Rock Pioneer Lou Reed Dies at 71
Rock pioneer Lou Reed died to day at 71 years old.
Reed, a co-founder of the Velvet Underground in the late 60s before becoming a solo artist, was a major influence for glam rock and alt-rock.
Reed had been suffering from health problems and underwent a liver transplant in May after cancelling five West Coast performances, including Coachella and a show at the Warfield.
Today Rolling Stone wrote:
“With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music, marrying beauty and noise, while bringing a whole new lyrical honesty to rock & roll poetry.
With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music, marrying beauty and noise, while bringing a whole new lyrical honesty to rock & roll poetry. As a restlessly inventive solo artist, from the Seventies into the 2010s, he was chameleonic, thorny and unpredictable, challenging his fans at every turn. Glam, punk and alternative rock are all unthinkable without his revelatory example. “One chord is fine,” he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. “Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.”
