Rock legend, Lenny Kravitz, revealed a lot about his parents’ marriage in a prior interview with The Telegraph. For those who didn’t know, his mother is the late actress, Roxie Roker, best known for her role as “Helen Willis” on “The Jeffersons” and his father, Sy Kravitz, was a TV executive for NBC back in the day.

Lenny detailed what it was like watching his Mom deal with his Pops’ cheating ways when she was at the height of her career on “The Jeffersons”…and let’s just say that Roxie was no “Helen” and Sy was no “Tom” in real life…

LENNY: ‘MY MOM STEPPED TO MY DAD LIKE A SCENE OUT OF GOODFELLAS’

Lenny described the incidents that oftentimes went down when his Pops got caught with his hands in another cookie jar, so to speak. And sometimes Lenny was smack dab in the middle of it. Turns out, our beloved Roxie Roker had some gangsta chick in her, bless her soul.

In other words, she didn’t just sit around and quietly accept her man’s cheating ways, she confronted him and his mistresses (yes, mistresses, as in many) head on. This drama occurred during the era when we were watching Roxie on “The Jeffersons.”

LENNY TOLD MOM ABOUT DAD’S CHEATING…AND SHE TOOK ACTION

Via Telegraph: When he was 20, Kravitz became aware of some of his father’s secret lives and alerted his mother. “I brought it into the light,” he says. “It was quite intense and heartbreaking. But she knew about things all my life that I didn’t know about. She would tell me stories about having me in her arms – it reminds me of the scene in Goodfellas – and she’d go to another woman’s apartment and ring the bell: “Tell him he has to come down. Stuff like that.” Soon afterwards, his parents split up.

DAD’S JEALOUSY OF ROXIE’S AND LENNY’S SUCCESS TOOK A TOLL

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Lenny Kravitz also revealed how he believed his Dad was a tad bit jealous of his and Roxie’s success. Although he had success of his own:

“His wife and son ended up being that thing that he wanted to be. I could understand what it was with other women, because he felt he needed to be The Man. Although he already was the man, and my mother treated him as the man. But in a superficial world, she was the star, and he was not.” – Lenny Kravitz

ROXIE’S & SY’S MARRIAGE STARTED OFF ROCKY WITH MUCH FAMILY TENSION

Lenny said that from the beginning, his parents’ marriage was rocky because his Jewish side of the fam’ didn’t even show up to their wedding:

Via Telegraph: ‘My dad was a sergeant, a Green Beret – the most hardcore, above the Marines. He was a very hard man.’ He fought in Korea, as did his younger brother, Leonard. Sy came home alive. Leonard did not. ‘He got blamed for that. His parents. Just the fact that his little brother followed him to war.’ That blame hadn’t eased by the time Sy married Lenny’s mother – ‘there wasn’t a white person at the wedding,’ Kravitz says. ‘And I had a great relationship with my Jewish relatives, and I knew nothing of this until I got older.’

Like we always say at ILoveOldSchoolMusic, celebrities have accomplished great things, but neither they, nor their lives, are perfect. They’re simply perfectly flawed human beings, just like the rest of us and that is A-okay. We all live and we learn.

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Rock legend, Lenny Kravitz, once revealed that Teena Marie was the number one reason why he is who he is today. They are an unlikely pair of friends, but they were extremely close and he says Lady T. was his mentor when he was flat broke and unknown to the masses.

Here’s What Lenny Said She Did For Him

Soon after the legendary singer, Teena Marie passed away in December 2010, Lenny posted an emotional Youtube video, to reveal for the first time ever the deep bond they shared and what she’d done for him as a teenager…

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“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Teena. She took me in when I was around 16. I was just a musician on the street, I was living from pillar to post, she took me in, she gave me a bedroom. She fed me, she cooked for me, she took care of me. She gave me instruments to play, she took me to all her recording sessions, she took me to concerts, she nurtured me and helped me to become who I am. I’ve never really talked much about it in depth, but I would not be here. She changed my life, not only as an artist but as a person, truly loved me for who I was.

He concluded with a message directly to his late friend:

“I just wanna say, Teena, that I will always love you and respect you. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you, Father, for the life of Teena Marie.”

Watch Lenny Kravitz’s full video message below:

This is the first time we’ve heard about Teena Marie helping those in need. She had a beautiful heart. But there’s more…

Why Was The Son Of Roxie Roker Living “Pillar To Post?”

If you’re wondering why the son of Roxie Roker a.k.a. “Helen Willis” on The Jeffersons was living from “pillar to post,” also was I. The only hypothetical conclusion I was able to draw was that his Mom didn’t necessarily want him to pursue music in the beginning:

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1. Many who were close to Roxie Roker, like her cast mates on “The Jeffersons,” have often mentioned that Roxie always expressed concern about her son wanting to be involved with music. So maybe at the time, when he was just starting out at 16, he didn’t have her full support on his musician ambitions, but instead ventured out and chased his dreams on his own.

2. Or Lenny could have simply just wanted to make a name for himself, without leaning on his Mom’s money nor fame.

That’s all hypothetical though and I could be wrong about that, but their very possible, given that Roxie was only one of the biggest sitcom stars at that time.

Lenny also said that his grandmother, Bessie Roker, was his greatest supporter, who supported him even when other family members doubted his direction. That’s why he says his Miss Bessie Music publishing company is named after her. “She supported me unconditionally,” he says. Again, that further supports the notion that his mother, Roxie Roker didn’t necessarily support his musical ambitions in the beginning.

Lenny’s father, Hollywood producer, Sy Kravitz, Lenny, and Lenny’s mother, actress Roxy Roker.

As far as Lenny and his mother’s relationship overall, they were extremely close and he said she taught him the most about being Black. He said Roxie constantly made it clear to him from day one that:

“Your father’s White, I’m Black, you’re just as much of one, as the other. But you are Black. In society, in life, you are Black.”

The post Lenny Kravitz Emotionally Tells What Teena Marie Did For Him When He Was Broke & Homeless appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Rock legend, Lenny Kravitz, revealed a lot about his parents’ marriage in an interview with The Telegraph. For those who didn’t know, his mother is the late actress, Roxie Roker, best known for her role as “Helen Willis” on “The Jeffersons” and his father, Sy Kravitz, was a TV executive for NBC back in the day.

Lenny detailed what it was like watching his Mom deal with his Pops’ cheating ways when she was at the height of her career on “The Jeffersons”…and let’s just say that Roxie was no “Helen” and Sy was no “Tom” in real life…

LENNY: ‘MY MOM STEPPED TO MY DAD LIKE A SCENE OUT OF GOODFELLAS’

Lenny described the incidents that oftentimes went down when his Pops got caught with his hands in another cookie jar, so to speak. And sometimes Lenny was smack dab in the middle of it. Turns out, our beloved Roxie Roker had some gangsta chick in her, bless her soul.

In other words, she didn’t just sit around and quietly accept her man’s cheating ways, she confronted him and his mistresses (yes, mistresses, as in many) head on. This was all while we were watching her on “The Jeffersons”:

Next Page: Lenny describes how his mother would go to another woman’s apartment… >>>

The post Lenny Kravitz Tells How Parents’ Rocky Marriage Was Nothing Like “The Jeffersons” appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

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