Lenny Kravitz on Sex, Love, and Getting Married Again

It feels like Lenny Kravitz has been the epitome of cool forever. But when Let Love Rule debuted, it did so to a lukewarm response stateside. You could argue that people didn't get it. Didn't get him. As hip-hop was exploding in popularity, here was a twenty-four-year-old Black man from New York making rock music using vintage recording techniques and old-as-hell equipment. At the same time, the rock charts he was trying to hit—almost wholly white in makeup then—were rattling with pumped-up LPs from the likes of Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe. Raw and insular, at times even delicate, there was nothing else like his sound gaining traction. "It was discouraging at times," he'll allow. But he doesn't think much about it now. "I'm good. Intact—happy, healthy, focused, with still so much to do."

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE Find the Perfect Gift This Holiday Season SHOP NOW Find the Perfect Gift This Holiday Season SHOP NOW Lenny Kravitz Wants To Clear a Few Things Up It feels like Lenny Kravitz has been the epitome of cool forever. But when Let Love Rule debuted, it did so to a lukewarm response stateside. You could argue that people didn't get it. Didn't get him. As hip-hop was exploding in popularity, here was a twenty-four-year-old Black man from New York making rock music using vintage recording techniques and old-as-hell equipment. At the same time, the rock charts he was trying to hit—almost wholly white in makeup then—were rattling with pumped-up LPs from the likes of Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe. Raw and insular, at times even delicate, there was nothing else like his sound gaining traction. "It was discouraging at times," he'll allow. But he doesn't think much about it now. "I'm good. Intact—happy, healthy, focused, with still so much to do." Read More Trump Has Even Weaseled His Way Into Americans' Kinky Sex Couldn't we have kept the Trumpian poison out of the bedroom? Read More A Candle Made to Last a Lifetime Diptyque's new sustainable line proves its candles are here to stay (literally). Read More The 30 Best Books for Holiday Gifting The key to a great gift book is not, "Will it reach the widest audience?" but rather, "Will it satisfy this specific recipient?" With that in mind, we pored over a wealth of impressive titles published this year, cherry-picking topics that run the gamut—from memoir to sports, music biography to photography, art to food to fiction—and we've pinpointed some gift ideas sure to bring delight and sustained pleasures. Read More 74 Incredibly Cool Tech Gifts For Everyone on Your List The best gadgets and gizmos of the year, all right here. Read More The 20 Best Luggage Brands Worth Investing In From Samsonite to Rimowa, Tumi to Away—here's what you need to know about each one. Read More Esquire's Best New Restaurants in America 2023 At our Restaurant of the Year, Ilis in Brooklyn, they prepared the fish as it would have been done centuries ago, wrapped in bark and cooked over flames. Across the country at Poltergeist in Los Angeles, they gave us a wild, experimental take on the fish taco, which was dipped in masa and fried. Both felt genuine, and each was delicious. Honest innovation doesn't always work in the kitchen, but when it does, it's like rocket fuel for the soul. You leave not just full, not just filled with delight, but with a spark. It's a rare thing, but it's worth chasing. Consider this your map. Read More Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779