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1942 births

Lou Reed

Ch. 1 of 8
— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Contents

Lou Reed

8 sections

  • Lou Reed made a record that almost nobody bought, and a future president of Czechoslovakia still credited it with changing his life. Václav Havel picked up The Velvet Underground & Nico while visiting the United States. He later said it inspired him to become president. The musician Brian Eno gave the same album its most famous verdict. Few people bought it at the time, he said, but most of those who did went on to form bands of their own.

    Reed, born Lewis Allan Reed, was the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter behind that group, the Velvet Underground. His solo career then stretched across five decades. Three trademarks followed him everywhere: a flat, deadpan voice, poetic and transgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing.

    How does a young man with literary ambitions end up writing songs about heroin, hustlers and mortality? What happened to him after the band he led came apart? And why do people still argue about whether he was a visionary, a provocateur, or simply hard to be around?

  • Lewis Allan Reed was born on the 2nd of March 1942 at Beth-El Hospital in Brooklyn, and he grew up in Freeport, New York. His mother was Toby, and his father, Sidney, was an accountant who had changed the family name from Rabinowitz to Reed. His grandparents were Russian and Polish Jews who came to the United States in the first decade of the 20th century, fleeing antisemitism.

    His sister Merrill remembered a teenager who suffered panic attacks and was socially awkward. She said he had a fragile temperament, yet he could focus intensely on the things he loved, above all music. He taught himself guitar from the radio and loved rock and roll and rhythm and blues. He played in several bands during high school. Reed was also dyslexic, and he began using drugs at the age of 16.

    In early 1958, a talent show at Freeport Junior High School drew an enthusiastic response for a doo-wop trio called the Jades. Reed played guitar and sang backing vocals. The group recorded an original single, "So Blue", with "Leave Her for Me" on the B-side. The producer Bob Shad brought in the saxophonist King Curtis to play on both songs. The single never reached a hit parade, but a substitute DJ on the Murray the K radio show played it, giving Reed his first airplay.

    His hunger to play gigs set him against his anxious parents. During his first year at New York University, he had a mental breakdown and was brought home, depressed, anxious and unresponsive. After a visit to a psychologist, his parents consented to electroconvulsive therapy. Reed later called the experience traumatic and said it caused memory loss. He appeared to blame his father. He believed the treatment was meant to dispel his homosexual feelings. After his death, his sister denied that, saying the doctors had told their parents the therapy was necessary for his mental and behavioral problems.

    Reed turned the memory into a song, "Kill Your Sons", which appeared on Sally Can't Dance in 1974.

  • In 1960, Reed resumed his studies at Syracuse University, taking up journalism, film directing and creative writing. He became a platoon leader in ROTC. By his own account, he was later expelled for holding an unloaded gun to a superior's head. His sister said the university authorities tried, without success, to expel him over his extracurricular activities.

    On campus he played under many band names, one of them L.A. and the Eldorados. His bandmates recalled being thrown out of fraternity parties because of their brash manner and their insistence on playing their own songs. In 1961 he began hosting a late-night show on the station WAER, called Excursions on a Wobbly Rail. The title came from a song by the pianist Cecil Taylor. The program mixed doo wop, rhythm and blues, and jazz, especially free jazz.

    Ornette Coleman was a musician Reed said had always influenced him. He described his guitar part on "European Son" as an attempt to imitate that saxophonist.

    The poet Delmore Schwartz taught Reed at Syracuse, and Reed called him "the first great person I ever met". From Schwartz he learned how very short, simple language could reach astonishing heights. Fellow student Garland Jeffreys, who also studied under Schwartz, remained a close friend until the end of Reed's life. Jeffreys remembered the routine: "At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at the bar The Orange Grove. Me, Delmore and Lou."

    Syracuse also brought darker firsts. Reed tried intravenous drugs for the first time there and quickly caught hepatitis. He later dedicated "European Son" to Schwartz, and in 1982 he recorded "My House" as another tribute. He said his goal as a writer was to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music, or even to write the Great American Novel as a record album.

    Reed graduated in June 1964 with a BA cum laude in English. Through a mutual friend named Jim Tucker, he had also met a City University of New York student, Sterling Morrison.

  • Reed moved to New York City in 1964 to work as a staff songwriter for Pickwick Records. He sang lead on two tracks of The Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook. He also wrote "The Ostrich", a parody of dance-craze songs with a line about putting your head on the floor and having somebody step on it. His employers saw hit potential and assembled a band called the Primitives to promote it.

    The welsh musician John Cale played bass in that band. Cale had recently arrived in New York to study music, and he played viola in La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music. Tony Conrad, a violinist from the same ensemble, played guitar, and the sculptor Walter De Maria played percussion. Cale and Conrad discovered that Reed had tuned every string of his guitar to one note. They nicknamed it "ostrich guitar" tuning. The drone it produced echoed their own avant-garde experiments.

    Cale was disappointed by Reed's playing, yet he was impressed by his early songs, including "Heroin". The two moved in together on the Lower East Side. They brought in Morrison on guitar and Angus MacLise, Cale's neighbor and Theatre of Eternal Music bandmate, on drums. That was the Velvet Underground, formed in 1965.

    The band's first paying gig was at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. MacLise quit, believing that taking money for art was selling out. Moe Tucker, the sister of Jim Tucker, replaced him as a fill-in for one night. She stayed, and her drumming became essential to the band's sound, despite Cale's early objections.

    Andy Warhol soon noticed them and became their manager. His first contribution was to fold them into the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. He also pushed them to add the German former model and singer Nico. Reed resisted at first, then wrote several songs for her to sing, and the two were briefly lovers. The Velvet Underground & Nico came out in March 1967 and peaked at No. 171 on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone later ranked it the 13th greatest album of all time.

    By the time of White Light/White Heat, Nico had left and Warhol had been fired, both against Cale's wishes. Steve Sesnick took over as manager. In September 1968, Reed told Morrison and Tucker he would dissolve the band unless they let him fire Cale. They agreed, and Morrison delivered the news. Boston musician Doug Yule took Cale's place and soon shared lead vocals with Reed. The band turned more pop, with a 1969 album named The Velvet Underground and then Loaded in 1970.

    Reed left in August 1970. After Morrison and Tucker departed in 1971, the final album, Squeeze, was almost entirely Yule's work.

  • Back on Long Island after leaving the band, Reed took a typing job at his father's tax accounting firm. By his own account, he earned $40 a week. He also began writing poetry, which the Lou Reed Estate published through Anthology Editions in 2018.

    In 1971 he signed with RCA Records and recorded his first solo album at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London. The session players included Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman from the band Yes. The album, Lou Reed, reworked unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of them shelved from the Loaded sessions. Most pop critics overlooked it and it sold poorly. Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone called it an "almost perfect album.... which embodied the spirit of the Velvets."

    Transformer arrived in November 1972, co-produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and it introduced Reed to a far wider audience, especially in Britain. Its single "Walk on the Wild Side" saluted the misfits and hustlers who had surrounded Warhol at The Factory. Each of its five verses portrays one of them: Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, "Little Joe" Dallesandro, "Sugar Plum Fairy" Joe Campbell and Jackie Curtis. The transgressive lyrics slipped past radio censors.

    The jazzy arrangement, by the bassist Herbie Flowers and saxophonist Ronnie Ross, was unusual for Reed. The song began as a commission for a soundtrack to a stage adaptation of Nelson Algren's novel of the same name, but that play never happened. It became his signature song and his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, at No. 16. Ronson's arrangements also shaped "Perfect Day", with its delicate strings. Rediscovered in the 1990s, that song let Reed drop "Walk on the Wild Side" from his concerts.

    Berlin followed in July 1973. It was a concept album about two speed-freaks in love in the city, with songs touching on domestic violence, addiction, adultery, prostitution and suicide. Rolling Stone called it "a disaster", and Reed found the reviews very disheartening. Time was kinder. The album reached No. 7 in the UK, and in 2003 Rolling Stone placed it on its list of the 500 greatest albums.

    Steve Katz, of Blood, Sweat & Tears, then suggested a live album of Velvet Underground songs. Rock 'n' Roll Animal appeared in February 1974, with guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. It spent 28 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 45, and went gold in 1978 with 500,000 certified sales. Sally Can't Dance followed in August 1974 and reached No. 10 in the United States, his highest American peak.

    A reunion with Bowie never came. In 1979, the two fell out during a late-night meeting after Bowie reportedly told Reed he would have to "clean up his act", and Reed hit him.

  • In the summer of 1975, Reed was booked to headline Startruckin' 75, a touring rock festival in Europe organized by Miles Copeland. He never played a date. Throughout the 1970s he was a heavy user of methamphetamine and alcohol, and his unreliability led Copeland to replace him with Ike & Tina Turner.

    That same year he released Metal Machine Music, a double album of an hour of modulated feedback and guitar effects. Rolling Stone described it as the "tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator". Many critics saw contempt, or a scheme to escape his RCA contract. Reed insisted it was a sincere artistic effort inspired by La Monte Young's drone music. He also joked, "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am." Lester Bangs called it genius. Thousands of copies reportedly came back to stores, and it was withdrawn within weeks.

    Coney Island Baby, also from 1975, was dedicated to Rachel Humphreys, a transgender woman with whom Reed lived for three years. Street Hassle came in 1978, in the middle of the punk scene he had helped inspire. He watched it warily, attending shows at CBGB. Reed appeared on the cover of the first issue of Punk magazine, created by Legs McNeil. Rolling Stone called his 1978 live album, Take No Prisoners, one of the funniest ever recorded, and compared his monologues with Lenny Bruce's. Reed thought it was his best album yet.

    From around 1979 he began weaning himself off drugs. His 1980 marriage to the designer Sylvia Morales inspired songs, including "Heavenly Arms" on The Blue Mask in 1982. Tom Carson of Rolling Stone called that record great, and Robert Christgau praised its plainspoken honesty. In 1998, The New York Times recalled the earlier Reed as publicly gay, miming heroin use onstage, with cropped peroxide hair and black circles painted under his eyes. It wrote that in 1980 he gave up the druggy theatrics and presented himself as openly married and heterosexual.

    New Sensations in 1984 gave him his first US Top 100 chart appearance since 1978. Its single "I Love You, Suzanne" got light rotation on MTV, and Reed became a spokesman for Honda scooters. On the 22nd of September 1985, he played at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. He also appeared on Steven Van Zandt's anti-apartheid song "Sun City", pledging not to play at that resort.

    The 1989 album New York commented on crime, AIDS, Jesse Jackson, Kurt Waldheim and Pope John Paul II. It earned a Grammy nomination and became his second gold record in 1997.

  • At Warhol's funeral in 1987, Reed saw John Cale for the first time in several years. Together they made Songs for Drella, released in April 1990, a song cycle about their late mentor. On it, Reed sings of his love for Warhol and criticizes both the doctors who failed to save him and his would-be assassin, Valerie Solanas.

    In 1990 the original Velvet Underground lineup reformed for a Fondation Cartier benefit in France. In June and July 1993 they toured Europe and played Glastonbury, but a dispute between Reed and Cale cancelled plans for a North American tour. The band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. At the ceremony, Reed, Cale and Tucker played "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend", for Sterling Morrison, who had died the previous August.

    Magic and Loss, Reed's sixteenth solo album, came out in January 1992. It centers on mortality, inspired by two close friends who died of cancer, and it became his highest-charting UK album at No. 6. In 1997, a star-studded BBC version of "Perfect Day" became a UK number one as a charity single for Children in Need.

    His theater work drew on 19th-century writers. For the director Robert Wilson, he wrote music for Time Rocker, based on H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, and later for POEtry, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. He turned the second into the 2003 double album The Raven. It featured Willem Dafoe, David Bowie, Steve Buscemi and Ornette Coleman.

    A stranger cameo came in 1995, in the unreleased video game Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. On the "impossible" setting, Reed appears as an unbeatable boss. His taunt: "impossible is eating the sun."

    Later work grew wilder. In 2007 he released Hudson River Wind Meditations, an album of ambient music. In October 2008 he introduced the Metal Machine Trio, with Ulrich Krieger and Sarth Calhoun, who improvised instrumental music inspired by Metal Machine Music. In October 2011 came Lulu, recorded with Metallica and based on plays by Frank Wedekind. Reviews were mixed and mostly negative. Reed joked that Metal Machine Music had already left him with no fans. It debuted at No. 36 and sold 280,000 copies worldwide.

    In 2012 he collaborated with the band Metric on "The Wanderlust", the last original composition he worked on.

  • On the 27th of October 2013, Lou Reed died of liver disease at his home in East Hampton, New York, aged 71. He had lived with hepatitis and diabetes for years. Treatment with interferons was followed by liver cancer, and in May 2013 he had a liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Afterward he wrote on his website that he felt "bigger and stronger" than ever. His widow, Laurie Anderson, called his last days peaceful and described him as a "prince and a fighter".

    Tributes poured in that same night. Pearl Jam dedicated "Man of the Hour" to him in Baltimore, then played "I'm Waiting for the Man". The Killers dedicated "Pale Blue Eyes" to him in Las Vegas, and Arctic Monkeys played "Walk on the Wild Side" in Liverpool. Phish opened a Hartford show with "Rock & Roll". Lana Del Rey said Reed had been due to record backing vocals on "Brooklyn Baby" that very day. A three-hour public memorial followed at Lincoln Center on the 14th of November 2013.

    His private life was complicated. He married Bettye Kronstad in 1973, and she later said he was a violent drunk on tour. He married Sylvia Morales in 1980 and divorced her in 1994. He was with Laurie Anderson from 1992, and they married on the 12th of April 2008. Late in life he practiced tai chi and studied meditation with the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. He also said his real god was rock 'n' roll. In his 2015 biography, Howard Sounes reported that many of Reed's intimates independently called him "a prick" and described him as violent toward women he was involved with.

    Honors kept arriving. Patti Smith inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in Cleveland on the 18th of April 2015. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 107 among the 200 greatest singers. His letters and papers went to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, which staged an exhibition from the archive in June 2022. His estate was valued at $30 million, and he left everything to his wife and his sister.

    Names in the sky and underground followed. Asteroid 270553 Loureed, discovered at Palomar Observatory in 2002, was named for him. In 2019 a spider found in Spain was named Loureedia. It has a velvet body and lives underground.

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Updated

Common questions

Who was Lou Reed?

Lou Reed, born Lewis Allan Reed on the 2nd of March 1942, was an American musician, songwriter and poet. He was the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground and had a solo career spanning five decades.

What is Lou Reed's most famous song?

"Walk on the Wild Side" from the 1972 album Transformer is Lou Reed's signature song. It was his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 16.

Who produced Lou Reed's album Transformer?

David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced Transformer, which Lou Reed released in November 1972. The album brought Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK.

Why did Lou Reed record Metal Machine Music?

Lou Reed said Metal Machine Music, released in 1975, was a genuine artistic effort inspired by the drone music of La Monte Young. Many critics read it as contempt or an attempt to escape his RCA contract, and it was withdrawn after a few weeks.

How did the Velvet Underground begin for Lou Reed?

Lou Reed formed the Velvet Underground in 1965 with John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Angus MacLise. Moe Tucker replaced MacLise before the band's first paying gig, and Andy Warhol later became their manager.

When and how did Lou Reed die?

Lou Reed died on the 27th of October 2013 at his home in East Hampton, New York, aged 71. The cause was liver disease, following a liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in May 2013.

When was Lou Reed inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Lou Reed was inducted in 1996 as a member of the Velvet Underground. He was inducted as a solo act on the 18th of April 2015, with Patti Smith presenting him.

All sources

164 references cited across the entry

  1. 1NewsLou Reed, 'Walk on the Wild Side' Rocker, Dies at 71October 27, 2013
  2. 2Lou Reed’s Sister Denies Parents’ Homophobia in Candid Childhood RetrospectiveChris Payne — April 15, 2015
  3. 3Lou Reed Facts, information, pictures
  4. 4A Family in Peril: Lou Reed's Sister Sets the Record Straight About His ChildhoodMerrill Reed Weiner — April 11, 2015
  5. 5Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel
  6. 6Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart
  7. 7Elvis Costello and Lou ReedNovember 21, 2008
  8. 8So Blue: An interview with Phil HarrisOlivier Landemaine — October 26, 2008
  9. 9BookLou Reed: the King of New YorkWill Hermes — Farrar, Straus and Giroux — 2023
  10. 10Lou ReedChris Colin
  11. 11MagazineMusic: Lou Reed's Nightshade CarnivalJay Cocks — April 24, 1978
  12. 12NewsLou Reed's lasting legacy at Syracuse University: A criminal, a dissident and a poetChris Baker — October 31, 2013
  13. 13News'The Velvet Underground' brilliantly recalls one of music's most innovative bandsMichael Lieberman — November 2, 2021
  14. 14News'I'll be your mirror': Lou Reed's time at SU shapes career as music legendDylan Segelbaum et al. — November 4, 2013
  15. 15News'Excursions on a Wobbly Rail': Alumna remembers Lou Reed's time at WAERDylan Segelbaum et al. — November 4, 2013
  16. 16Peel Slowly and SeeDavid Fricke — Polydor — 1995
  17. 17The Jazz-Punk Connection
  18. 18Lou Reed, 1942-2013
  19. 19"Rock and Roll Heart", documentary on the life of Lou Reed, American Masters
  20. 20Garland Jeffreys remembers his friend, Lou ReedJanuary 24, 2014
  21. 21The Velvet Underground & Nico1967
  22. 22News'He had novel-sized ideas': SU professor, classmate reflect on Lou Reed's admiration for poetDylan Segelbaum et al. — November 4, 2013
  23. 23Interview in Rolling Stone Nov/Dec 1987: Twentieth Anniversary Issue.
  24. 24Statement from Syracuse University Regarding the Passing of Lou ReedOctober 28, 2013
  25. 25JournalOn Our Short List: From the Wild SideRenée Gearhart Levy — Syracuse University — December 1989
  26. 26The Surfsiders – the Surfsiders Sing the Beach Boys Songbook (1967, Vinyl)1967
  27. 27News from the Library of CongressLibrary of Congress — March 6, 2007
  28. 28The Velvet Underground Biography
  29. 29The Velvet Underground: As influential as The Beatles?Greg Kot — BBC — October 21, 2014
  30. 30The Velvet Underground – Biography & HistoryRichie Unterberger
  31. 31Nelson, Paul. Rolling Stone, June 5, 1975. p. 60.
  32. 32Review of The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Deluxe Edition)Jones, Chris — 2002
  33. 33The True Story Of How Lou Reed Helped Overthrow Communism In Eastern EuropeOctober 27, 2013
  34. 34Topic 354: Richie Unterberger, White Light / White HeatMay 30, 2009
  35. 35Do Angels Need Haircuts?
  36. 36Holden, Stephen (May 25, 1972). Rolling Stone. p. 68
  37. 37MagazineBeatles Buy-OutJohn Wiener — May 11, 1987
  38. 38MagazineLou Reed's 'Perfect' Billboard Chart HistoryKeith Caulfield — October 27, 2013
  39. 39NewsBlurred vision at the BeebNick Walker — October 13, 1997
  40. 40NewsConcert Summary: May 2, 1973Bershaw
  41. 41NewsLou Reed: rock 'n' roll animalPaul Morley — November 1, 2013
  42. 42Magazine500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 344. Lou Reed, BerlinMay 31, 2009
  43. 43Lou Reed full Official Chart HistoryMay 12, 1973
  44. 44'He Treads Kind of Softly': Two Musicians Remember Working with Lou ReedOctober 28, 2013
  45. 45Dick Wagner and Steve HunterGreg Pedersen — May 15, 2001
  46. 46RIAARecord Industry Association of America
  47. 47MagazineSally Can't Dance Chart History
  48. 48NewsA Long-Lost Lou Reed Tape with a Surprise: Andy Warhol Lyrics - The cassette, discovered at the Andy Warhol Museum, finds the Velvet Underground musician performing snippets from his mentor's 1975 bookBen Sisaro — October 30, 2019
  49. 49NewsLou Reed saved by liver transplant after years of drugs and alcohol take their toll - TelegraphPatrick Sawer — June 1, 2011
  50. 50BookSting and The Police: Walking in Their FootstepsAaron J. West — Rowman & Littlefield — October 1, 2015
  51. 51NewsLou Reed Was a Rock God and the Epitome of Cool. He Was Also a Big Nerd.Geeta Dayal — October 28, 2013
  52. 52Alan Licht, Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020, Blank Forms Edition, Interview with Lou Reed, pp.155-172
  53. 53NewsGraded on a Curve: Lou Reed, Metal Machine MusicMichael H. Little — March 9, 2018
  54. 54BookAll Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and SoulBackbeat Books — 2002
  55. 55BookIf You Like Metallica...: Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies and Other Oddities That You Will LoveMike McPadden — Backbeat — May 1, 2012
  56. 56NewsComing to Cranbrook Nov. 21: '3-D installation' of Lou Reed's 1975 feedback masterpiece 'Metal Machine Music'Mike McGonigal — September 4, 2015
  57. 57Lou Reed with Anthony DeCurtis - 92Y On DemandSeptember 18, 2006
  58. 58NewsReview of Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music: Re-masteredBBC
  59. 59PUNK Magazine Began With Lou Reed ComicOctober 28, 2013
  60. 60MagazineLou Reed's heart of darknessMikal Gilmore — March 22, 1979
  61. 61The tragic moment Lou Reed punched David Bowie in the faceStaff — March 20, 2024
  62. 62David Bowie's 50th birthday performance with Lou Reed
  63. 63One-Trick Pony (1980)IMDb
  64. 64MagazineThe Blue MaskTom Carson — April 15, 1982
  65. 65Lou Reed: The Blue MaskRobert Christgau
  66. 66NewsLou Reed, 1942 - 2013 Influential pioneer of punk, art rockRandy Lewis — October 28, 2013
  67. 67MagazineLou Reed remembered by VU bandmate John CaleKyle Anderson — October 28, 2013
  68. 68MagazineSee Velvet Underground Play 'Heroin' at 1990 Reunion - Rolling StoneAndy Greene — October 25, 2016
  69. 69NewsOlder but Still Hip, the Velvet Underground Rocks AgainJohn Rockwell — June 5, 1993
  70. 70Their Last Tour: The Velvet Underground - Live in Paris, 1993January 16, 2011
  71. 71Penn Jillette-Lou Reed: Rock & Roll HeartPBS — June 26, 1997
  72. 72Magazine7. The Velvet Underground (1996)Andy Greene — April 7, 2014
  73. 73NewsNext Wave Festival: Echoes of H. G. Wells, Rhythms of Lou ReedJon Pareles — November 14, 1997
  74. 74Lou Reed's Obsession With Edgar Allan Poe Spawns The RavenVH1 — December 27, 2002
  75. 75NewsRavenous Reed
  76. 76NewsPope John Paul II: Friend Of Bono, Fan Of Pop CultureMTV
  77. 77War Poems
  78. 78"Death of Lou Reed", Museum of Hoaxes web site
  79. 79BookLou Reed's New York
  80. 80NewsLou Reed: PhotographerNovember 10, 2009
  81. 81"Came so far for Beauty" in Dublin
  82. 82Watch Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ... - Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel Online
  83. 83The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - SoundtracksIMDb
  84. 84NewsRolling Stone review of the Metal Machine Trio concert at the Gramercy in New YorkApril 24, 2009
  85. 85Lou Reed at Lollapalooza 2009Lollapalooza 2009
  86. 86Metallica with Ozzy, Lou Reed, Ray Davies at Rock Hall Concert: More Video Footage AvailableRoadrunner Records
  87. 87Secret Recording Project?June 15, 2010
  88. 88Lulu Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and MoreMetacritic
  89. 89Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu (staff review)October 21, 2011
  90. 90NewsMetallica, Lou Reed go on a genre bender with 'Lulu'Edna Gundersen — November 1, 2011
  91. 91MagazineOn The Charts: Justin Bieber Annihilates LoutallicaAndy Greene — November 9, 2011
  92. 92Here are the astonishing US sales stats for every Metallica albumSimon Young — March 9, 2023
  93. 93NewsMetric On Recording Lou Reed Duet 'The Wanderlust'Joshua Ostroff — October 28, 2013
  94. 94Who Was the Real Lou Reed?Alex Williams — November 1, 2015
  95. 95New York Series: Lou Reed "Coney Island Baby" - NYS MusicRob Simakovsky — March 30, 2021
  96. 96Bettye Kronstad has spoken about her marriage to Lou Reed for the first timeApril 10, 2015
  97. 97NewsLou Reed: Walk on the mild sideRobert Sandall — February 9, 2003
  98. 98NewsMorning Memo: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson Make it LegalIrina Aleksander — April 23, 2008
  99. 99The Gospel According to Lou: Interview with Lou ReedGabriella — November 1998
  100. 100Lou Reed's paradoxical JewishnessOctober 27, 2013
  101. 101Magic & Loss: Celebrating Lou ReedRod Meade Sperry
  102. 102MagazineLaurie Anderson, "For 21 years we tangled our minds and hearts together"November 6, 2013
  103. 103MagazineLou Reed Recovering From Liver TransplantJune 2013
  104. 104NewsCleveland Clinic confirms rock legend Lou Reed underwent liver transplant at hospitalTom Feran — June 11, 2013
  105. 105MagazineLou Reed's Cause of Death ConfirmedScissor Press — October 29, 2013
  106. 106NewsOutsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision Helped Shape Rock 'n' RollBen Ratliff — October 27, 2013
  107. 107NewsLou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71Jon Dolan — October 27, 2013
  108. 108MagazineDavid Byrne Remembers the 'Brave' Lou ReedOctober 28, 2013
  109. 109MagazinePatti Smith: 'Lou Reed Was a Very Special PoetOctober 28, 2013
  110. 110NewsDavid Bowie leads tributes to 'master' Lou ReedOctober 28, 2013
  111. 111NewsJust wild about Lou: Tributes pour in for rock pioneer Lou ReedOctober 28, 2013
  112. 112David Bowie, Morrissey, John Cale Release Statements on Lou Reed's DeathCarrie Battan — October 28, 2013
  113. 113NewsRock legend Lou Reed dies at 71Steve Almasy et al. — CNN — October 28, 2013
  114. 114NewsJohn Cale Remembers Friend Lou Reed: 'We Have the Best of Our Fury Laid Out on Vinyl'October 27, 2013
  115. 115NewsVatican leads tributes to Lou ReedCharlotte Runcie — October 28, 2013
  116. 116Case, Wesley (October 28, 2013)."After 23 Years Pearl Jam Finally Comes to Baltimore" . The Sun (Baltimore). Retrieved October 28, 2013
  117. 117The Killers cover Lou Reed's 'Pale Blue Eyes' at Las Vegas gig – watchOctober 30, 2013
  118. 118NewsSee Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket Pay Musical Tribute to Lou ReedMarc Hogan — October 28, 2013
  119. 119NewsArctic Monkeys Honor Lou ReedMike Ayers — October 29, 2013
  120. 120phish.in'October 27, 2013
  121. 121Lana Del Rey Says Lou Reed Died the Day They Were Supposed to Record 'Brooklyn Baby' TogetherJune 12, 2014
  122. 122MagazineLou Reed's Memorial Lets the Music Speak for ItselfDavid Chiu — March 4, 2014
  123. 123MagazineInside the Lou Reed Tribute at SXSW: 20-Plus Acts, All-Star House Band to Create 'Austin Meets New York Street Vibe'March 7, 2014
  124. 124NewsLou Reed leaves $30m fortuneJuly 1, 2014
  125. 125NewsGreen Day, Lou Reed among Rock Hall inducteesDecember 16, 2014
  126. 126MagazineRead Patti Smith's Poignant Lou Reed Rock Hall InductionApril 19, 2015
  127. 127NewsMy brilliant and troubled friend Lou ReedAnthony DeCurtis — October 1, 2017
  128. 128Velvet spider named after Lou Reed found in Europe for the first timeJosh Davis — January 18, 2019
  129. 129Lou Reed Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
  130. 130Press releaseLou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars to Open at The New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsAlex Teplitzky — March 15, 2022
  131. 131News'You Don't Become Lou Reed Overnight.' A New Exhibition Proves It.Ben Sisario et al. — June 6, 2022
  132. 132NewsLou Reed biographer alleges history of violence against womenGuardian Music — October 13, 2015
  133. 133NewsLou Reed Described Bob Dylan as a 'Pretentious Kike'Nico Hines — October 10, 2015
  134. 134NewsLou Reed Was a Jealous, Misogynistic 'Prick' Who Acted Obnoxious to Sell RecordsLauren Oyler — October 23, 2015
  135. 135MagazineThe 200 Greatest Singers of All TimeJanuary 1, 2023
  136. 136BookThe Art of the Straight Line: My Tai ChiLou Reed — Faber — 2023
  137. 137NewsLou Reed Archive Series, With Unreleased Songs, Announced by Light in the AtticEvan Minsker et al. — June 6, 2022
  138. 138NewsLou Reed Archive Series to Roll Out Rare and Unreleased Material from the Godfather of PunkAlex Hopper — June 6, 2022
  139. 139NewsLou Reed's earliest Velvet Underground demos unearthed for reissueBen Beaumont-Thomas — June 6, 2022
  140. 140Ageism, Lou Reed's Lulu, Madonna's Tongue and Jazz FestPaul de Revere — April 24, 2015
  141. 141Lou Reed – Reflecting on the 50th Anniversary of "Transformer"Austin Saalman
  142. 142Listen to a Lost Tape by a 23-Year-Old Lou ReedElla Feldman — September 15, 2022
  143. 143NewsLou Reed: Hero of his new diskRobert Palmer — March 13, 1983
  144. 144Lou Reed Papers: Live: Take No Prisoners & Street HassleJune 21, 2024
  145. 145Lou Reed Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |Mark Deming
  146. 146Lou Reed Talks About the Velvet Underground, Songwriting and Gear in 1998 Guitar World InterviewAlan di Perna — November 6, 2013
  147. 147Lou Reed Guitars & Gear List (with Videos)August 3, 2021
  148. 148VU Guitar Photos ThreadSimon M.
  149. 149BookUptightVictor Bockris — Music Sales Corp — January 1, 1983
  150. 150Jim Kelley Reverb ModelBob Dragich — December 2, 2016
  151. 152270553 Loureed (2002 GG178)
  152. 153MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
  153. 154BookThe Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish PunkSteven Lee Beeber — Chicago Review Press — 2006
  154. 155BookTransformer: The Lou Reed StoryVictor Bockris — Simon & Schuster — 1994
  155. 156BookWords and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's MusicBill Brown — Colossal Books — 2013
  156. 157BookLou Reed & The Velvet UndergroundDiana Clapton — Music Sales Group — 2012
  157. 158BookLou Reed: A LifeAnthony DeCurtis — Little Brown — 2017
  158. 159BookLou Reed: The King of New YorkWill Hermes — Farrar, Straus and Giroux — 2023
  159. 160BookPlease Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of PunkLegs McNeil et al. — Grove Press — 2006
  160. 161BookBetween Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou ReedLou Reed — Hyperion — 1991
  161. 162BookDo Angels Need Haircuts?Lou Reed — Anthology Editions — 2018
  162. 163BookLou Reed: The Stories Behind the SongsChris Roberts et al. — Hal Leonard — 2004
  163. 164BookYour Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou ReedDave Thompson — Backbeat Books — 2009
  164. 165BookWhite Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-by-DayRichie Unterberger — Jawbone Press — 2009

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