Lenny Kravitz "never wanted" to be famous.
The 54-year-old musician has received world wide fame for his music, but says it was never his intention to "become a star", as he was simply interested in making music, regardless of whether or not he was successful across the globe.
When asked if he found fame overwhelming, the ‘Fly Away’ hitmaker – whose mother was ‘The Jeffersons’ star Roxie Roker – said: "My mother was on a No. 1 show, and it ran for 11 seasons, and we didn’t have a housekeeper. We did all the housework; my mother was scrubbing floors on Saturday. She drove a Buick. She was just so real. By the time I made it, that side never affected me. It was always about being humble and being grateful. I never said I wanted to be a star. I always said I wanted to be a musician. It was always based on art, not how many records I would sell or how big the arenas were going to be."
But the ‘Low’ singer – who has daughter and actress Zoe Kravitz, 29, with his former wife Lisa Bonet – also says the start of his career was anything but successful, as he would get turned away from record labels who claimed his music wasn’t "black enough".
Lenny – who is known for his brand of psychedelic funk rock – told Variety magazine: "I just knew that I was singing and performing my truth. This was a time right after everybody in the music industry was telling me that I couldn’t do this sort of thing. I would take my music around to the labels, and I would get the whole ‘It’s not black enough’ [response].
"So people were not into the music that I was making or didn’t know how to sell it or how to market it. I was offered deals if I would simply change my music. I never took the deal. I wanted to do my thing. I was living in my car. I had no money. I’m young and in my late teens and who wouldn’t take the money, but there was just something inside of me that wouldn’t let me do it."
Lenny Kravitz ‘never wanted’ fame
