On Tuesday, Lenny Kravitz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was accompanied by his daughter Zoë Kravitz and lifelong friend Denzel Washington.
The 59-year-old actor owes his Hollywood start to Norman Lear, who cast his mother, Roxie Roker, in “The Jeffersons.” Kravitz said he left home at the age of 15 and made his own way on the streets of Los Angeles.
“I will be eternally grateful to this city for that. I used to walk these streets because the action and grit that I missed in New York could be found right here in Hollywood. As a teenager, I spent a lot of time walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard, noticing the names of all my idols. I never imagined having a star. I was usually looking for a place to crash. But I did fantasize about making the music I desired and doing my own thing. To see my name, Lenny Kravitz, permanently engraved on the streets where I used to walk. “It is a surreal, indescribable feeling,” Kravitz stated.
“We have been tied together for a long time,” Washington said. “We are close friends. We are brothers. I adore Lenny Kravitz. I adore Lenny Kravitz. I love Lenny Kravitz like I’ve never loved another brother in my life.”
Marla Gibbs, 92, from “The Jeffersons” and Zoë Kravitz’s fiance Channing Tatum attended the event. Kravitz said it was “mind blowing” to have her and others who were with him at the beginnings of his career be assembled in one spot.
He claimed he couldn’t help but “go his own way” in the music business.
“It was within my heart. I didn’t know any other way. I honestly didn’t. I turned down a lot of record agreements, that, you know, asked me to change my music. And I knew that there was something exceptional that I needed to do, but I didn’t have it yet,” he added.