Lou Reed, byname Lewis Allan Reed, (born March 2, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died October 27, 2013, in Southampton, New York), a singer-songwriter whose place in the rock pantheon is primarily based on his role as the leader of the Velvet Underground, a New York City-based quartet that produced four low-selling but hugely influential studio albums under Reed’s direction from 1965 to 1970.
Reed’s post-Velvets career was erratic, but he emerged as a star performer in his own right, albeit an unconventional one, as the chronicler of the forgotten who trolled New York City’s sleazy after-hours bars, alleys, and drug dens. Reed’s best songs didn’t judge or exploit his outcast characters; instead, he imbued them with rare dignity, and his lyrics brimmed with literary ambition.
After leaving the Velvets, he resurfaced as a solo performer in England, where he was embraced by fans such as glam rock pioneer David Bowie, who produced and performed on Reed’s breakthrough hit, “Walk on the Wild Side” (1973), and Mott the Hoople, who covered Reed’s Velvets classic “Sweet Jane.”
Later, Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine of Television cited him as an inspiration for the mid-1970s New York City punk scene (see CBGB-OMFUG). Throughout, Reed flirted with self-parody and self-destruction via drug and alcohol abuse, as well as a string of wildly erratic recordings and concerts.
His albums ranged from rote pop to heavy metal, and among his most infamous works were Berlin (1973), an orchestrated song cycle about a sadomasochistic love affair, and Metal Machine Music (1975), a double album of guitar drones. Onstage, he morphed from a leather-bondage-wearing ghoul feigning heroin injections to a deadpan guitar-strumming troubadour every year.
What was Lou Reed’s cause of death?
He received a liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in May 2013. After that, he wrote on his website that he felt “bigger and stronger” than ever, but on October 27, 2013, he died of liver disease at his home in East Hampton, New York, at the age of 71.
