About
Lou Reed, born Lewis Allan Reed in Brooklyn, New York, was an American rock musician. He graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in English, where he studied under poet Delmore Schwartz. He co-founded the Velvet Underground with John Cale, a band that was influential but commercially modest. His solo career took off with the album Transformer (1972), produced by David Bowie, featuring the hit 'Walk on the Wild Side'. He explored various styles, from experimental rock to punk, and published books of photography. He won a Grammy Award and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died in 2013 from liver disease.
* 1942-03-02 — † 2013-10-27
Major works
- The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)album
- Transformer (1972)album
- Berlin (1973)album
- Metal Machine Music (1975)album
- New York (1989)album
Key milestones
- 1964Graduated with a B.A. in English from Syracuse University.
- 1996Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Velvet Underground.
- 2015Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist.
Themes
Urban lifeDrugs and addictionMusical experimentationPoetry and literatureRebellion and counterculture
Sources: nypl.org · grammy.com · britannica.com