Lenny Kravitz and his japanese style dragon tattoo
Leonard Albert “Lenny” Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is a popular American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose “retro” style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads.
No one nailed the rock idol act like Lenny Kravitz. Love god, guitar hero, wild thing, he lived the life - multiple women, homes and Grammys. Then he revealed last year that he had been celibate since 2005. The Telegraph visits him at his Bahamian retreat and discovers the roots of his newfound purity.
When he was young, Kravitz felt like his father treated him like a private in the army: “Leonard! Hup! Clean your room!” That was nerve-racking. I was a messy kid, and sometimes, instead of my father saying clean your room I’d come home from school and the entire room would be in the centre of the room. A mountain. Everything… clothes… the bed. A pile. I’d open the door and it was a mountain of shit.’ Later, when Kravitz decided he wanted to be a musician, his father supported his son’s ambition financially, subsidizing time in a recording studio, while also dismissing it. ‘He sort of helped me,’ Kravitz says, ‘but at the same time was like, “This’ll never happen… I know this is a waste of money.”‘
Music remains at the centre of his career - he will spend much of the next two years on tour - but there are now plenty of other tendrils. One is Kravitz Design, an interiors company he started up a few years back, which has an office in New York and about 10 full-time employees; just this morning he has been on the phone negotiating a hotel job in Las Vegas. (He creates his own furniture for each project: ‘very soulful; lots of ethnic tones mixed with a sophisticated European sensibility; very comfortable, very sensual,’ he explains.)
Another is acting. He appeared in off-Broadway productions when he was in his teens, then gave it up to concentrate on music, but he has been looking for a suitable way back in. Some time ago he met the director Lee Daniels at the upmarket New York Chinese restaurant Mr Chow when the artist Julian Schnabel brought Daniels over. Daniels told him that he was a fan of Kravitz’s mother’s theatre work, and that he should act. They have been looking for something Kravitz would star in, but in the meantime Daniels was filming an adaptation of the novel Push, Sapphire’s celebrated stark tale of a Harlem girl’s brutal experiences, and asked Kravitz to take a small role. The film (now called Precious) is yet to be released but won three awards at the Sundance Film Festival; according to the Hollywood Reporter, ‘Lenny Kravitz is low-key perfect as an empathetic nurse’s aide.’
Lenny Kravitz has a japanese style dragon tattoo on his chest, shoulder and upper left arm that connects to the rest of the artwork on his left arm. The dragon is a symbol of the supernatural, representing otherworldly powers. It’s done mostly in black and gray with just a touch of red ink to make the tattoo pop. Lots of wind water, waves, clouds and smoke really compliment the piece. Kravitz also has some tattoo flowers on his left forearm done in color, an autograph style script tattoo on his right forearm, and a black and gray cross on his right arm….
