Me and Teena Marie.
Romeo Blue photo shoot, Los Angeles.
Romeo Blue photo shoot, Los Angeles.
Me, Phineas, Joey, and Tracy.
Riding the subway in New York City.
Family portrait.
Photo shoot in the backyard at home on Milwood Avenue in Venice, California.
With Jeff Ayeroff (copresident, Virgin Records), who signed me to Virgin.
Popping champagne in the shower at home in Venice with Steve Smith to celebrate the signing of my record deal with Virgin.
In the studio with my engineer Henry Hirsch.
Shooting the video for “Let Love Rule” in Central Park with my band.
My father and me at the video shoot for “Let Love Rule.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Lenny thanks those who helped with this book—David Ritz, Veronika Shulman, Gillian Blake, Libby Burton, Serena Jones, Craig Fruin, David Vigliano, and Emilie Fabiani.
David Ritz thanks Lenny for his trust, brotherhood, and brilliant writing; Veronika Shulman, whose extraordinary skills and sweet spirit added so much to the finished product; our three superb editors—Gillian Blake, Libby Burton, and Serena Jones; Steve Rubin, who initially sponsored this book; my wonderful warrior agent David Vigliano; Mathieu Bitton, who introduced me to Lenny; manager Craig Fruin; my wife, Roberta; my family and friends who nourish me every day of my life. All praises to Jesus, lover of my soul.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Lenny Kravitz has sold some fifty million records over a career spanning three decades. You can sign up for email updates here.
David Ritz has collaborated with everyone from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Manhattan and Brooklyn
Greenwich Village, 1963
Gemini
Lennie Jackson
Islands and Ancestors
Bahamian Rhapsody
Godfather
Godmother
Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud
Master Leonard
“And you Better not Fuck Up!”
Sunshine and Smoke
Movin’ on Up
The Zen of Zep
Movin’ on Up Even Higher
Sacred and Profane
Like Angels Singing
Night of Nights
End of an Era
Married Fourteen Years: At Home with The Jeffersons’ Television Star
A Jewel
The Motherland
Beverly Hills
Too Fast
Beverly Hills and Bohemia
The Blowup
Wave
Spiritual Vision
Romeo and Mitzi
What’s in a Name?
Lady T
Lipton and Love
Shock
“Who the Fuck do you Think you are to Turn Down a Deal Like This?”
College
Twenty-One
Lisa and Lenny
Kismet and Conflict
Becoming Lenny
A Different World
Chapel of Love
“Lisa Bonet is Pregnant, But Denise Huxtable is Not”
On the Waterfront
Zoë
Becoming a Virgin
Beautiful Bessie
Near Collapse
Let Love Rule
Photographs
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Copyright
LET LOVE RULE. Copyright © 2020 by Lenny Kravitz. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 120 Broadway, New York, New York 10271.
Cover design by Christopher Sergio
Cover photograph © Anton Corbijn
Some names have been changed.
All photographs are courtesy of the author, except page 13 © Stephen Salmieri, page 14 © Steven Elvis Smith, page 15 (bottom) © Per Gustafsson.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020941618
e-ISBN 9781250113085
First Edition 2020
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].