Lenny Kravitz "never wanted" to be famous.
Lenny Kravitz
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."
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