Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American
singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor.
His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz,
reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.Kravitz won the
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row
from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category
and setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a
male. He has been nominated for and won other awards, including
American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards,
Brit Awards, and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. He was also ranked
at No. 93 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". He was made an
Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, and has played
Cinna in the Hunger Games film series. In his career, Kravitz has sold
over 40 million albums worldwide.Leonard Albert Kravitz was born in
Manhattan, the only child of actress Roxie Roker (1929â€"1995) and NBC
television news producer Sy Kravitz (1924â€"2005). His mother came
from a Christian family of African-American and Bahamian descent. His
father descended from Russian Jews and Ukrainian Jews,[a] with one of
his great-grandfathers hailing from Kyiv. Through his mother, Kravitz
is a second cousin of television weather presenter Al Roker as their
grandfathers were brothers. During his early years, Kravitz did not
grow up in a religious environment. After a spiritual experience when
he was 13, he started attending church and later became a
non-denominational Christian. Kravitz's father was a Green Beret and
his uncle, Leonard M. Kravitz, was a Private First Class. Kravitz
would be named after Leonard M, who was killed in action in the Korean
War at the age of 19 while defending against a Chinese attack, saving
most of his platoon in the process. Leonard M. was posthumously
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross but was denied the Medal of
Honor. In 2014, he received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony that
awarded it to 24 servicemen who were passed over because of their
ethnicity. Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of
Manhattan with his parents, attending P.S. 6 for elementary school,
and spending weekends at his grandmother Bessie's house in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor.
His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz,
reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.Kravitz won the
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row
from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category
and setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a
male. He has been nominated for and won other awards, including
American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards,
Brit Awards, and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. He was also ranked
at No. 93 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". He was made an
Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, and has played
Cinna in the Hunger Games film series. In his career, Kravitz has sold
over 40 million albums worldwide.Leonard Albert Kravitz was born in
Manhattan, the only child of actress Roxie Roker (1929â€"1995) and NBC
television news producer Sy Kravitz (1924â€"2005). His mother came
from a Christian family of African-American and Bahamian descent. His
father descended from Russian Jews and Ukrainian Jews,[a] with one of
his great-grandfathers hailing from Kyiv. Through his mother, Kravitz
is a second cousin of television weather presenter Al Roker as their
grandfathers were brothers. During his early years, Kravitz did not
grow up in a religious environment. After a spiritual experience when
he was 13, he started attending church and later became a
non-denominational Christian. Kravitz's father was a Green Beret and
his uncle, Leonard M. Kravitz, was a Private First Class. Kravitz
would be named after Leonard M, who was killed in action in the Korean
War at the age of 19 while defending against a Chinese attack, saving
most of his platoon in the process. Leonard M. was posthumously
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross but was denied the Medal of
Honor. In 2014, he received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony that
awarded it to 24 servicemen who were passed over because of their
ethnicity. Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of
Manhattan with his parents, attending P.S. 6 for elementary school,
and spending weekends at his grandmother Bessie's house in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
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