Lenny Kravitz stops concert to take a call from ‘big brother’ Denzel Washington on stage: ‘Say hello to Italy’ and then reveals how strong is their bond… he began… see more

Nobody lets Denzel go to voicemail. Lenny Kravitz stopped a concert to take a FaceTime call from close friend and “brother” Denzel Washington.

Mid-show or not, Kravitz made sure to answer. “I’m sorry,” the singer addressed the crowd with his phone in hand. “My big brother just called me up on the phone to say hi. Y’all know Denzel Washington?”

Kravitz then held up his phone to the rapturous crowd and later, to the cameraperson to show a smiling Washington on the other line. “Say hello to Italy,” Kravitz told his pal before adding, “Alright, brother. I love you. I’ll call you later.”

The Grammy winner has been on the road for his international Blue Electric Light Tour, launched in promotion of his 12th studio album of the same name. The phone call was taken during his stop in Italy over the weekend, where he performed at Lucca Summer Festival and Umbria Jazz Festival. His next stops span Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and Hungary.

Kravitz and Washington have been friends for three decades. The actor was a guest speaker at Kravitz’s Walk of Fame ceremony in Hollywood back in March, where he spoke about their “close brothership.” Washington said, “We have been tied together for a long time . . . we are brothers. I love Lenny Kravitz like I’ve loved no other brother in my life.”

Speaking with Billboard earlier this year, Kravitz said he met the Training Day and Malcolm X actor in the 1990s and the two have continued to build a “relationship based on brotherhood and love and honesty and faithfulness.” He said of Washington, “As different as people might view us, in essence of what our makeup is and what’s inside of us and how we view and live life, we’re very similar. We are cut from the same cloth. We talk almost every day and we inspire each other.”