A Rainy Night in Paris: Lenny Kravitz & Bob Dylan’s Unexpected Stroll

Paris is the city of dreamers, writers, artists, musicians, and anyone with an inkling of creativity. Hence, it is no surprise that Lenny Kravitz resides there from time to time. Anyone familiar with film or literature knows Paris is most often written about due to its drab and joyfully melancholic backdrop. Thus, is it often depicted in the rain. However, this story goes beyond fiction, as Bob Dylan and Lenny Kravitz put this trope into reality on one arbitrary night in Paris.

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Both Dylan and Kravitz surely have lots of stories to tell from their illustrious careers and lives. However, this story sounds like it came out of an Ernest Hemingway or Gertrude Stein novel. That is not the case for this tale, as this story is not fiction in the slightest.

Lenny Kravitz and Bob Dylan’s Rainy Stroll Was One for the Books

Walking in the Paris rain is a highly idealized romantic trope. So, when these two writers saw the chance to live it, they jumped at the opportunity. In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Kravitz recollected the story in his own words.

“We sat in the house for a while and then he decided he wanted to take a walk,” he said. “It was raining, but I was like ‘Bob Dylan wants to go for a walk, it could be f*cking snowing right, let’s go.’”

Subsequently, the two embarked on the streets of Paris and talked about the highly refined intellectual topics born and bred on the very streets they walked.

“We talked about politics, Obama, real estate, family, you know, music,” Kravitz added.

Given the mental stimulation of the conversation, it seems neither party cared about the weather conditions. Both Dylan and Lenny Kravitz let the rain saturate them as neither of them brought umbrellas and even sat on a park bench for some time.

Everything about the moment seemed weird, and Lenny Kravitz realized that as well. However, to him, it meant the world.

“I had to turn into my 12-year-old Lenny and say ‘I’m walking and talking with Bob Dylan,’” Kravitz recalled. “I think he [Dylan] just likes to get out and be in the world.”

Again, everything about this story seemingly comes out of a novel from the turn of the century. That being said, if you know Dylan’s literary taste, you know the urge to recreate a moment such as this one is entirely on brand for the lyrical luminary.

Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures