Lou Reed took rock 'n' roll into
dark corners as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the Velvet
Underground and as a solo artist, has died at the age of 71, on October
27. Here, Reed performs in the 1970s.
Lou Reed, who took rock 'n' roll into dark corners as a songwriter,
vocalist and guitarist for the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist,
died Sunday, his publicist said. He was 71.
The publicist, Peter
Noble, confirmed Reed's death but released no details. Reed had
undergone a liver transplant in May, his wife, the musician/performance
artist Laurie Anderson, disclosed over the summer.
Reed was a rock pioneer
who went from record label songwriter to a member of the short-lived but
innovative and influential Velvet Underground. The band and Reed's solo
work tackled taboo topics like drug addiction, paranoia and sexual
deviancy in songs that were largely spare, muscular and often saturated
in feedback.
"Lou Reed's influence is
one that there are really only a tiny handful of other figures who you
can compare to him," said Simon Vozick-Levinson, a senior editor at
Rolling Stone.
"He spoke incredibly
frankly about the realities of being an artist, being a person who lived
life on one's own terms. He didn't prettify things. He didn't sugarcoat
things. He showed life as it really is and that's something that made
him a true original, and one of our great all-time artists," he said.
Reed, violist/keyboard
player John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker
played their first show as the Velvet Underground in 1965 and soon drew
the attention of pop artist Andy Warhol, who became their manager. Rock
mythology has it that even though the group sold few albums, everyone
who bought one started a band.
"We had fans who made us
realize it was worth it," Tucker told CNN. "But when we were together,
actively, we didn't have a big splash like the Doors or whatever."
Nevertheless, Rolling
Stone ranks the group's debut album, "The Velvet Underground and Nico,"
as the 13th greatest of all time. Tunes like "Sweet Jane," from the
group's 1970 album "Loaded," have become rock standards. Performers from
David Bowie to R.E.M. and U2 have cited them as inspiration, and the
Velvet Underground was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1996.
"The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet. I've lost my 'school-yard buddy,' " Cale wrote on Twitter.
Tucker called Reed
"generous, encouraging and thoughtful." Working with him "sometimes
could be trying" to some people, but "never to me."
"I guess we learned from each other. We all learned from each other," she said.
In 1970, Reed left the
Velvets for a long solo career. He had his only Top 40 hit with "Walk on
the Wild Side," from the Bowie-produced 1972 album "Transformer," and
Rolling Stone put both that album and 1973's "Berlin" on its top 500
list.
Reed "was one of the
first artists to experiment with guitar feedback on record and to show
that sort of ugly noise can actually be quite beautiful and moving. He
also, lyrically, wrote about all kinds of topics that were taboo before
he started exploring them," said Vozick-Levinson.
He also gave a voice to
gay and transgender people in a way that had never been done before by a
popular artist, which made his work incredibly important to many
people, Vozick-Levinson said.
In 1982, Reed told The New York Times that his goal wasn't just to make music, but create literature.
"People say rock 'n'
roll is constricting, but you can do anything you want, any way you
want,'' he said. "And my goal has been to make an album that would speak
to people the way Shakespeare speaks to me, the way Joyce speaks to me.
Something with that kind of power; something with bite to it."
And Tucker said Reed "influenced probably millions of people into maybe reading more, into playing music."
"When I have been on
tour, there have been kids from 15 years old to 60 years old commenting
on how they were influenced by Lou and the Velvets," she said.
The rock band the Pixies wrote on their Twitter page, "R.I.P. LOU REED....A LEGEND." Iggy Pop wrote simply: "Devastating news."
Reed won a Grammy award
in 1998 for best long-form music video, for a documentary on his career
up to that point. Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording
Academy, called him "an exceptionally gifted singer, songwriter, and
musician who has had a profound impact on rock music and our culture,"
"We have lost a true
visionary and creative leader, and his groundbreaking work will forever
hold its rightful place in music history," Portnow said.
Legendary rock 'n'
roll photographer, Mick Rock, left, and Lou Reed attend the John
Varvatos Presents Transformer By Lou Reed And Mick Rock on October 3 in
New York City.
Reed poses at
Modern and Contemporary Art Museum on April 29, 2010, in Palma de
Mallorca, where an exhibition of Reed's pictures are displayed.
Reed takes a
picture during the opening of his exhibition Lou Reed's New York in
Serieuze Zaken Studioos, in Amsterdam on October 10, 2007.
Reed performs at Crossing Border Festival on September 12, 1997.
Reed, Debbie Harry
of Blondie, center, and Iggy Pop, second from right, attend a party for a
book on Blondie in New York on May 4, 1982.
Andy Warhol, left, and Reed at a David Johansen show at the Bottom Line in New York City on July 20,1978.
Reed, Mick Jagger, center, and David Bowie, right, share a joke at a party at Cafe Royal thrown by Bowie on July 3, 1973.
Reed performs live on stage in Amsterdam, in April 1977.
Andy Warhol, center, with The Velvet Underground, Nico, Paul Morrisey and Gerard Melanga in 1966.
Via:CNN
