Lenny Kravitz's Mom Roxie Roker Had a Historic TV Role: About the Musician's Parents
The "Fly Away" singer dedicated his 2020 memoir to his late mother.
Lenny Kravitz may be famous in his own right, but so was his mother.
The rocker, who's taking the stage at the 2025 Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular hosted by Ariana DeBose, comes from an entertainment family. His mother was Roxie Roker, one of the stars of the 1975 sitcom The Jeffersons. His dad, Sy Kravitz, was a news producer for NBC. Both of Kravitz's parents have passed, but not before seeing the beginnings of their son's rise to rock and roll fame.
Learn more about the "Fly Away" singer's parents and their fascinating lives below.
RELATED: Everything to Know About the 2025 Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Special
Lenny Kravitz's parents met while working at 30 Rock
Rosie Roker and Seymour "Sy" Kravitz met at 30 Rockefeller Plaza when they were both working at NBC, as Kravitz told TODAY's anchors during his Citi Concert Series performance in 2024. Roker had an office job at the time, and her future husband was an executive at NBC News.
Rosie Roker and Sy Kravitz were married in 1962. They welcomed their only son, Lenny Kravitz, in 1964.
A successful stage actress already, Roker began landing TV and movie roles when Lenny was 10 years old. In 1975, she began starring on All in the Family spinoff The Jeffersons, which ran until 1985, and soon began appearing on various popular TV shows and programs of the time: Roots, Fantasy Island, ABC Afterschool Specials, The Love Boat, Cagney & Lacey, Punky Brewster, Murder She Wrote, A Different World, and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper.
Roker and Sy Kravitz divorced in 1985, and Roker died of breast cancer in 1995 at the age of 66. Sy died in 2005 at age 80.
Why Roxie Roker's role on The Jeffersons was historic — and mirrored her real life
Roker played Helen Willis, neighbor and close friend to Louise (Isabel Sanford) and George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley). She and actor Franklin Cover, who played Helen's husband Tom, portrayed the first interracial couple on TV. Their relationship, which was often sneered at by George on the show, mirrored Roker's real-life marriage to Lenny Kravitz's dad Sy Kravitz, who was white.
When ABC staged a live production of an episode for Live in Front of a Studio Audience on May 22, 2019, Kerry Washington and Will Ferrell played the Willis couple. Lenny Kravitz said Washington "did an amazing job" in his mom's trailblazing role.
As he told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest in November 2020, he spent a lot of time behind the scenes at tapings of The Jeffersons.
"I grew up on that set," he said. "I was there for most of those tapings, 'cause I used to go there after school to do my homework in the dressing room and be with my mother. It was a major part of my life."
When Ripa asked if he realized, at the time, that what he was watching was "groundbreaking," he said he did understand that it was "politically, socially" significant.
"My mother was playing half of the first interracial couple on primetime television," he said. "It was the first interracial kiss on primetime television. Yes, they were breaking a lot of ground. It was the first time you saw African Americans living like that on a television show."
Kravitz dedicated his 2020 memoir, Let Love Rule, to his mother.
"I was a mama's boy," he told People ahead of the book's release. "She was a woman who never spoke badly about anybody, even if they deserved it. At her funeral, late actor Brock Peters said, 'If Roxie met the devil himself, she’d say to him, ″What a lovely red suit.″' The whole place burst out laughing because that was my mother. She's going to find the positive thing that she can say or do in any situation.″
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Lenny Kravitz has spoken about his complicated relationship with dad Sy Kravitz
The "Are You Gonna Go My Way" singer has spoken about struggling with his father's behavior towards him and his mother, which led to divorce in 1985.
"My father had a lot of love and sensitivity in him, but he was really hardcore," Lenny Kravitz said in an episode of Oprah's Masterclass. "Super-heavy disciplinarian. He wasn't the kind of man to talk a lot... I was afraid of him as a child."
In December 2024, Kravitz posted a birthday tribute to his father on Instagram.
"Happy birthday Dad," he wrote. "Our purpose was our purpose. Our lessons were our lessons. We balanced each other and we both came out of it better. Loving you always…"
Are Lenny Kravitz and Roxie Roker related to Al Roker?
According to Al Roker, yes!
Lenny Kravitz and Al Roker are distant cousins! Al Roker revealed their familial relationship on Today in 2011, and clarified exactly how closely they're related in a 2025 interview for The Drew Barrymore Show.
"His grandfather and my grandfather were brothers," he said. "In fact, his grandfather's name was Albert."
The "Are You Gonna Go My Way" singer has performed on The Today Show five times over the years. His September 2024 Citi Concert Series occurred 20 years after his first appearance in 2004.
"It's great to be back," he said. "I grew up in New York City. My parents worked at Rockefeller Center, where they met at NBC. So I grew up around all these buildings and in this great city, so it's always wonderful to be here."
Watch Lenny Kravitz perform at the 2025 Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular
Kravitz will join host Ariana DeBose and fellow performers Trisha Yearwood, The Jonas Brothers, Keke Palmer, Eric Church, Ava Max and more for the annual Independence Day celebration, which takes place near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
Watch Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on Friday, July 4 at 8/7c on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
