If time really is the great equalizer, then Lenny Kravitz and his unlikely path to perfect singlehood may be the perfect example of a long-standing reconciliation of opposing views.
Forever regarded as the quintessential rock sex symbol, Kravitz admits that she is on a new spiritual journey after turning her back on typical music industry excesses, including casual, no-strings-attached sex.
Of course, that’s easier said than done: Kravitz’s back catalogue of ex-girlfriends and lovers may be better known than his expansive back catalogue of hits.
But now that he’s 60, the famous musician wants to abstain from physical relations until he finds the right woman – and it’s all because of his father’s own promiscuity.
Kravitz was devastated to discover that her father, Cy Kravitz, an NBC news producer, had been having an affair while married to her mother, Roxie Roker, an actress who rose to US fame for starring in the TV series “The Jeffersons.”
Kravitz, whose marriage to actress Lisa Bonet ended in 1993, acknowledged in an interview with The Guardian that his father’s assertion that he would eventually do the same thing had quickly become sadly true.
“He became a righteous man,” he said. “After we got married, I became like him. I became a player.”
“I hated that. I didn’t want to be that guy. So I had to work at it by taking responsibility, by being disciplined. It took me years to learn not to let my desires control me.”
This discipline helped him remain single for nine years before finding his life partner, but he acknowledges that his preference for routine and predictability might get in the way of his search.
“It’s a mental thing,” he said of his sobriety and lifestyle. “I’ve become very set in my ways, in the way I live.”
Kravitz, who turned 60 on May 26, regularly hits the gym and is often seen working out in his everyday clothes, entertaining fellow fitness enthusiasts.
The American star has also overhauled her diet, combining healthy eating with an irregular gym routine that matches her unconventional workout clothes.
“Well, for me, being healthy takes a lot of hard work and discipline,” he explained, “and that means when I want to eat junk food, I don’t.”
“Take last night for example. I worked all day, did interviews, rehearsed until midnight, I got home at 11pm. I need to eat something. It’s 1am. I missed my training. So I went to the gym and did a 90-minute workout at 2am.
“I don’t want to go to the gym at 2 a.m., but I know I have to do it, because it’s part of my discipline. It’s about body, mind and spirit. I want all three to be in harmony. If my body is healthy, but my mind and spirit aren’t healthy, it’s just something to look good and brag about. Who’s going to care about that?”
“For me, all of these things have to be in harmony, and I have to do the work necessary to bring them all into harmony so that I can make the most of my being.”
Kravitz and Bonet, who have a daughter, Zoe, now 35 and an actress, eloped on her 20th birthday in 1987 and remained married until their amicable divorce in 1993.
The singer then began dating model and singer Vanessa Paradis, a relationship that lasted until 1996.
He was subsequently engaged to both Adriana Lima and Nicole Kidman, but neither relationship led to marriage.
