By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2023 – Lenny Kravitz, the internationally-acclaimed superstar entertainer who has deep roots in The Bahamas, has officially applied to the government of The Bahamas for citizenship.
This was revealed in an official government notice that was posted today on Facebook, which stated: “NOTICE is hereby given that LEONARD ALBERT KTAVITZ, 10960 Wilshire Blvd 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA, USA applying to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, for Registration and Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty days from 16th day of May 2023 to the Ministry responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7174, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.”
Kravitz for many years has had strong connections to the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, and In December 2022 his Let Love Rule Foundation held its sixth dental mission in Eleuthera to bring dental services to people in need, partnering with Glo Good Foundation, a nonprofit who’s mission statement is to bring “health & confidence via life-changing dentistry to communities in need,” and Twice, a holistic oral health company.
Growing up, he also spent some summers in Exuma with his mother Roxie Roker’s parents.
Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, on Kravitz:
“Kravitz was born in New York City, the only child of NBC television news producer Sy Kravitz (1924–2005) and actress Roxie Roker (1929–1995). His mother came from a Christian family which was of African-American and Bahamian descent. Kravitz’s father was of Russian-Jewish ancestry.
Through his mother, Kravitz is a second cousin of television weather presenter Al Roker, as their grandfathers were brothers.
Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with his parents, attending elementary school, and spending weekends at his grandmother Bessie’s house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three. He decided that he wanted to be a musician at the age of five. He began playing the drums and soon added guitar. He grew up listening to the music his parents listened to: R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel, and blues.
He is quoted as saying: “My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on, and they took me to a lot of shows.”
Around the age of seven, he saw the Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden, and they became his favorite performers. His father, who was also a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis, and other jazz greats.
In 1974, at the age of 10, Kravitz relocated to Los Angeles with his parents when his mother landed her role on The Jeffersons. At his mother’s urging, he joined the California Boys Choir for three years, where he performed a classical repertoire, and sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He took part in Mahler’s Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl.
It was in Los Angeles that Kravitz was introduced to rock music, listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kiss, Pink Floyd, and the Who, and he said he was “attracted to the cool style, the girls, the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.”
During his junior high school years, he was also introduced to marijuana; he has stated that he was a “pothead” during his youth.His other musical influences at the time included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Pharoah Sanders, and Miles Davis. Later influences came in the form of John Lennon and Bob Marley.
Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School, where he was classmates with Maria McKee, Nicolas Cage, and Slash. He taught himself to play piano and bass and made friends with Zoro, who would later become his long-time collaborator. His parents divorced in 1985, which had a profound impact on him.
Kravitz is the honorary nephew of Diahann Carroll, whom he called Aunt D,[32][33][34] and actress Cicely Tyson was his godmother.”
