Kravitz took his actress mother as his date to the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards

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Lenny Kravitz celebrated his win at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards with a special tribute to his beloved late mother.

Kravitz, 60, won best rock song this year for his song “Human,” dedicating the honor to his mother, Roxie Roker, who died of cancer in 1995 at age 66.

“Wow. This is unbelievable. I’m so thankful. Thirty-one years ago, my mom was with me at an awards show, was at the VMAs, so I dedicate this to her,” he said in a pre-show interview on MTV. “I thank God for this journey, this incredible journey. I thank Jesus for life.”

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The rocker, who wrote in his 2020 memoir Let love reign that he was “a mama’s boy,” Roker brought as his date to the 1993 MTV Video Awards. She was best known for her role as Helen Willis on the classic sitcom The Jeffersons.

Kravitz, who will perform later in the evening, then thanked his manager, publicist and more, including director Joseph Kahn, who directed the video for “Human.”

Kravitz said last week that he shared that 1993 moment with his mother on social media. “Having my beautiful mother by my side at my first #VMAs 31 years ago is a moment I will cherish forever,” Kravitz wrote alongside footage from those VMAs. “I look forward to taking the stage all these years later where she will be in my heart.”

Watch all of PEOPLE’s MTV VMAs coverage here.

The musician will open his Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM in October, performing five nights of what he told PEOPLE will be a “celebration of life, music, love and rock ‘n’ roll.”

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“We’ve been on tour. We started in Europe this summer, so this show is together,” he said in the pre-show interview Wednesday. “We’re there to amplify the love. We’re there to exchange energy with the audience. It’s very free. And it’s all about the energy and the exchange of love. And all the hits!”

Kravitz released his most recent album, Blue electric lightin May, saying at the VMAs that his artistry is similar to that of a painter.

“I play what I have to play. I play all the instruments on most of the songs, and Craig Ross plays guitar on a couple of songs,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always done it. I feel like I paint; I’m a painter. I paint with sound… I had great examples like Stevie Wonder and Prince, so that’s the school I come from.”

The 2024 MTV VMAs air September 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, live from UBS Arena in New York City.

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