ET Canada

Music Icon Lou Reed Dead At 71

By Gavin Crisp.

Underground music pioneer, New York icon, and hugely influential songwriter, Lou Reed, has died at the age of 71. It has been reported by the NY Times that Reed died of liver disease, for which he had been receiving treatment earlier this year.

Reed rose to prominence as lead singer and chief songwriter for late 60s New York band The Velvet Underground, producing several albums including Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), White Light/White Heat (1968), and Loaded (1970), each inspiring legions of followers for decades to come. While the world’s ears were turned to Liverpool and the British Invasion in the late 60s, the Velvet Underground were creating a musical revolution in the streets of New York. The band parted ways in 1973, with their burgeoning legacy inspiring the likes of R.E.M. and fellow New Yorkers, The Strokes.

RELATED: Lou Reed, A Career At A Glance (photo gallery)

Reed continued to record music as a solo artist, working with producers David Bowie and Mick Ronson to produce Transformer (1972), which included the hits Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love, and Walk On The Wild Side. The 00s saw the musical iconoclast release intriguing — at times, oblique — music in the form of 2003’s double-album The Raven, a spoken-word production with contributions from Bowie, Christopher Walken, and Steve Buscemi, and 2011’s collaboration with Metallica, Lulu, a concept album based on the works of German playwright Frank Wedekind.

Story continues below

As news of Reed’s death spread across the internet, celebrities and musicians expressed their sadness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsvia Variety

Ad Choices