Lenny Kravitz
Never Expires
Photo: courtesy of the artist.
Lenny Kravitz will headline the Global Citizen Festival this weekend on Central Park’s Great Lawn. His first album, Let Love Rule, came out in 1989. Since then, he has released 12 studio albums, building a sound around rock, funk, soul, and psychedelia. Here’s a closer look at Kravitz and his music.
BROOKLYN | By Pablo Herrera
Lenny Kravitz is an artist from another generation. But it wouldn’t be a good idea to disqualify or overqualify people or artists based on the generation they belong to. The music industry tends to identify what is good with what is mainstream now. Is that especially true in the era of music festivals, because that is the era we belong to now? Can we agree on that?
So maybe Lenny is not necessarily an artist from another generation. He is an artist from some sort of transversal generation. Think about this: marketing strategist (a.k.a. Charli XCX) stated that the dance floor is dead, so she is bringing guitar riffs to her songs. Cool. Did she listen to Lenny? Because the guitar riff does not have to be a piece like the riff Lenny was able to create with “Are You Gonna Go My Way” or “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over.” So, is Lenny an artist from another generation? Maybe not.
Kravitz built his career by drawing from simple, classic sounds and giving them a distinctive style. His 1989 debut, Let Love Rule, introduced a musician who wrote, performed, and produced music shaped by rock, funk, soul, and psychedelia. He followed it with albums including Mama Said and Are You Gonna Go My Way, whose title track became one of his signature songs. Across the decades, he has moved between music, film, and fashion while keeping a recognizable sound and image.
He is still making new music. Blue Electric Light, his twelfth studio album, came out in 2024. That album brings back the guitar-driven rock, funk, soul, and R&B that have run through his work from the beginning. The album arrived as Kravitz turned 60. It sounds like a continuation of what he started, without asking for permission. No need to call genres dead. For what? He is Lenny, and he never expires.
Lenny’s music seems to be tied to a specific time, but it isn’t trapped there. He can travel across decades and still feel like he is playing with the same sound. Lenny is a musician who does not need to evolve in the way we understand musicians to evolve. He never needs to be like David Bowie. If you want to compare him to someone, he just chose to be the Rolling Stones, and that is perfectly fine.
On September 26, Kravitz will perform at the Global Citizen Festival on Central Park’s Great Lawn. The festival brings together performers from different eras and musical worlds. Kravitz belongs in that mix: familiar to listeners who grew up with his records, and still an active artist with new music of his own.
I’ll be watching with my Gen X ears. I’m curious what younger listeners hear in those guitar riffs, too. Maybe they’ll recognize the sound. Maybe they’ll hear it as something new. Either way, Lenny Kravitz is still here, still making music, and still finding his place in the present.
The 2026 Global Citizen Festival takes place Saturday, September 26, at Central Park’s Great Lawn. Kravitz’s career began with Let Love Rule in 1989; Blue Electric Light was released in 2024.
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