Lenny Kravitz said music executives originally wanted him to pursue a hip hop career as they thought rock ’n’ roll was “white music”.
The guitarist and singer found fame through his retro rock sound after releasing his debut album Let Love Rule in 1989.
But he said things could have turned out differently if he had listened to record label bosses.
He said: “I was playing music that was rooted in rock ’n’ roll, which at the time they thought was white music. Of course we know that black people invented rock ’n’ roll.
“They thought I should be doing hip hop or R&B, and they thought I was talented but they did not want me to be making that music.
“They didn’t know how to deal with that. So I was offered several deals and I could have taken them. But they would have wanted me to change — have somebody produce me — and I refused.”
Kravitz, 54, said it “amazes” him that he turned down the offers, despite having little money. He said: “I was living in a car, I had no money, things were difficult. And as a teenager, being 18-19 years old, it was hard to turn down that money. But something within my spirit wouldn’t allow me to do it.”
In an interview with CNBC’s Trailblazers, he added: “I’d be in the offices, they’d have the contracts and be saying, ‘We’re going to make you a big star’, and I walked out, every time I couldn’t do it. And I’m very thankful that that was my reaction because I doubt we’d be sitting here today if I had done that.”
He eventually signed with Virgin Records after making his own album.
The multi-Grammy-award-winner has a daughter Zoe, who is carving out her own career as an actress.
He said: “She’s doing it her way and she’s surpassed every expectation.”
