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Where does Lenny Kravitz rank? (1 Viewer)

tommyboy

Footballguy
There's 2 different questions that randomly popped into my head today when I heard an old Lenny Kravitz song on the radio.

1 is he a rock n roll Hall of Fame guy? I believe he should be.

2 where does he rank among black pop/rock artists all time? Top 5, top 10, top 100? I'm not sure.

Thoughts?

 
There's 2 different questions that randomly popped into my head today when I heard an old Lenny Kravitz song on the radio.

1 is he a rock n roll Hall of Fame guy? I believe he should be.

2 where does he rank among black pop/rock artists all time? Top 5, top 10, top 100? I'm not sure.

Thoughts?
1. No.

2. Pop/Rock? Or the various musical genres eligible for induction?  If the latter, maybe top 500.

 
There's 2 different questions that randomly popped into my head today when I heard an old Lenny Kravitz song on the radio.

1 is he a rock n roll Hall of Fame guy? I believe he should be.

2 where does he rank among black pop/rock artists all time? Top 5, top 10, top 100? I'm not sure.

Thoughts?
and you guys thought I was off in the weeds with Todd Rundgren ...

 
HOF?  No way.  I don’t even think he’s that close honestly.

As for where he’d rank - no clue really but I think I could easily come up with 150-200 I’d rank ahead of him.

 
Can we see the resume of what he has actually accomplished? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy his biggest hit when it comes on the radio and I always though it had a fairly cool video that didn't have a whole lot of extra added. 

 
Lenny Kravitz is certainly an all-around talent who can write a song or two (if he writes the songs that he sings). But that just led me right into my next point which is that he's had a whole lot of industry backing, it seems, and that the spontaneity we often admire in talent rising from obscurity to the top might not necessarily be there.

Pass on the HoF.

Ranking among black/pop/rock artists of all-time is surely something to behold, I guess. Not very highly, I'd probably say. I'd never really think to write much about him unless it was a thread topic at about 10 PM West Coast time and I was really bored and felt like some breeze needed to be shot or something.

Also good to see you around posting, which is the more important part of my post.

 
2 where does he rank among black pop/rock artists all time? Top 5, top 10, top 100? I'm not sure.
I appreciate you being a fan of Kravitz and if you subjectively rank him that high, that’s fine. However objectively you are seriously underrating the black pop/rock contributions. Lenny would possibly crack the top 100, but I’m not even sure about that. Top 10 or Top 5 is pretty ambitious.

 
There were many others who came from utterly impoverished, outsider statuses who contributed much more against much greater odds than he did. America's historical dustbin contains the ashes of many who unfortunately didn't make it big or popular despite incredible talent, musicianship, songwriting chops, you name it.

Kravitz seems to have been largely a product of showbiz parents with connections, in my estimation. Talented dude, and I don't knock the hustle, but there have seemed to be many more talented that survived under greater odds.

 
He has a couple songs I am familiar with but mostly dont care for. I dont rank him very high on any list.
True. Nor would I, really. The question the OP asked was specifically about black artists. I'll bet you and I could hit a reasonably deliberative yet quick hundred before we thought of Lenny, really.

 
hof? Sure,  they let everybody in and the voting is a joke.

overall,  he's solidly in the meh category for me.
I thought artists paid to get in, wasn't there some controversy about this a couple years ago with an artist going off on them?

 
Think I like him more than most here; enjoy a lot of his songs. 

Fly Away
Dig In
Are You Gonna Go My Way
Let Love Rule
Lady
It Ain't Over Till It's Over
Again

All good rock & roll tunes IMO, plus some others. Really fun concert when I saw him, loved his stage charisma. 

HOF? Dunno, it's confusing to me sometimes who they let in and who has to wait. IMO he's got enough hits and longevity to be considered. As for how he ranks among black artists, maybe top 100ish? No idea really. 

 
Came here to post exactly that. Two masterpieces puts him well beyond the meh category. I think his debut album is transcendent.
Yep.  Not sure what happened after that, feels like he got too artsy or too full of himself but past though 2 albums its just drek .  I still listen to Mama Said probably once a month.  Its one of those albums where the track placement is unreal and you have to listen start to finish.  The way it starts slow with Fields, then Stand then progresses its outstanding.

 
hof? Sure,  they let everybody in and the voting is a joke.

overall,  he's solidly in the meh category for me.
I think they let everyone from the OG periods in when rock was being shaped and developed. So far they have been much stingier with bands of the 80s onward.  

 
Also, this is probably another thread, but the HOF is a complete joke.  They have destroyed any credibility and is pretty much useless at this point.  So yeah with those loose standards LK probably deserves to be in.

 
I know you and @rockactionwere. Just pointing out that its not a good way to rank things. IMO. 
Fair though I don’t consider that caveat being any kind of slight or dismissive. When talking about American music, it’s quite the opposite IMO. The ranks of the greatest musical artists probably leans more Black. Still I get what you mean about it being unnecessary to distinguish here. 

 
Also, this is probably another thread, but the HOF is a complete joke.  They have destroyed any credibility and is pretty much useless at this point.  So yeah with those loose standards LK probably deserves to be in.
 Could be it’s own thread but who in particular have you thought didn’t belong? 

 
 Could be it’s own thread but who in particular have you thought didn’t belong? 
Jay Z for one.  Just about any group or performer that is not associated with what I consider RandR.  The list is long and it went off the rails years ago. 

 
Also, this is probably another thread, but the HOF is a complete joke.  They have destroyed any credibility and is pretty much useless at this point.  So yeah with those loose standards LK probably deserves to be in.
Yep. The HoF is like the Grammys in that most still welcome and will enjoy the attention if they are acknowledged in some way, but it doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme. 

As for Lenny, I only know a few of his hits and they are all okay. Never had the urge to dig deep with him, and never knew anyone in real life who talked him up to make me want to check out his stuff. 

 
Green day is in but Phish isnt?  I mean come on.  Scrolling through who is in and who isnt is pretty maddening.  Why are rap, r and b and country in this?

 
Yep. The HoF is like the Grammys in that most still welcome and will enjoy the attention if they are acknowledged in some way, but it doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme. 

As for Lenny, I only know a few of his hits and they are all okay. Never had the urge to dig deep with him, and never knew anyone in real life who talked him up to make me want to check out his stuff. 
Do yourself a favor and listen to his first two records from start to finish.  They are really good and the ladies love it.  That was my go to cd in high school when I was on a date.  Looking at you Lori Deal.

 
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Green day is in but Phish isnt?  I mean come on.  Scrolling through who is in and who isnt is pretty maddening.  Why are rap, r and b and country in this?
The argument would be that the RnR HOF is honoring those who have influenced, impacted and helped further the development of rock music. No doubt lots of country, R&B and even hip hop has had an influence on shaping rock music. Phish may get there someday but they have always been a rather niche group with no mainstream appeal. Green Day on the other hand is one of the biggest rock acts of the last 30 years. 

 
The argument would be that the RnR HOF is honoring those who have influenced, impacted and helped further the development of rock music. No doubt lots of country, R&B and even hip hop has had an influence on shaping rock music. Phish may get there someday but they have always been a rather niche group with no mainstream appeal. Green Day on the other hand is one of the biggest rock acts of the last 30 years. 
On no level is Green Day bigger than phish (unless you are talking about album sales but even then its close).  And thats the point "mainstream appeal" is exactly what has tanked the hof.  

 
On no level is Green Day bigger than phish (unless you are talking about album sales but even then its close).  And thats the point "mainstream appeal" is exactly what has tanked the hof.  
They are still essentially a business that has to attract visitors, eyeballs, etc so that’s always going to drive their decisions. May not always be the “right” thing to do. Though you probably don’t want to hear my takes on Green Day vs Phish either lol. 

 
Not HOF for me.  Always struck me as a lot of borrowed sounds.  NTTAWWAT.  

Lenny Kravitz or Bruno Mars?

Go!

 
On no level is Green Day bigger than phish (unless you are talking about album sales but even then its close).  And thats the point "mainstream appeal" is exactly what has tanked the hof.  
Not passing judgment on either band, but Green Day has sold 75 million albums and earned 20 Grammy nominations. Phish has sold 8 million and earned one nomination for their music and one for packaging for a box set. 

 
Compare tour gross
Like I said, I don’t have a dog in this fight. Phish has played 1800ish shows to  about 1700 for Green Day. If there is a site that lists your revenue, I am unfamiliar with it. I have no idea of the average size venue or attendance for either band. I am guessing both have played huge festivals and stadiums. Maybe my perception is way off, but I think the numbers are pretty similar. 

Personally, I don’t love or dislike either band. I like some of both but neither is one of my go to bands and only listen to either on occasion or if the mood strikes me. Same thing with Lenny. 

 
Not passing judgment on either band, but Green Day has sold 75 million albums and earned 20 Grammy nominations. Phish has sold 8 million and earned one nomination for their music and one for packaging for a box set. 
Compare tour gross
Even factoring this in, Green Day certainly has way more fans. Yes, they're much more casual fans than Phish has but it terms of number of people who would say "yeah, I know and like that band" Green Day is miles ahead. 

 

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