organic farms just outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With a $40 million net worth, it seems that the gifted rock idol has spent it wisely.
Photo: Instagram/lennykravitz
Video: Youtube/Queen Latifah
