Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013), known by thestage nameLou Reed, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is known as the frontman, guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter ofThe Velvet Underground, and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Although not commercially successful in its time, the Velvet Underground has come to be regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history ofunderground andalternative rock music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic andtransgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.
Having played guitar and sung indoo-wop groups in high school, Reed studied poetry atSyracuse University underDelmore Schwartz, and served as aradio DJ, hosting a late-nightavant-garde music program while at college. After graduating from Syracuse, he went to work forPickwick Records in New York City, a low-budget record company that specialized insound-alike recordings, as a songwriter and session musician. A fellow session player at Pickwick wasJohn Cale; together withSterling Morrison andAngus MacLise, they would form the Velvet Underground in 1965. After building a reputation on the avant garde music scene, they gained the attention ofAndy Warhol, who became the band's manager; they in turn became something of a fixture atThe Factory, Warhol's art studio, and served as his "house band" for various projects. The band released theirfirst album, now with drummerMoe Tucker and featuring German singerNico, in 1967, and parted ways with Warhol shortly thereafter. Following several lineup changes and three more little-heard albums, Reed quit the band in 1970.
After leaving the band, Reed would go on to a much more commercially successful solo career, releasing twenty solo studio albums. His second,Transformer (1972), was produced byDavid Bowie and arranged byMick Ronson, and brought him mainstream recognition. The album is considered an influential landmark of theglam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side". AfterTransformer, the less commercial but critically acclaimedBerlin peaked at No. 7 on theUK Albums Chart.Rock 'n' Roll Animal (a live album released in 1974) sold strongly, andSally Can't Dance (1974) peaked at No. 10 on theBillboard 200; but for a long period after, Reed's work did not translate into sales, leading him deeper into drug addiction and alcoholism. Reed cleaned up in the early 1980s, and gradually returned to prominence withThe Blue Mask (1982) andNew Sensations (1984), reaching a critical and commercial career peak with his 1989 albumNew York.
Reed participated in the re-formation of the Velvet Underground in the 1990s, and he made several more albums, including a collaboration album withJohn Cale titledSongs for Drella, which was a tribute to their former mentorAndy Warhol.Magic and Loss (1992) would become Reed's highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 6.
He contributed music to two theatrical interpretations of 19th-century writers, one of which he developed into an album titledThe Raven. He married his third wifeLaurie Anderson in 2008, and recorded the collaboration albumLulu withMetallica. He died in 2013 ofliver disease. Reed has been inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996 and as a solo act in 2015.
Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, at Beth-El Hospital (laterBrookdale) inBrooklyn and grew up inFreeport,NY.[1][nb 1] Reed was the son of Toby (née Futterman) (1920–2013) and Sidney Joseph Reed (1913–2005), an accountant.[3] His family was Jewish and his grandparents wereRussian Jews who had fled antisemitism;[4] his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed.[5]
Reed attended Atkinson Elementary School in Freeport and went on to Freeport Junior High School. His sister Merrill, born Margaret Reed, said that as an adolescent, he sufferedpanic attacks, became socially awkward and "possessed a fragile temperament" but was highly focused on things that he liked, mainly music.[6] Having learned to play the guitar from the radio, he developed an early interest inrock and roll andrhythm and blues, and during high school played in several bands.[7]
He began using drugs at the age of 16.[6]Reed's first recording was as a member of adoo-wop three-piece group called the Jades, with Reed providing guitar accompaniment and backing vocals.[9] After participating at a talent show at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958, and receiving an enthusiastic response from the audience,[10] the group was given the chance to record an original single "So Blue" with the B-side "Leave Her for Me" later that year.[9] While the single did not reach any music hit parade, notable saxophonistKing Curtis was brought in as a session musician by the producerBob Shad to play on both songs,[9][10] and the single was played by a substitute DJ during theMurray the K radio show,[11] which gave Reed his first-ever airplay.[9][10] Reed's love for playing music and his desire to play gigs brought him into confrontation with his anxious and unaccommodating parents.[6]
His sister recalled that during his first year in college, atNew York University, he was brought home one day, having had amental breakdown, after which he remained "depressed, anxious, and socially unresponsive" for a time, and that his parents were having difficulty coping.[12] Visiting a psychologist, Reed's parents were made to feel guilty as inadequate parents, and they consented to giving himelectroconvulsive therapy (ECT).[6] Reed appeared to blame his father for the treatment to which he had been subjected.[6] He wrote about the experience in his song "Kill Your Sons" from the albumSally Can't Dance (1974).[13] Reed later recalled the experience as having been traumatic and leading to memory loss. He believed that he was treated to dispel his homosexual feelings.[14] After Reed's death, his sister denied the ECT treatments were intended to suppress his "homosexual urges", asserting that their parents were nothomophobic but had been told by his doctors that ECT was necessary to treat Reed's mental and behavioral issues.[6]
Upon his recovery from his illness and associated treatment, Reed resumed his education atSyracuse University in 1960,[6] studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. He was aplatoon leader inROTC; he said he was later expelled from the program for holding an unloaded gun to his superior's head.[15]
Reed played music on campus under numerous band names (one being L.A. and the Eldorados) and played throughout Central New York.[16][17] Per his bandmates, they were routinely kicked out of fraternity parties for their brash personalities and insistence on performing their own material.[18] In 1961, he began hosting a late-night radio program onWAER calledExcursions on a Wobbly Rail.[7][19] Named after a song by pianistCecil Taylor, the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues, andjazz, particularly thefree jazz developed in the mid-1950s.[20] Reed said that when he started out he was inspired by such musicians asOrnette Coleman, who had "always been a great influence" on him; he said that his guitar on "European Son" was his way of trying to imitate the jazz saxophonist.[21]
Reed's sister said that during her brother's time atSyracuse, the university authorities had tried unsuccessfully to expel him because they did not approve of his extracurricular activities.[22] At Syracuse University, he studied under poetDelmore Schwartz, who he said was "the first great person I ever met", and they became friends.[16] He credited Schwartz with showing him how "with the simplest language imaginable, and very short, you can accomplish the most astonishing heights."[23] One of Reed's fellow students at Syracuse in the early 1960s (who also studied under Schwartz) was the musicianGarland Jeffreys; they remained close friends until the end of Reed's life.[24]
Jeffreys recalled Reed's time at Syracuse: "At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at [the bar] The Orange Grove. Me, Delmore and Lou. That would often be the center of the crew. And Delmore was the leader – our quiet leader."[24] While at Syracuse, Reed was also introduced to intravenous drug use for the first time, and quickly contractedhepatitis.[25] Reed later dedicated the song "European Son", from the first Velvet Underground album, to Schwartz.[26] In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" from his albumThe Blue Mask as a tribute to his late mentor.[27] He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write theGreat American Novel in a record album.[28] Reed metSterling Morrison, a student atCity University of New York, while the latter was visiting mutual friend, and fellow Syracuse student, Jim Tucker. Reed graduated from Syracuse University'sCollege of Arts and Sciences with a BAcum laude in English in June 1964.[13][29][30]
The Velvet Underground, 1968 (left to right: Reed, Tucker, Yule, Morrison)
Reed moved to New York City in 1964 to work as an in-house songwriter forPickwick Records. He can be heard singing lead on two cuts onThe Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook.[31] For Pickwick, Reed also wrote and recorded the single "The Ostrich", a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as "put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it". His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and assembled a supporting band to help promote the recording. Thead hoc band, called the Primitives: Reed; Welsh musicianJohn Cale, who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composerLa Monte Young'sTheatre of Eternal Music, on bass;Tony Conrad, violinist in the Theatre of Eternal Music, on guitar; and sculptorWalter De Maria on percussion. Cale and Conrad were surprised to find that for "The Ostrich", Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note, which they began to call his "ostrich guitar" tuning. This technique created adrone effect similar to their experimentation in Young'savant-garde ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "Heroin"), and a partnership began to evolve.[23]
Reed and Cale (who played viola, keyboards and bass guitar) lived together on theLower East Side, and invited Reed's college acquaintance Sterling Morrison and Cale's neighbor and Theatre of Eternal Music bandmateAngus MacLise to join the band on guitar and drums respectively, thus formingthe Velvet Underground. When the opportunity came to play their first paying gig atSummit High School inSummit, New Jersey, MacLise quit because he believed that accepting money for art was asellout and did not want to participate in a structured gig. He was replaced on drums byMoe Tucker, the sister of Reed and Morrison's mutual friend Jim Tucker. Initially a fill-in for that one show, she soon became a full-time member with her drumming an integral part of the band's sound, despite Cale's initial objections. Though it had little commercial success, the band is considered one of the most influential in rock history.[32][33][34] Reed was the main singer and songwriter in the band.[35]
Had he accomplished nothing else, his work with the Velvet Underground in the late sixties would assure him a place in anyone's rock & roll pantheon; those remarkable songs still serve as an articulate aural nightmare of men and women caught in the beauty and terror of sexual, street and drug paranoia, unwilling or unable to move. The message is that urban life is tough stuff—it will kill you; Reed, the poet of destruction, knows it but never looks away and somehow finds holiness as well as perversity in both his sinners and his quest. ... [H]e is still one of a handful of American artists capable of the spiritual home run.
The band soon came to the attention ofAndy Warhol. One of Warhol's first contributions was to integrate them into theExploding Plastic Inevitable. Warhol's associates inspired many of Reed's songs as he fell into a thriving, multifaceted artistic scene.[37][38] Reed rarely gave an interview without paying homage to Warhol as a mentor. Warhol pushed the band to take on achanteuse, the German former model and singerNico. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers.[39]
The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in March 1967 and peaked at No. 171 on the U.S.Billboard 200.[33] Much later,Rolling Stone listed it as the 13th greatest album of all time; MusicianBrian Eno once stated that although few people bought the album at the time of its release, most of those who did were inspired to form their own bands.[40]Václav Havel credited the album, which he bought while visiting the U.S., with inspiring him to become president ofCzechoslovakia.[41]
By the time the band recordedWhite Light/White Heat, Nico had quit the band and Warhol had been fired, both against Cale's wishes. Warhol's replacement as manager wasSteve Sesnick. In September 1968, Reed told Morrison and Tucker that he would dissolve the band if they did not let him fire Cale; they agreed, and Reed had Morrison inform Cale of his firing.[42] Morrison and Tucker were discomfited by Reed's tactics but remained in the band. Cale's replacement wasBoston-based musicianDoug Yule, who played bass guitar and keyboards and would soon share lead vocal duties with Reed.[43] The band now took on a more pop-oriented sound and acted more as a vehicle for Reed to develop his songwriting craft.[44] They released two studio albums with this lineup: 1969'sThe Velvet Underground and 1970'sLoaded. Reed left the Velvet Underground in August 1970.[45] The band disintegrated after Morrison and Tucker departed in 1971, and their final albumSqueeze was almost entirely Yule's work.[46]
After leaving the Velvet Underground, Reed moved to his parents' home onLong Island, and took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week[47] ($324 in 2024 dollars[48]). He began writing poetry, which was published later in 2018 byAnthology Editions through the Lou Reed Estate.[49] He signed a recording contract withRCA Records in 1971 and recorded his first solo album atMorgan Studios inWillesden, London with session musicians includingSteve Howe andRick Wakeman from the bandYes. The album,Lou Reed, contained versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which had originally been recorded forLoaded but shelved.[nb 2] This album was overlooked by most pop music critics and did not sell well, although music criticStephen Holden, inRolling Stone, called it an "almost perfect album. ... which embodied the spirit of the Velvets." Holden went on to compare Reed's voice with those ofMick Jagger andBob Dylan and praise the poetic quality of his lyrics.[50]
Reed's commercial breakthrough album,Transformer, was released in November 1972.Transformer was co-produced byDavid Bowie andMick Ronson, and it introduced Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK. The single "Walk on the Wild Side" was a salute to the misfits and hustlers who once surrounded Andy Warhol in the late '60s and appeared in his films. Each of the song's five verses describes a person who had been a fixture atThe Factory during the mid-to-late 1960s: (1)Holly Woodlawn, (2)Candy Darling, (3)"Little Joe" Dallesandro, (4) "Sugar Plum Fairy"Joe Campbell and (5)Jackie Curtis. The song's transgressive lyrics evaded radio censorship. Though the jazzy arrangement (courtesy of bassistHerbie Flowers and saxophonistRonnie Ross) was musically atypical for Reed, it eventually became his signature song.[51] It came about as a result of a commission to compose a soundtrack to a theatrical adaptation ofNelson Algren'snovel of the same name; the play failed to materialize.[52] "Walk on the Wild Side" was Reed's only entry in theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart, at No. 16.[53]
Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs. "Perfect Day", for example, features delicate strings and soaring dynamics. It was rediscovered in the 1990s and allowed Reed to drop "Walk on the Wild Side" from his concerts.[54]
Several years later, Bowie and Reed fell out during a late-night meeting which led to Reed hitting Bowie. Bowie had reportedly told Reed that he would have to "clean up his act" if they were to work together again.[5][nb 3]
Reed hired a local New York bar-band, the Tots, to tour in support ofTransformer and spent much of 1972 and early 1973 on the road with them. Though they improved over the months, Reed (with producerBob Ezrin's encouragement) decided to recruit a new backing band in anticipation of the upcomingBerlin album. He chose keyboardistMoogy Klingman to come up with a new five-member band on barely a week's notice.[56]
Berlin (July 1973) was aconcept album about twospeed-freaks in love in the city. The songs variously concerndomestic violence ("Caroline Says I", "Caroline Says II"), drug addiction ("How Do You Think It Feels"), adultery and prostitution ("The Kids"), and suicide ("The Bed"). Reed's late 1973 European tour, featuring lead guitaristsSteve Hunter andDick Wagner, mixed hisBerlin material with older numbers. Response toBerlin at the time of its release was generally negative, withRolling Stone pronouncing it "a disaster".[57] Reed found the poor reviews it received very disheartening.[58] Since then the album has been critically reevaluated, and in 2003Rolling Stone included it in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[59]Berlin peaked at No. 7 on theUK Albums Chart.[60]
Following the commercial disappointment ofBerlin, Reed befriendedSteve Katz ofBlood, Sweat & Tears (brother of his then-manager Dennis Katz), who suggested Reed put together a "great live band" and release a live album of Velvet Underground songs.[61] Katz would come on board as producer, and the albumRock 'n' Roll Animal (February 1974) contained live performances of the Velvet Underground songs "Sweet Jane", "Heroin", "White Light/White Heat", and "Rock and Roll". Wagner's live arrangements, and Hunter's intro to "Sweet Jane"[62] which opened the album, gave Reed's songs the live rock sound he was looking for, and the album peaked at No. 45 on theBillboard 200 for 28 weeks and soon became Reed's biggest selling album.[nb 4] It went gold in 1978, with 500,000 certified sales.[63]
Sally Can't Dance which was released later that year (in August 1974), became Reed's highest-charting album in the United States, peaking at No. 10 during a 14-week stay on theBillboard 200 album chart in October 1974.[64]
Throughout the 1970s, Reed was a heavy user ofmethamphetamine and alcohol.[66][67] In the summer of 1975, he was booked to headline Startruckin' 75 in Europe, a touringrock festival organized byMiles Copeland.[68] However, Reed's drug addiction made him unreliable and he never performed on the tour, causing Copeland to replace him withIke & Tina Turner.[68]
Reed's double albumMetal Machine Music (1975) was an hour of modulated feedback and guitar effects. Described byRolling Stone as the "tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator",[69] many critics interpreted it as a gesture of contempt, an attempt to break his contract with RCA or to alienate his less sophisticated fans. Reed claimed that the album was a genuine artistic effort inspired by thedrone music ofLa Monte Young,[70] and suggesting that references to classical music could be found buried in the feedback,[71] but he also said, "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am."[72][73] Lester Bangs declared it "genius", though also psychologically disturbing. The album, now regarded as a visionary textural guitar masterpiece by some music critics,[74] was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands and was withdrawn after a few weeks.[75][76]
Lou Reed doesn't just write about squalid characters, he allows them to leer and breathe in their own voices, and he colors familiar landscapes through their own eyes. In the process, Reed has created a body of music that comes as close to disclosing the parameters of human loss and recovery as we're likely to find. That qualifies him, in my opinion, as one of the few real heroes rock & roll has raised.
1975'sConey Island Baby was dedicated to Reed's then-partnerRachel Humphreys, atransgender woman Reed dated and lived with for three years.[78] Humphreys also appears in the photos on the cover of Reed's 1977 "best of" album,Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed.Rock and Roll Heart was his 1976 debut for his new record labelArista, andStreet Hassle (1978) was released in the midst of thepunk rock scene he had helped to inspire. Reed took on a watchful, competitive and sometimes dismissive attitude towards punk. Aware that he had inspired the scene, he regularly attended shows atCBGB to track the artistic and commercial development of numerous punk bands, and a cover illustration and interview of Reed appeared in the first issue ofPunk magazine byLegs McNeil.[79]
Reed released his third live album,Live: Take No Prisoners, in 1978; some critics thought it was his "bravest work yet", while others considered it his "silliest".[77]Rolling Stone described it as "one of the funniest live albums ever recorded" and compared Reed's monologs with those ofLenny Bruce.[77] Reed felt it was his best album to date.[77]The Bells (1979) featured jazz trumpeterDon Cherry. During 1979 Reed toured extensively in Europe and throughout the United States performing a wide range of songs, including a suite of core songs from hisBerlin album and the title track fromThe Bells featuringChuck Hammer on guitar-synth. Around this time Reed also appeared as a record producer inPaul Simon's filmOne-Trick Pony.[80] From around 1979 Reed began to wean himself off drugs.[66]
Reed's 1980 marriage to designer Sylvia Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980'sGrowing Up in Public[81] and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982'sThe Blue Mask. The latter album was enthusiastically received by critics such asRolling Stone writer Tom Carson, whose review began, "Lou Reed'sThe Blue Mask is a great record, and its genius is at once so simple and unusual that the only appropriate reaction is wonder. Who expected anything like this from Reed at this late stage of the game?"[82] In theVillage Voice,Robert Christgau calledThe Blue Mask "his most controlled, plainspoken, deeply felt, and uninhibited album."[83] AfterLegendary Hearts (1983) andNew Sensations (1984), Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become a spokesman forHonda scooters.[84] In the early 1980s, Reed worked with guitarists includingChuck Hammer onGrowing Up in Public, andRobert Quine onThe Blue Mask andLegendary Hearts.
In 1998,The New York Times observed that in the 1970s, Reed had a distinctive persona: "Back then he was publicly gay, pretended to shoot heroin onstage, and cultivated a 'Dachau panda' look, with cropped peroxide hair and black circles painted under his eyes."[85] The newspaper wrote that in 1980, "Reed renounced druggy theatrics, even swore off intoxicants themselves, and became openly heterosexual, openly married."[85]
The 1989 albumNew York, which commented on crime, AIDS, civil rights activistJesse Jackson, then-President of AustriaKurt Waldheim, andPope John Paul II, became his second gold-certified work when it passed 500,000 sales in 1997.[63] Reed was nominated for a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance for the album.[53]
1990–1999: Velvet Underground reunion and various projects
Reed met John Cale for the first time in several years at Warhol's funeral in 1987. They worked together on the albumSongs for Drella (April 1990), asong cycle about Warhol.[86] On the album, Reed sings of his love for his late friend, and criticizes both the doctors who were unable to save Warhol's life and Warhol's would-be assassin,Valerie Solanas. In 1990, the first Velvet Underground lineup reformed for aFondation Cartier benefit show in France.[87] In June and July 1993, the Velvet Underground again reunited and toured Europe, including an appearance at theGlastonbury Festival; plans for a North American tour were canceled following a dispute between Reed and Cale.[88][89]
Reed had released his sixteenth solo album,Magic and Loss, in January 1992. The album is focused on mortality, inspired by the death of two close friends from cancer. In 1994, he appeared inA Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who. In 1995, Reed made a cameo appearance in the unreleased video gamePenn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. If the player selects the "impossible" difficulty setting, Reed appears shortly after the game begins as an unbeatableboss who murders the player with his laser beam eyes. Reed then pops up on the screen and says to the player, "This is the impossible level, boys. Impossible doesn't mean very difficult, very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize, impossible is eating the sun."[90]
In 1997, theBBC created a version ofPerfect Day which featured many artists, including Reed. Initially created for advertising purposes, it was later released as a charity single forChildren in Need and became a Uk no.1 single.
In February 2000, Reed worked with Robert Wilson at theThalia Theater again, on POEtry, another production inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer, this timeEdgar Allan Poe. In April 2000, Reed releasedEcstasy. In January 2003, Reed released a 2-CD set,The Raven, based on POEtry. The album consists of songs written by Reed and spoken-word performances of reworked and rewritten texts of Edgar Allan Poe by actors, set to electronic music composed by Reed. It featuresWillem Dafoe, David Bowie,Steve Buscemi, andOrnette Coleman.[93] A single disc CD version of the album, focusing on the music, was also released.[nb 5]
In May 2000, Reed performed before Pope John Paul II at the Great Jubilee Concert inRome.[95] In 2001, Reed made a cameo appearance in themovie adaptation ofProzac Nation. On October 6, 2001,the New York Times published a Reed poem called "Laurie Sadly Listening" in which he reflects on theSeptember 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11).[96]Incorrect reports of Reed's death were broadcast by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be fromReuters) which said he had died of a drug overdose.[97] In April 2003, Reed began a world tour featuring the cellistJane Scarpantoni and singerAnohni.
In 2003, Reed released a book of photographs,Emotions in Action. This comprised anA4-sized book calledEmotions and a smaller one calledActions laid into its hard cover. In January 2006, he released a second book of photographs,Lou Reed's New York.[98] A third volume,Romanticism, was released in 2009.[5][99]
In December that year, Reed played a series of shows atSt. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, based onBerlin. Reed played with guitaristSteve Hunter, who played on the original album andRock 'n' Roll Animal, and was joined by singers Anohni andSharon Jones. The show was produced byBob Ezrin, who also produced the original album, and Hal Willner.[102] The show played at theSydney Festival in January 2007 and in Europe during June and July 2007. The album version of the concert, entitledBerlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse, and a live film recording of these concerts were both released in 2008. In April 2007, he releasedHudson River Wind Meditations, an album ofambientmeditational music. It was released on theSounds True record label. In June 2007, he performed at the Traffic Festival 2007 inTurin, Italy, a five-day free event organized by the city. In the same month "Pale Blue Eyes" was included in the soundtrack of the French-language film,The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.[103] In August 2007, Reed recorded "Tranquilize" withThe Killers in New York City, a duet withBrandon Flowers for the B-side/rarities albumSawdust.
On October 2 and 3, 2008, he introduced his new group, which was later namedMetal Machine Trio, at theWalt Disney Concert Hall Complex in Los Angeles. The trio featured Ulrich Krieger (saxophone) andSarth Calhoun (electronics), and played improvised instrumental music inspired byMetal Machine Music. Recordings of the concerts were released under the titleThe Creation of the Universe. The trio played at New York'sGramercy Theatre in April 2009, and appeared as part of Reed's band at the 2009Lollapalooza.[104]
Reed played "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" withMetallica atMadison Square Garden during the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2009. In 2010, Reed featured on the song "Some Kind of Nature" withvirtual bandGorillaz, from their third studio albumPlastic Beach.[105][106] In October 2011, Metallica and Reed released the collaboration albumLulu.[107] It was based on the "Lulu" plays by the German playwrightFrank Wedekind (1864–1918). The album received mixed and mainly negative reviews from music critics.[108][109] Reed joked that he had no fans left after Metal Machine Music.[110] The album debuted at No. 36 on theBillboard 200 with first-week sales of 13,000 copies,[111] and went on to sell 280,000 copies worldwide.[112]
In 2012, Reed collaborated withindie rock bandMetric on "The Wanderlust", the tenth track on their fifth studio albumSynthetica. This was to be the last original composition he worked on.[113]
Reed married Bettye Kronstad in 1973. She later said he had been a violent drunk when on tour.[66] From 1973 through early 1978, Reed was in a relationship withRachel Humphreys, a trans woman he met at Club 82.[114] Reed married British designer Sylvia Morales in 1980.[115][116] In 1994, they divorced.[117] From 1992 on, Reed was romantically linked to musician and artistLaurie Anderson, and the two worked together on several recordings. They married on April 12, 2008.[118]
On October 27, 2013, the day of Reed's death,Pearl Jam dedicated their song "Man of the Hour" to him at their show inBaltimore and then played "I'm Waiting for the Man".[136] On the same day,The Killers dedicated their rendition of "Pale Blue Eyes" to Reed at the Life Is Beautiful festival inLas Vegas.[137]My Morning Jacket performed a cover of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" in California,[138] whileArctic Monkeys performed "Walk on the Wild Side" in Liverpool.[139] That same night,Phish opened their show in Hartford, Connecticut, with the Velvet Underground's "Rock & Roll".[140]Lana Del Rey has said that Reed was supposed to record backing vocals on her single, "Brooklyn Baby", on the day of his death.[141] On November 14, 2013, a three-hour public memorial was held nearLincoln Center'sPaul Milstein Pool and Terrace. Billed as "New York: Lou Reed at Lincoln Center", the ceremony featured favorite Reed recordings selected by family and friends.[142] On March 14, 2014,Richard Barone andAlejandro Escovedo produced and hosted the first full-scale tribute to Lou Reed at theSXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, with over twenty international acts performing Reed's music.[143]
Reed's estate was valued at $30 million, $20 million of which accrued after his death. He left everything to his wife and his sister.[144]
Reed's induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist was announced on December 16, 2014.[145] He was inducted byPatti Smith at a ceremony in Cleveland on April 18, 2015.[146] In 2017,Lou Reed: A Life was published by theRolling Stone criticAnthony DeCurtis.[147]
An archive of his letters and other personal effects was donated to theNew York Public Library for the Performing Arts, where it can be viewed by members of the public.[151] In June 2022, the Library for the Performing Arts atLincoln Center hosted the "Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars", the first exhibition drawn from Reed's archive.[152][153]
In 2015, in the unofficial biographyNotes From The Velvet Underground, biographerHoward Sounes described Reed as having beenmisogynistic and violent toward women he was in relationships with[154] and racist, having calledDonna Summer andBob Dylan racial[155] and ethnic slurs.[156]
In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Reed at number 107 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[157]
In 2023, Laurie Anderson editedThe Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi.[158] The critically acclaimed book covers Reed's deep love and commitment totai chi and meditation, as told by Reed and his friends and family.
Reed's songwriting style has been described as "unusually literate" and often contained themes considered to be transgressive during the 1960s, namely drugs and sex. Reed was heavily influenced by literature and poetry, and strived to apply creative autonomy allowed in literature to rock music. He was known for thenoisy nature of his lead guitar style.[162]
Reed's main guitar during the Velvet Underground era was a 1964Gretsch Country Gentleman, which he modified extensively, to the extent that it became unplayable.[163][164] Modifications included the addition of Stratocaster pick ups, a repeater effect with speed and tremolo controls taken from a Vox pedal,[165][166] stereo outputs, and a battery powered pre-amp.[167][164] He later played various stockFender Telecasters, favoring models that were built specifically for him, such as theRick Kelly 'Lou Reed's T' Custom Telecaster and theFender Custom Shop Danny Gatton Telecaster.[164] He played various other electric guitars throughout his career:
^Contrary to some sources, his birth name was Lewis Allan Reed, not Louis Firbanks, a name that was coined as a joke byLester Bangs inCreem magazine.[2]
^"Lou Reed, 1942-2013".loureed.com. RetrievedJanuary 18, 2017.[He] started a band, he had his own radio show. He reportedly libeled some student on his radio show; the kid's family tried to sue my father. And there were other extracurricular possibly illegal activities of which the university didn't approve. I believe they tried to kick him out. But he was a genius; what could they do? He stayed and he graduated.
^ab"Rock and Roll Heart", documentary on the life of Lou Reed,American Masters
^"News from the Library of Congress".National Recording Registry. Library of Congress. March 6, 2007.For decades this album has cast a huge shadow over nearly every sub-variety of avant-garde rock, from 1970s art-rock to No Wave, New Wave and Punk. Referring to their sway over the rock music of the '70s and '80s, critic Lester Bangs stated, 'Modern music starts with the Velvets, and the implications and influence of what they did seem to go on forever.'
^ab"The Velvet Underground Biography".Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.The influence of the Velvet Underground on rock greatly exceeds their sales figures and chart numbers. They are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time, laying the groundwork in the Sixties for many tangents rock music would take in ensuing decades.
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