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00:00It's Tuesday and it's No Filter Tuesdays. Welcome everyone. So I'm going to say this word that I
00:14hardly say, don't say often, but I'm very excited because when you dream of a rock star, who'd you
00:21dream of? I know who I dream of. I'm excited because he's a multi-Grammy award-winning rock icon, an
00:32actor, a producer, a designer, an architect, an activist, and most recently an author. He's
00:43unarguably one of the most stylish men on the planet. And he is my Gemini brother. Ladies
00:53and gentlemen, please welcome the one, the only, the rock star of rock stars, Lenny Kravitz.
01:03Hey Len! Hey sis, how you doing? So good to see you. Oh my God, you too. I'm still here in the Bahamas.
01:12I've been here for seven months and I haven't left this rock. Lenny, you've been there for seven
01:22months, but you look and I can see that you've been doing incredible things. So, I mean, I'm just
01:30going to jump right in. Your discipline. I watched the men's health video. Bloody hell. I mean,
01:41please walk me through that routine. That is, you are so disciplined. That I know, but that's,
01:48am I going to get that? You know, I've been here. It's been, it's been an amazing
01:54time. First of all, I didn't know I was going to be here this long. When I left Paris on
02:00March 4th, I thought I was coming here for five days. So I, I packed it back for five
02:07days. I was going to get a little rest. And then I was going to, to New Zealand and Australia
02:12to continue the tour. And of course the world changed and here I am. But it's, it's turned
02:19out to be a really creative time, a time for inner exploration, reflection, taking care
02:32of my mind, body and spirit. And just knowing that I have this time. I mean, I, you know,
02:40we live the same kind of lifestyle. We're always moving. I mean, when was the last time you
02:46ever had time like this? I mean, it, I don't, I don't know if I ever have, even as a teenager.
02:52Childhood. I want to say childhood. Yeah. I'd say childhood.
02:54Since being a child. So, um, yeah, part of my day is, uh, you know, making music, which,
03:02which is what I always have to do because music is oxygen for me. Um, I got my garden going back
03:08up when I came here because I wanted to make sure I had good organic food, uh, on hand because
03:15I wasn't sure what was going to happen with the shipping, you know, um, things have been okay.
03:20It's been not too hard getting things in. And then I've been taking care of my body, you know,
03:25working out and, you know, let's go to it because you always, first of all, you're one of the most,
03:33I've known you for so long. And for me, you're like family. You're one of the most, you've remained
03:37so humble and such a loyal brother and friend to me. And you have always, since I've ever
03:46met you, known you, been extremely disciplined and your body is your temple.
03:53Absolutely. I learned that from my grandfather. You know, when I was a little boy, my grandfather,
03:58Bahamian man, very strong man, hardworking man, always, uh, when he wasn't working, uh,
04:06was always taking care of his body. And, uh, you know, as a, as, as a young teenager,
04:13you know, I didn't want to be bothered with that. I wasn't interested in it at that point,
04:17but I used to watch him and he used to, uh, go out in my mother's backyard with a,
04:23with a broomstick handle that he'd cut off. It was about this big and a belt from his pants.
04:30He'd wrap the belt around this thing and he'd wrap the belt around a tree
04:34and he would use resistance and he would just train with this, with this piece of wood and a belt.
04:41And I, you know, I would look at him and I thought he was crazy. And now here I am all these years
04:46later, you know, working out in the Bahamas, uh, on a tree. It's funny how, you know, you end up doing
04:54the things that, that the folks before you did, you know, that we didn't think you would do,
04:59but I'm so grateful to, uh, you know, everything he taught me.
05:04I mean, I really identify with what you're saying, because I found that
05:08during this whole quarantine for me, things about recipes and cooking and certain things,
05:14my grandmother told me, Dettol, like, you know, when you're from the islands, we grew up with Dettol.
05:19And so it goes in the bath. It's just something we always did.
05:23Yeah. Caribbean folks don't play around. They, they use, they use this, they use their stuff.
05:29Yes. Yeah. And just like you're saying, all these things that I look at grandma saying,
05:34oh my goodness. Wow. You know, I'm not going to do that. I'm doing,
05:38and it really is the basis of the foundation of us. Yes. Yes. So saying that, can we start from the
05:46beginning? So wait a minute, I'm missing your cooking. Is that, is that what I'm hearing?
05:49You, you, you've had my cooking, Len. Remember my cooking? Yes, I've had it. That's why I'm saying
05:55I'm missing it. I'm cooking. I'm loving it. And I, I'm loving this whole time. I am. I'm taking
06:05advantage of it. Yes. And just a lot of self-reflection, a lot of bridging gaps where the,
06:13you know, may have been a bit wider for no reason, just because of time. So, but may I ask you,
06:22starting from the beginning, where were you born?
06:24I was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. That's where my grandparents lived. That's where
06:31my mother lived before she married my father. She was still living at home.
06:36Can we please tell the folks, because this whole new generation of folks out there today,
06:43your mother, who she was, because I've got, I had the pleasure of meeting your mother. Yes.
06:48Yes. And just. Well, she was Roxy Roker. And she started out as a theater actress in New York City,
06:56working with various companies, but her main company was the Negro Ensemble Company, which was
07:04an amazing theater company in New York City, where so many of our wonderful African-American actors and
07:12actresses from her generation came from. And then in 1975, Norman Lear came to see her play,
07:21the River Niger on Broadway, and asked her to come out to Los Angeles to audition for the role of Helen
07:28Willis on The Jeffersons, which was a spinoff of All in the Family, which was a cultural phenomenon.
07:38And The Jeffersons became this. Yeah. Yeah. The Jeffersons became the same, ran for 11 seasons.
07:44And, you know, she played the first half of the first interracial couple on primetime television and the first
07:55interracial kiss on primetime television, which was, you know, this is 1975. But and interesting.
08:04It's interesting that she ended up portraying her actual life, you know, on on TV and standing
08:12for that. And that's when you're talking about your father's side.
08:19Yes. My father was born in Brooklyn as well. His father was born in in Kiev, which is now Ukraine.
08:28And so that's my background. And they met they met at Rockefeller Center, where they were both working at the time.
08:37My mother was a secretary working for an executive.
08:42How do you how do you how was it growing up between the two cultures?
08:47Did you do Shabbat? I saw it as normal. I didn't even think about it.
08:52I mean, I I didn't know about race. You know, I knew that my mother looked how she looked and she had
09:00darker skin than my father. But that didn't mean anything to me. I didn't know there was any issue
09:05about it. I just thought that that's what life was. And, you know, our house was full of
09:12every kind of folks. You know, this is this is the this is the late 60s in New York City.
09:22This is the artist scene. Everybody's hanging out. I saw every color, every background, every religion,
09:27every tradition and royalty, too. And that and that was life. Not until I went to the first grade and my
09:36parents walked me to school. And I suppose that morning my parents were the only parents that didn't
09:44match when we walked in the school. And this kid jumped out in front of me and pointed his finger
09:50and made an issue about my father being white and my mother being black. And I had no idea why he was
09:55doing that or what he was talking about. How did that make you feel?
09:59Well, I didn't understand it, you know, because he stopped and he he shouted and he pointed. And
10:08later I asked my mother, what was it about? What does he mean? And that's I think that's when we,
10:15you know, had our first real conversation about race. My mother taught me to embrace both sides equally.
10:24You're, you know, you're no more one than the other. You cannot discount one side. Your father
10:31is a Russian Jew, blah, blah, blah. He's from, you know, here, we're from there, you know, African Caribbean.
10:42And you should enjoy and be proud of who you are and of that mix. But society and the folks in the
10:53streets are only going to see you as black. And at that time, that was, you know, I understood what
11:03she meant. And I've always identified as a black man, you know, person. But I tell people all the
11:13time, everyone's like, I'm like, Lenny is so grounded and bohemian in his roots. I said, Lenny's
11:21Ireland. They're like, really? I'm like, yes, rock star he is. He is solid in art. And I love that about you.
11:29Absolutely. I was, I was raised by, especially why I'm here today. And, and, and, you know, what,
11:42what nourished me as a young person were these strong black women. I had an abundance of strong
11:53black women that gave me love and attention. And we're the, we're the rocks of the family.
12:07I hear you on that one. When that, when you were five, is it true that Duke Ellington played?
12:15Yes. Yes. My, my father was very much into the jazz world. And, you know, he, he, although he was
12:25a journalist and he was in news, I think he really wanted to be in the music business. And so on the
12:31side, he would promote jazz. And so he knew all these folks. And on my fifth birthday, we went to
12:37the rainbow room, up to the rainbow room, up in 60, whatever floors up. And that's where many of the
12:48jazz greats played. It was, it was a venue that hosted, you know, you know, jazz royalty. And we
12:55went to see Duke Ellington and we actually showed up for the sound check. And my father took me to meet
13:02Duke and, uh, Duke was very sweet. Uh, he sat me on his lap during sound check. And so I sat on his lap
13:11and he put his arms around me and he was playing the piano. And, uh, you know, obviously I didn't know
13:20who Duke Ellington was or what that meant. Um, I just knew that I liked his music.
13:27He was a really nice man. He had this white suit on and, you know, uh, a silver, you know, kind of
13:35goatee and slick back hair. And then during the show later on, the orchestra played happy birthday for me.
13:43And, uh, the lead saxophonist, Paul Gonzalez walked up to our table and played the melody.
13:50And, uh, you know, later on in life, I, uh, found out who Duke Ellington was and I was blown away
13:58that I, you know, had this time with him.
14:03Growing up, I mean, it must've been magical for you because you've also, I mean, I'm going to get
14:09there. You've got some very interesting godparents. I think I got to meet one of your godmothers.
14:15Who did you meet?
14:16I got to meet Diane Carroll.
14:18Uh, yes.
14:20With you in LA.
14:21We were, we were up at, uh, the sunset room or whatever it's called in that hotel.
14:28Yeah.
14:28That's right. That afternoon.
14:31Yes, you did. And she was so thrilled and honored to meet you.
14:38Oh my God.
14:40And no, she really enjoyed that. I remember looking over cause you, you two were sitting
14:45on one end of the, of the, of the, uh, couch and that was it. Y'all were gone for like an hour.
14:52You guys didn't look away from each other. You just spoke.
14:56Diane Carroll.
14:56And, uh, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
15:00And your cousins were lovely.
15:02Yes, yes.
15:03Your cousins that came.
15:05Katrina and Lisa and everybody. Yeah.
15:07But then I understand you have another godmother.
15:11Yes. Who, uh, just called me, uh, yesterday morning to check on me. Uh, Miss Cicely Tyson.
15:19Yes.
15:20Uh, as I call her godmother.
15:22And you must have met Miles Davis too.
15:25Yes. Well, Cicely, I think my, Cicely was doing a play, I believe, uh, downtown called The Blacks.
15:35Uh, and my, Cicely left to do something else. I don't know what it was. And my mother took her place.
15:45Um, and that's probably where they met. I don't know if they knew each other before that,
15:50but they became sisters instantly. And, uh, they have a very similar essence.
16:00Yeah. Um, whenever I see Cicely, I see my mother and vice versa. Um, so yeah, I've known Cicely since
16:10I was born or she knew me since I was born. And yes, uh, she was with Miles. And so Miles Davis
16:19was in our lives, uh, as well. Miles and I actually have the same birthday, May 26th.
16:24Yes. He's a, he's a gem too? Oh, come on. Absolutely.
16:28Yeah.
16:33So you then moved to L.A. At what age were you when you moved to L.A.?
16:38I moved to L.A. uh, when I was 11. Yeah. She...
16:44How was that going from such an, you know, cause it's a big...
16:47Yeah. I, uh, I, uh, I didn't want, I didn't want to go to L.A. at that time. I, I, I was just about
16:53to go into the sixth grade. And, uh, so that was that my school went from kindergarten to sixth grade.
17:02So I was about to be at the top of the class. You know, I'd been there all those years and
17:06I wanted to graduate from that school. I'd been looking forward to that, but we had to go,
17:10you know, the show was picked up after my mom initially went to go shoot the pilot.
17:15This is the reference.
17:16Yes. And so she said, we're, we're going to L.A. My dad didn't go right away
17:22because, you know, no one knew how these things were going to work. Was it going to last the season
17:27to, you know, and then we'd end up coming back. So why make this big move? But we, I think we did
17:33two seasons. My father would come out and visit. And then after two seasons, we realized, my mother
17:38realized this, this show was a massive hit and it was going to go for years. So then my father moved,
17:43but I found it, I found it very strange, uh, coming from New York city.
17:50You know, I'm, I'm 11 years old. I'm very independent as New York kids are.
17:56Your mother teaches you how to take the subway, how to take the bus, how to get around.
18:00Um, you're walking the streets, you're going to things and, you know, classes and the museum and
18:09whatever afterschool activities you have. And so we get to L.A. and we moved to Santa Monica.
18:16We're on 4th and Ashland, on the corner of 4th and Ashland, four blocks from the beach. And I wake up
18:22the next morning because I think we arrived in the evening and I look out the window and there's
18:29nobody on the street. Never seen anything like that. Cause you know, in New York,
18:34you walk out of your apartment and the world is, is at your feet, you know? So I found it strange.
18:39And also, uh, the public transport, you know, public transportation wasn't the same.
18:45So you had to depend on a parent or an adult to take you around. But I ended up, you know,
18:53meeting kids at that time. Uh, skateboarding was, was becoming very popular. So I was,
18:59I was around for the whole birth of that dog town Z boys, uh, culture. And, uh, I started riding a
19:07skateboard and that became my mode of, uh, transportation as well as, you know, fun.
19:12So now an education was, so you knew then you wanted to be in music.
19:17Yeah. I knew from the time I was, from the time I was five and especially from the time I,
19:22I guess I, when I was six, one years, one year later, uh, my dad took me to the Jackson 5 concert,
19:27which is my first concert at Madison square garden. And that was it. I knew I wanted to,
19:32you know, be making music performing. I didn't know how, what obviously, but.
19:37Did you tell your parents?
19:40Yes. Yes.
19:41And what did they, how did they respond? They supported you, right?
19:44Always very positive. I mean, yeah, my mother, you know, they're both in the arts. Um, of course,
19:48education, you know, was first, but they always supported that. You know, I went to, I went to
19:54classes at the Harlem, at the Harlem school of the arts. Yeah. Up, uptown and, uh, took some guitar
20:02classes, you know, I was always going back to Beverly Hills. So now you're starting, you had a,
20:08you had more of an arts there to then, you chose Beverly Hills and that is there. Did you start a band
20:16there or? I, I, I would jam a lot with people. You know, I, I, I took about as many music classes
20:23that you, as you could take. I was in the orchestra. I was in the jazz band. I was in the marching band.
20:28I was in the choir, you know, and just before going to Beverly, um, I had done three years
20:38in the California boys choir, which was a boys choir that my mom had me audition for, uh, when we got to
20:46LA because she was concerned, uh, with me, you know, hanging out in the street too much.
20:52Yeah. She was extremely busy. You know, she's, she's filming this show. She's rehearsing every day.
20:59Uh, she had a very, uh, busy schedule. So she had a girlfriend whose son was in this choir.
21:06Yeah. Classical choir. Thought it would be interesting for me since she knew that I
21:11was into music. I auditioned. I got into the training program. I was trained and then I graduated
21:18into the concert choir. And then next thing I know I'm performing at, you know, the, uh, the Hollywood
21:24Bowl with the LA Philharmonic and I'm singing, I'm singing with the Metropolitan Opera. I'm doing,
21:30you know, I did about 15 different operas from Carmen to Magic Flute to Tosca, Cavalleria Rusticana,
21:38Mephistopheles, blah, blah, blah. I'm recording with Zoop and Meda. I'm doing all of these incredible
21:44things in the classical world. And, uh, then when my voice changed, I graduated out of that
21:50choir. They call it graduating, but basically you get kicked out because your voice
21:54changes. And now I'm at Beverly and I'm, uh, doing all of this music. I'm playing, uh, in these bands
22:02and I'm, I'm jamming with friends, but I hadn't put a band together until the very end of high school.
22:08Right. Now this high school, Beverly Hills, there's a lot of people that we know now.
22:17Yes. That is like, your class seems to just produce like really talented and creative people.
22:25Yes. I mean, I went to school with Slash, uh, from Guns N' Roses. I went to school with, uh,
22:33Nicholas Coppola who became Nicholas Cage.
22:35Right. Uh, Maria McKee, musician. I mean, all kinds, Gina Gershon, uh, all kinds of folks. Yeah.
22:43Professionally, when you, I saw you, when you, no, I saw you at Roseland when you were with Maritalisa
22:51and you just had, um, Zoe, but I also, then we did Versace together at the armory.
22:57That's the first time. And then we really, I mean, it was incredible.
23:02And you were playing and we got to walk while you're playing. Only Versace ever did that.
23:07Which I thought was so, uh, I remember Gianni calling me and saying, okay, we're going to do
23:12this show and you're going to be on the stage and you're going to sing and perform with your band.
23:18And the models are going to walk by and they're going to interact with you. And then I thought,
23:22what? And funny how people don't realize that he invented that concept of a musician on stage during
23:31a fashion show, which of course, everybody started copying afterwards and it became a standard.
23:37Yes. True that.
23:38Uh, Gianni came up with that whole, no one had done that before that.
23:44I mean, I remember everything. I remember every single thing. And we were like,
23:49they were like, do you, I mean, do you know him? I was like, well, I've met him once before.
23:55Then you get to the nineties. Right.
23:58Now I've heard that when you would sign to your first record company, it was,
24:01they would tell you that, you know, your music, that it wasn't white enough. And then it wasn't
24:07black enough. Right. How did you deal with that? I mean,
24:11I thought it was ridiculous. You know, first of all, when they were, when they were referring to white,
24:17they were referring to the rock and roll side of me, which I thought was very odd.
24:21So they don't know everybody else.
24:24Yeah. Last night I checked black people invented rock and roll. So I didn't understand
24:28that concept at all, but yeah, they thought it, I didn't fit into a box. Um,
24:35and I was playing, I was playing rock and roll based music mixed with all kinds of other things.
24:43And they, you know, if I was going to see a black executive, um, it was too white. And if I was going
24:50to see a white executive, it was too black, it was too funky. So they didn't, they didn't know where
24:55to put me. And, and, you know, I kept, I kept working for years and years, uh, you know, refining
25:03my sound and trying to get people to understand it. And then finally, I met, uh, Nancy Jeffries,
25:09Jeff Aeroff and Jordan Harris at Virgin and they, uh, they understood it. They, they weren't sure how
25:17they were going to make it work or how it would be marketed, but they believed in me, in my sound.
25:25I remember Jeff Aeroff and Jordan. So your first break you'd say was what year?
25:29My first break. Yeah. I got signed in 88. The album came out in 89. And then my first break
25:40on the road, uh, cause you know, I played like a couple of small clubs when I first came out,
25:47but, uh, Tom Petty was the first one to take a chance on me. And he took me on a, on an American
25:54arena tour, uh, opening for him. And then it was, it was three artists. Then it was Bob Dylan.
26:00Bob took me on tour and then David Bowie took me on tour. So those three
26:04really gave me my break out on the road. Amazing Lenny. Yeah. And then
26:11Rose, I don't know the concert, the tour that I saw you on the one at Roseland, but that's the one
26:16I remember. And, um, you've told me over the years, one story that I don't think most people know
26:23them. There was once where I think many times for you, you, Michael Jackson and Prince in the
26:29studio together. What was that like? That was during that time where you used
26:33to come hang out at my place on 38th street. Yeah. I lived on 38th street. And, and if you
26:39remember Puffy lived on 38th street, like one block down. And, uh, anyway, this, this, this house that
26:46I had, there became sort of a, uh, uh, a hangout for everybody. We used to have parties in the, in the,
26:54in the downstairs hallway. You used to come all the time. In fact, that's when he started
26:59coming over and cooking, like I get midnight and bringing your hot sauce, but I got it done.
27:08So anyway, um, yeah. Prince calls me one afternoon and says, I need you to be ready in 30 minutes.
27:15I'm coming to get you. I was like, where are we going? He said, uh, we're going to go mess with
27:20Michael and I thought, okay. So Michael at that time was, was, uh, held up at the, uh, Sony studios
27:30and he had the whole place booked out and Prince and I went there and we hung out with him all
27:38afternoon and just had fun, made fun of each other, laughed, you know, hung out. It was,
27:46that's amazing. It was, uh, it was a trip, but I remember for the first time feeling so
27:53normal. I was like sitting between these two guys and, you know, I got my dreads and, you know,
27:57I'm unshaven and, you know, I'm probably a little funky, haven't changed my clothes and Prince and
28:04Michael are pristine. I mean, the hair is done, you know, the makeup is done. Every crease is in place,
28:13you know, and I'm, I'm sitting between these two, you know, being the ruffian. Right. And, uh,
28:18so I was completely entertained, but it was a very fun afternoon. There's no video. There's no
28:23pictures. It's, it's, it's just a memory. Yeah. Beautiful memory. Yeah. And now was this around
28:30the time, had you done justified my luck with Madonna yet? Yeah. I had done that right after that
28:37was like nine, like 90, 91, end of 90, because it was in between Let Love Rule and Mama Said.
28:46Right. Yeah. And I had come up with that, uh, track earlier. Uh, and, uh,
28:56I, I, I knew it wasn't for me, but I knew it was really good. And so I called Madonna on the phone,
29:03because I had met her just that year, uh, in Europe, we used to hang out. She'd take me to clubs
29:11with her and go dancing with all her friends. And, uh, I called her and said, I have a number
29:16one song for you. And it was, you know, Madonna. No, you don't. I said, I do. That was a groove.
29:23That was a vibe. She said, bring it over. So I, I went over to her studio,
29:27brought it over, put the cassette in, turned it up to 10. She said, play it again,
29:34played it again. And she said, uh, okay, let's record it tomorrow. And yes, it, it, it became
29:40number one. And Modino did the video, right? John Batista did the video who, who I was already
29:44friendly with. Um, MTV banned it, which was the best thing they could have done because
29:50you remember controversy behind that's true. And you look at it now, it's like what, you know,
29:56but they banned it. And then Madonna was so smart. They made videos and they sold the videos and people
30:03were lined up. I remember, I remember being, I think I was at Keith Richards apartment or something, but
30:10he lived, he lived right there near, uh, fourth and Broadway where, and I remember looking down
30:18and people were wrapped around the apartment. I mean, the apartment, sorry, wrapped around the
30:25building. Yeah. Cause it was right there. To buy these videos. And that was happening all over the
30:29country. Very small. And, uh, each video counted as a single and the thing, you know, sold a billion
30:37copies and was number one for, for so long. And, you know. But I mean, okay. But what about you? I didn't,
30:44you've had, you had been one of the only ones and it's a record to have four rock icon Grammys
30:53consecutively one after another. Yeah. Rock vocal performance. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And, uh,
30:59let's talk about that. I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I wasn't there to get one of them.
31:08Were you up to them? I never, I was never there, uh, for those four years. I was always
31:14on the road, uh, when the ceremonies took place, I would get these phone calls, uh, you know, late at
31:21night or if I was in Europe in the middle of the night saying that I won. I remember Zoe calling me,
31:26uh, one year, you know, she was small and she was like, dad, you won. You know, and I, I was excited,
31:33you know, but that, yeah, that the record at that time was, was for two. And so I was, uh,
31:40yeah, four years in a row. I got that. How proud are you of your Zoe, Lenny? Oh my God.
31:47Oh my God. My daughter is, I mean, you know, uh, she's, uh, she's very special.
31:57And, uh, and she also knew what she wanted to do. Remember she knew? Oh yeah. And, uh,
32:06you know, I, I didn't think she was going to get into the, into the arts actually at first,
32:11because I guess, because growing up with, with her mom and of course then moving in with me when she was
32:1710 or 11, you know, she was around all of it. It was so much and it was in her face
32:23and, and it was probably a burden in many cases. I mean, you know, when she went to school,
32:27she never told kids who her parents were. And then when they would find out,
32:31she would be upset about it. She didn't want the attention. Um, but then one day,
32:37one day she said, I think I want to, I want to act. And, uh, you know, she,
32:42I remember when she told me, I was like, okay. She found an agent and, uh, she,
32:49her first movie was with Catherine Zeta Jones. It was like one scene in this movie called No
32:54Reservations. And then she did a movie with Jodie Foster after that.
32:58Her choices have been phenomenal.
33:01And then she took off and she's been working ever since and
33:04Catwoman. Now she's in, in London, uh,
33:08yeah, filming Batman and she's playing the role of Catwoman.
33:10Makes my heart smile.
33:11Yeah. Your, your book. I mean, did you start this book before? Had you planned to do it? And now that
33:18we had this quarantine time, you said to myself, let me just do this.
33:22I, I'd been working on it for the last couple of years, a few years.
33:27I started, I stopped, I started, I stopped. I wasn't sure. At one point I almost just threw it
33:34away and just said, I don't want to do this. But I, I, I took the challenge and, uh, because I'd
33:42never thought about doing a book, but I met David Ritz, who's a brilliant writer, uh, who's written,
33:48you know, so many books that I've read. And that the title of your book, Lenny,
33:52Let Love Rule. And he said, you need to write a book and I want to help you write it. And I said,
33:57I, I'd never thought about it. I didn't want to do it. He convinced me. I did it. And I'm so,
34:04glad that I did because as it turns out, it was the, it was the best form of therapy I've ever had
34:12in my life. That's what I keep hearing. And that's what I got from it. I'm happy that people
34:18are enjoying it. I'm happy that the New York times is saying wonderful things and people are reading
34:22it. Oh, you've gotten great reviews. Mine's on its way. Okay. But what I got from it was healing,
34:31especially when it comes to the relationship with my father. That was, that was difficult.
34:38Um, we loved each other and we made peace before he died. We made peace and we were in a beautiful
34:46place, but we had a very challenging relationship most of our lives. And even though we'd made peace,
34:56as I was writing the book, I realized I was still holding on to certain things. And
35:02by seeing my father as a character, not as my father, but he's a character. He's, he's a character
35:08on a, on a page. We're all characters in the book. I'm a character. You know, I was able to really step
35:14back and, and look into his life and see him as a human being that was trying to make it through
35:21this life experience the best he could with what he had. And through doing that, all of the
35:31remaining judgment fell away. Yeah. I was able to see him in a completely different way. And I,
35:39I started to love him as though he was still here.
35:42Um, in a new way, it was, it was a revelation. It was a revelation. Yeah.
35:50Wow. I really, I have a memory of you and your dad that never left me. It was in Paris,
35:58actually. I came to see you in Paris. And after the show, you said, come back to your dress room.
36:04And you just got off stage and normally we give you your space, but you said, come. So I came.
36:09And I just remember your dad putting the towels around you. Oh yeah. And patting you down and
36:16make you, oh, that's like, that's something that stayed with me always. Oh, that's beautiful.
36:22That's the memory I have. I mean, Lenny,
36:28what do you think of what's happening now? There's a song that you wrote,
36:32um, that, um, bank robber man that I think perfectly fits right now. Again.
36:41Yeah, that was, has it changed? That was a racial profiling situation that I was in where I had,
36:47uh, you know, two or three, uh, squad cars, uh, chased me down the street, uh,
36:54uh, put me up against a fence and I had many guns, uh, at my head. Many.
37:02Pointed at you. Many, many. Yes. And I had that situation as a teenager in, in LA, in Beverly Hills.
37:10Um, I'd been on the ground with my head to the concrete two or three times with a gun in my head.
37:15Um, you know, I've experienced this. I understand it. Um, I mean, what's going on right now is just,
37:24it's uncanny to me because you and I have grown up and been around people and seen people
37:35fight this fight, you know, for people from my parents, uh, generation, my grandparents,
37:43they fought that fight. They lived through all of that horror. And,
37:53you know, I think about my grandfather being alive now, if he could see what was going on,
37:59how backwards we've gone from the direction we were going, he wouldn't believe it. And,
38:04you know, the bottom line is in all of this
38:10is love and unity and all the things that sound cliche and corny that are not because
38:18if we don't learn to live on this planet with each other and accept the differences and respect the
38:26differences, um, we don't, I don't have to live like you. You don't have to live like me,
38:31but I respect the way you live and who you are and what you come from and the differences. And,
38:39you know, so if we don't, if we don't learn to come together, um, no political party, no president,
38:47no, no one will be able to, to save us. We are going to have to decide if we want life or not.
38:55And that comes down to how we're treating ourselves and how we're dealing with each other
38:59and how we're going to help each other and how we treat our friends.
39:02We've got to put our ground at the equation. It really is love at this point.
39:08It really is, you know, it really is. And I hear you.
39:12When are we going to understand that? Yes, we're all different. We're never going to all be the same.
39:15We're never going to have the same point of view, but why can't we respect it?
39:21You know? Yes. Lenny, when you get here, I'll be at home to DJ. I'll be your resident DJ.
39:31It's the only place I ever want to DJ. Do you remember our theme song?
39:36Oh, I just can't help myself.
39:39I just can't help myself. I know.
39:41First of all, let me let everybody know that Naomi Campbell is my favorite DJ on the planet.
39:48We have these parties in the basement of my house, in this very secret room that fits about,
39:55I don't know, maybe 50 people can fit in it, crammed. And Naomi has
40:02kept us dancing and celebrating life from midnight till 6 or 7 a.m. solid.
40:15It's the vibe of you.
40:17You have the most eclectic playlist. You know music history so well.
40:24You impress me every time you do that.
40:29Lenny Kravitz, I love you so much.
40:31I love you, sis.
40:32I miss you. I'm proud of all you're doing. I can't wait to get my book.
40:37I'm going to call you when I get it.
40:38After you read it, give me a call and we'll talk about it.
40:39I'm going to call you when I get it. And I see, it's like you had an epiphany. I see.
40:46It's just like, it's really amazing.
40:49And thank you for having me.
40:50Thank you for your time. I love you. I love you. Have a blessed rest of the day.
40:54All right, sweet.
40:54Be safe. Bye-bye.
40:56Bye, baby. Lenny Kravitz, ladies and gentlemen.
41:00I didn't want to get off, but he's got other interviews to do. And how honest and humble, real.
41:10See, there's many stepping stones. You don't just become famous. And what is the word famous?
41:18You want to do what's your passion. You want to do what you feel deep inside of you. Not what
41:25someone tells you to do. But how great is it when you feel and know what you want to do
41:32at a really young age and you have the support of your family and friends.
41:38For me, doing No Filter, I learn something each time I speak to,
41:43whether it's people I know for a long time or whether it's people I've never met before.
41:47But I enjoyed sharing it with you and I hope that you enjoy watching them.
41:53So like Lenny says, we have to learn to love each other and we have to learn to respect each other.
42:01I hope you enjoyed this episode of No Filter with Lenny Kravitz.
42:04Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel and see you next week. Thank you. Bye.
42:20Bye.
42:39Bye.
42:41Bye.
42:44Bye.
42:45Bye.
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