No one has nailed the rock idol act like Lenny Kravitz. The musician turned actor who reached widespread fame when Madonna covered his song, “Justify My Love,” in 1990 will be one of the headliners at SunFest in West Palm Beach this year and it is the act I’m most eager to see, playing music from his new record Strut.
The former dreadlocked rocker has gone sleek creating a new career as a designer, opening Kravitz Design many years ago and doing such varied work as the set of the Queen Latifah Show, The Florida Room club at the Delano Hotel in Miami Beach, residences in NYC and Paris, as well as product design. His interior design is luxe, rife with deep colors, metallic accents and atmospheric lighting. He loves a kick of zebra or mixing an old world classic pattern with something modern. He uses leather, brocade, fur, lots of gleaming woods and Lucite for warm glowing spaces you never want to leave.
His latest creative foray is the photo exhibition Flash by Lenny Kravitz which celebrated its premiere at LA’s Leica Gallery. Kravitz publicly showcased photographs that were first published in Flash, the book that was published in tandem with the exhibit. The show and book are photos Kravitz took along the road of his surreal life as a public star. From his view it’s pretty strange as he turns the camera on the eager anxious faces of photographers, fans and other strangers that are in his face on a daily basis. From being a rock star, an actor in the big box office The Hunger Games and The Butler films, Kravitz is uber famous on many levels.
[one_half]Seen from this unique angle, his works reveal much about the photographer, his life, and his subjects in an intense personal, aesthetic way. The photographs document Kravitz’ world tours and offer unusual insights into the nomadic life of a musician, which is often lonelier than it looks. The pictures for Flash were all captured with equipment from the Leica M-System.[/one_half][one_half_last]The Hunger Games Catching Fire:
Kravitz shoots with a Leica he likes so much that a limited special edition of 125 Leica “Correspondent” cameras were developed in collaboration with Kravitz and his creative firm and are available in a set with two lenses and a handmade case. The camera and lenses of the special edition all feature a hand made unique “vintage finish”.
But what fans will be coming out to see is him and his music, including songs from his 10th studio album Strut, put out on his new imprint Roxie Records, named after his mother. The record was released last fall and hit number 19 on the US Billboard charts. Kravitz is one stylish dandy, with his leather pants, nose studs, silver jewelry and tattoos. Filled with the stomping rock and psychedelic blues he’s known for, Strut features songs like funky rocker “Strut” and sexier than thou in Paris “The Chamber” pulsate with Kravitz’s self assured power.
Coming to the stage at SunFest is Lenny Kravitz. Learn More About the Musician-turned Actor who will Perform in SunFest 2015 on Wednesday April 29 8:30 PM.