Lou Reed Caricature

Lou Reed Caricature, shown here in 1967, age 25 with John Cale in the shadows.

Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the rock band The Velvet Underground and also had a solo career that spanned five decades. The Velvet Underground achieved little commercial success during their existence, but are now regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music.

In 1964, while living on New York’s lower east side, Reed formed The Velvet Underground with John Cale (who played viola, keyboards and bass guitar), guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Moe Tucker.

The band soon came to the attention of Andy Warhol. Warhol pushed the band to take on a chanteuse, the German former model and singer Nico. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers.
The Velvet Underground & Nico reached No. 171 on the charts. Rolling Stone listed it as the 13th greatest album of all time; Brian Eno once stated that although few people bought the album, most of them were inspired to form their own bands.
The band broke up in 1970 and Reed pursued a solo career. His 1972 solo album “Transformer” was a huge success.

Some Lou Reed hits: “Walk on the Wild Side”, “Satellite of Love”, “Sweet Jane”, “Perfect Day”, “Coney Island Baby”, “Caroline Says (II)”, “Vicious”, “Street Hassle”, “Heroin”, “Dirty Blvd.” and “Metal Machine Music, Part 1”.

In June 1990, the first Velvet Underground lineup reformed for a Foundation Cartier benefit show in France and toured Europe for two months.

Throughout his life, Reed was a heavy user of methamphetamine and alcohol. Reed had suffered from hepatitis and diabetes for several years. He practiced tai chi during the last part of his life. He was treated with interferon but developed liver cancer and died on October 27, 2017 from the disease. He was 71.