Lenny Kravitz Shares How His Guitar Playing Stunned Prince

In a new interview with Guitarist, Lenny Kravitz recalled the time he stunned Prince with his guitar playing.

During their conversation, Kravitz touched on working and jamming with Prince. Unlike Kravitz, Prince was a guitarist known for his extensive gear setup. Still, he was surprised by Kravitz’s ability to put on diverse sounds on his guitar without any additional effects. Kravitz said:

“I remember jamming with Prince once, and he was like, ‘What is that effect you have on your guitar?’ And I looked at him and said, ‘Nothing. It’s a guitar into a Deluxe, turned to 10.’ He couldn’t believe it. He was a guy that used a lot of processing and did it very, very well. But here he was: he thought it had some kind of effect, you know? I showed it that it was nothing, absolutely nothing.”

Prince Taught Him A Lesson About Relaxing

Earlier, Kravitz shared some wise words he got from Prince about taking time to unwind and recharge.

During a chat with Audacy’s Mike Adam, the musician recalled a piece of advice from the late Prince. As he says, Prince emphasized the importance of carving out time for yourself to relax, heal, and enjoy some recreation:

“I don’t ever feel uninspired or dry. There’s just breaks that need to happen where you need to have some recreation. Prince taught me a really interesting thing. He used to like to play with words and he said, ‘The word ‘recreation’ is re-creation,’ but the way we say the word, we don’t think of the words for what they are: Re-creation. So, you got to step away, chill, and then it comes again.”

While they were not close friends or constant collaborators, Prince and Kravitz had a connection built on respect, admiration, and the occasional jam sessions.