Velvet Underground guitarist/vocalist and legendary rock and roll trailblazer Lou Reed is dead at age 71. The official cause of death was liver disease.
Reed, along with John Cale, was a founding member of the Velvet Underground, a group widely recognized as the godfathers of punk and alternative rock. With a brand new take musical exploration, Reed consistently pushed the envelope in the Velvet Underground, as well as in his career as a solo artist. Though his commercial success was limited with the Velvets, he found success in his solo career, perhaps best known for the hit "Walk On The Wild Side," a track from 1972's Transformer. He continued to play and create music until the end of his life.
In addition to a massive body of work, Lou Reed leaves behind one of the most important legacies in rock history. His revolutionary, genre-spanning work defined the generations to follow. Songwriting and underground culture would have been left stagnant without the influence of this rock and roll pioneer.
In 1987, Reed told Rolling Stone:
“All through this, I’ve always thought that if you thought of all of it as a book then you have the Great American Novel, every record as a chapter. They’re all in chronological order. You take the whole thing, stack it and listen to it in order, there’s my Great American Novel.”
Rest in peace, Lou.
Source: Rolling Stone