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{{Short description|American rock musician (1942–2013)}}
{{for|the Welsh rugby player|Lou Reed (rugby union)}}
{{Redirect|Lewis Reed|the St. Louis alderman|Lewis E. Reed}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
| image             = Lou reed (cropped).jpg
| caption           = Reed performing live at [[Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall]] in [[Portland, Oregon]] in 2004
| background        = solo_singer
| birth_name        = Lewis Allan Reed
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1942|3|2}}
| birth_place       = New York City, U.S.<!--No boroughs/neighborhoods, just cities per format.-->
| origin            = [[Freeport, New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2013|10|27|1942|3|2}}
| death_place       = [[East Hampton, New York]], U.S.
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Rock music|Rock]]|[[art rock]]|[[proto-punk]]|[[glam rock]]}}
| occupation        = {{hlist|Musician|singer|songwriter|composer|photographer}}<!--Please do not add to this list without first discussing your proposal on the talk page. -->
| instrument        = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar}}<!--- If you think an instrument should be listed or removed, a discussion to reach consensus is needed first per: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_musical_artist#instrument--->
| discography       = [[Lou Reed discography]]
| years_active      = 1958–2013
| label             = {{hlist|[[Pickwick Records|Pickwick]]|[[Verve Records|Verve]]|[[MGM Records|MGM]]|[[Cotillion Records|Cotillion]]|[[RCA Records|RCA]]|[[Arista Records|Arista]]|[[Sire Records|Sire]]|[[Warner Records|Warner Bros.]]}}
| past_member_of    = {{hlist|[[Lou Reed#1958–1964: Early recordings and education|The Jades]]|[[Lou Reed#1964–1970: Pickwick and the Velvet Underground|The Primitives]]|[[The Velvet Underground]]|[[Metal Machine Trio]]}}
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Bettye Kronstad|1973|1973|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|Sylvia Morales|1980|1994|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|[[Laurie Anderson]]|2008}}
}}
}}
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'''Lewis Allan Reed''' (March 2, 1942{{spnd}}October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band [[the Velvet Underground]] and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Although not commercially successful during its existence, the Velvet Underground came to be regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of [[underground music|underground]] and [[alternative rock]] music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic and [[Transgressive art|transgressive]] lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.

Reed, [[John Cale]], [[Sterling Morrison]], and [[Angus MacLise]] formed the Velvet Underground in 1965. After building a reputation in the avant garde music scene, the Velvet Underground gained the attention of [[Andy Warhol]], who became the band's manager. The Velvet Underground became something of a fixture at [[The Factory]], Warhol's art studio, and served as his "house band" for various projects. The band released its [[Velvet Underground & Nico|first album]], now with drummer [[Moe Tucker]] and featuring German singer [[Nico (German singer)|Nico]], 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 Velvet Underground, Reed embarked on a successful solo career, releasing twenty solo studio albums. His second album, ''[[Transformer (Lou Reed album)|Transformer]]'' (1972), was produced by [[David Bowie]] and arranged by [[Mick Ronson]]; it brought him mainstream recognition. The album is considered an influential landmark of the [[glam rock]] genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "[[Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed song)|Walk on the Wild Side]]". The less commercial but critically acclaimed ''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' peaked at No. 7 on the [[UK Albums Chart]]. ''[[Rock 'n' Roll Animal]]'' (a live album released in 1974) sold strongly, and ''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' (1974) peaked at No. 10 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. When Reed's work ceased to sell well, his drug addiction and alcoholism intensified. Reed achieved sobriety in the early 1980s, gradually returning to prominence with ''[[The Blue Mask]]'' (1982) and ''[[New Sensations]]'' (1984). He reached a critical and commercial career peak with his 1989 album ''[[New York (album)|New York]]''.

Reed participated in the re-formation of the Velvet Underground in the 1990s. He also made several more albums, including a collaboration album with [[John Cale]] titled ''[[Songs for Drella]]'' which was a tribute to their former mentor [[Andy 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 titled ''[[The Raven (Lou Reed album)|The Raven]]''. Reed was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996 and as a solo act in 2015.

==Biography==
===1942–1957: Early life===
Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, at Beth-El Hospital (later [[Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center|Brookdale]]) in [[Brooklyn]] and grew up in [[Freeport, New York|Freeport]], [[Long Island|New York]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-27/lou-reed-rocker-who-sang-walk-on-the-wild-side-dies-at-71.html |title=Lou Reed, 'Walk on the Wild Side' Rocker, Dies at 71 |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=October 27, 2013 |access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref>{{refn|Contrary to some sources, his birth name was Lewis Allan Reed, not Louis Firbanks, a name that was coined as a joke by [[Lester Bangs]] in ''[[Creem]]'' magazine.{{sfnp|Roberts|Reed|2004|p=18}}|group=nb}} Reed was the son of Toby (née Futterman) (1920–2013) and Sidney Joseph Reed (1913–2005), an accountant.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lou_Reed.aspx |title=Lou Reed Facts, information, pictures|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=December 24, 2012}}</ref> His family was Jewish and his grandparents were [[Russian Jews]] who had fled antisemitism;{{sfnp|Beeber|2006|p=11}} his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}

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 suffered [[panic attack]]s, became socially awkward and "possessed a fragile temperament" but was highly focused on things that he liked, mainly music.<ref name=medium>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/a-family-in-peril-lou-reed-s-sister-sets-the-record-straight-about-his-childhood-20e8399f84a3|title=A Family in Peril: Lou Reed's Sister Sets the Record Straight About His Childhood|first=Merrill Reed|last=Weiner|date=April 11, 2015|website=[[Medium.com]]|access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref> Having learned to play the guitar from the radio, he developed an early interest in [[rock and roll]] and rhythm and blues, and during high school played in several bands.<ref name="Costello interview">{{cite episode|title=Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel|url=http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500328617|series=Spectacle|airdate=2008|season=1|number=2|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415182218/http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500328617|archive-date=April 15, 2009}}</ref>

Reed was [[dyslexic]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHB0YVZvz1U| title = Elvis Costello and Lou Reed| date = November 21, 2008| via = YouTube}}</ref> He began using drugs at the age of 16.<ref name=medium/>

=== 1958–1964: Early recordings and education ===
[[File:Lou Reed HS Yearbook (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Reed as a high school senior, 1959]]
Reed's first recording was as a member of a [[doo-wop]] three-piece group called the Jades, with Reed providing guitar accompaniment and backing vocals.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}} After participating at a talent show at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958, and receiving an enthusiastic response from the audience,<ref name=landemaine>{{cite web|first=Olivier |last=Landemaine |date=October 26, 2008 |title=So Blue: An interview with Phil Harris |url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/loureed/thejades/jades.html}}</ref> the group was given the chance to record an original single "So Blue" with the B-side "Leave Her for Me" later that year.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}} While the single did not reach any music hit parade, notable saxophonist [[King Curtis]] was brought in as a session musician by the producer [[Bob Shad]] to play on both songs,{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}}<ref name=landemaine/> and the single was played by a substitute DJ during the [[Murray the K]] radio show,{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=54}} which gave Reed his first-ever airplay.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}}<ref name=landemaine/> Reed's love for playing music and his desire to play gigs brought him into confrontation with his anxious and unaccommodating parents.<ref name=medium/>

His sister recalled that during his first year in college, at [[New York University]], he was brought home one day, having had a [[mental breakdown]], after which he remained "depressed, anxious, and socially unresponsive" for a time, and that his parents were having difficulty coping.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hermes |first=Will |title=Lou Reed: the King of New York |date=2023 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-19339-3 |edition=1st |location=New York |publication-date=2023 |pages=24–31}}</ref> Visiting a psychologist, Reed's parents were made to feel guilty as inadequate parents, and they consented to giving him [[electroconvulsive therapy]] (ECT).<ref name=medium/> Reed appeared to blame his father for the treatment to which he had been subjected.<ref name=medium/> He wrote about the experience in his song "Kill Your Sons" from the album ''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' (1974).<ref name="Salon.com_LouReed_Syracuse_BA">{{cite web|url=http://dir.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/16/reed|title=Lou Reed|last=Colin|first=Chris|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|access-date=June 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107125917/http://dir.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/16/reed|archive-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref> 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.{{sfnp|McNeil|McCain|2006|p=4}} After Reed's death, his sister denied the ECT treatments were intended to suppress his "homosexual urges", asserting that their parents were not [[homophobic]] but had been told by his doctors that ECT was necessary to treat Reed's mental and behavioral issues.<ref name=medium/>

Upon his recovery from his illness and associated treatment, Reed resumed his education at [[Syracuse University]] in 1960,<ref name=medium/> studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. He was a [[platoon leader]] in [[ROTC]]; he said he was later expelled from the program for holding an unloaded gun to his superior's head.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916140,00.html|title=Music: Lou Reed's Nightshade Carnival|date=April 24, 1978|first=Jay|last=Cocks|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref>

Reed played music on campus under numerous band names (one being L.A. and the Eldorados) and played throughout Central New York.<ref name="lasting legacy at Syracuse">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Chris |title=Lou Reed's lasting legacy at Syracuse University: A criminal, a dissident and a poet |url=https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/2013/10/lou_reed_syracuse_university.html |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Post-Standard]] |date=October 31, 2013 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lieberman |first1=Michael |title='The Velvet Underground' brilliantly recalls one of music's most innovative bands |url=https://dailyorange.com/2021/11/velvet-underground-brilliantly-recalls-music-innovative-bands-documentary-lou-reed-screentime/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> Per his bandmates, they were routinely kicked out of fraternity parties for their brash personalities and insistence on performing their own material.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='I'll be your mirror': Lou Reed's time at SU shapes career as music legend |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/ill-be-your-mirror-lou-reeds-time-at-su-shapes-career-as-music-legend/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> In 1961, he began hosting a late-night radio program on [[WAER]] called ''Excursions on a Wobbly Rail''.<ref name="Costello interview"/><ref name="Wobbly rail at WAER">{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='Excursions on a Wobbly Rail': Alumna remembers Lou Reed's time at WAER |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/excursions-on-a-wobbly-rail-alumna-remembers-lou-reeds-time-at-waer/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> Named after a song by pianist [[Cecil Taylor]], the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues, and [[jazz]], particularly the [[free jazz]] developed in the mid-1950s.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|first=David|last=Fricke|type=liner notes|title=Peel Slowly and See|publisher=Polydor|year=1995}}</ref> Reed said that when he started out he was inspired by such musicians as [[Ornette 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/jazzpunk.html|title=The Jazz-Punk Connection|work=furious.com|access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref>

Reed's sister said that during her brother's time at [[Syracuse University|Syracuse]], the university authorities had tried unsuccessfully to expel him because they did not approve of his extracurricular activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loureed.com/inmemoriam|title=Lou Reed, 1942-2013|work=loureed.com|access-date=January 18, 2017|quote=[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.}}</ref> At Syracuse University, he studied under poet [[Delmore Schwartz]], who he said was "the first great person I ever met", and they became friends.<ref name="lasting legacy at Syracuse"/> He credited Schwartz with showing him how "with the simplest language imaginable, and very short, you can accomplish the most astonishing heights."<ref name=documentary>"Rock and Roll Heart", documentary on the life of Lou Reed, ''American Masters''</ref> One of Reed's fellow students at Syracuse in the early 1960s (who also studied under Schwartz) was the musician [[Garland Jeffreys]]; they remained close friends until the end of Reed's life.<ref name="syracuse.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/01/garland_jeffreys_le_moyne_lou_reed.html|title=Garland Jeffreys remembers his friend, Lou Reed|work=syracuse.com|date=January 24, 2014|access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref>

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."<ref name="syracuse.com"/> While at Syracuse, Reed was also introduced to intravenous drug use for the first time, and quickly contracted [[hepatitis]].{{sfnp|Clapton|2012|p=}} Reed later dedicated the song "European Son", from the first Velvet Underground album, to Schwartz.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=The Velvet Underground & Nico |year=1967 |type=album cover notes and record label}}</ref> In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" from his album ''[[The Blue Mask]]'' as a tribute to his late mentor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='He had novel-sized ideas': SU professor, classmate reflect on Lou Reed's admiration for poet |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/he-had-novel-sized-ideas-su-professor-classmate-reflect-on-lou-reeds-admiration-for-poet/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write the [[Great American Novel]] in a record album.<ref>Interview in ''Rolling Stone'' Nov/Dec 1987: Twentieth Anniversary Issue.</ref> Reed met [[Sterling Morrison]], a student at [[City University of New York]], while the latter was visiting mutual friend, and fellow Syracuse student, Jim Tucker. Reed graduated from Syracuse University's [[Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences|College of Arts and Sciences]] with a BA ''[[cum laude]]'' in English in June 1964.<ref name="Salon.com_LouReed_Syracuse_BA"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.syr.edu/statement-from-syracuse-university-regarding-the-passing-of-lou-reed-59708|title=Statement from Syracuse University Regarding the Passing of Lou Reed|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=October 28, 2013|archive-date=November 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108234847/http://news.syr.edu/statement-from-syracuse-university-regarding-the-passing-of-lou-reed-59708/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Renée Gearhart |title=On Our Short List: From the Wild Side |journal=Syracuse University Magazine |date=December 1989 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=5–6 |url=https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol6/iss2/3/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |publisher=[[Syracuse University]]}}</ref>

===1964–1970: Pickwick and the Velvet Underground===
[[File:Velvet Underground 1968 by Billy Name.png|thumb|upright=0.75|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 for [[Pickwick Records]]. He can be heard singing lead on two cuts on ''The Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Surfsiders-The-Surfsiders-Sing-The-Beach-Boys-Songbook/release/2066726|title = The Surfsiders – the Surfsiders Sing the Beach Boys Songbook (1967, Vinyl)|website = [[Discogs]]| year=1967 }}</ref> 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. The ''ad hoc'' band, called the Primitives, consisted of Reed; Welsh musician [[John Cale]], who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer [[La Monte Young]]'s [[Theatre of Eternal Music]], on bass; [[Tony Conrad]], violinist in the Theatre of Eternal Music, on guitar; and sculptor [[Walter 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 "[[ostrich guitar]]" tuning. This technique created a [[drone (music)|drone]] effect similar to their experimentation in Young's [[avant-garde]] ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "[[Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)|Heroin]]"), and a partnership began to evolve.<ref name=documentary/>

Reed and Cale (who played viola, keyboards and bass guitar) lived together on the [[Lower East Side]], and invited Reed's college acquaintance Sterling Morrison and Cale's neighbor and Theatre of Eternal Music bandmate [[Angus MacLise]] to join the band on guitar and drums respectively, thus forming [[the Velvet Underground]]. When the opportunity came to play their first paying gig at [[Summit High School (New Jersey)|Summit High School]] in [[Summit, New Jersey]], MacLise quit because he believed that accepting money for art was [[selling out]] and did not want to participate in a structured gig. He was replaced by [[Moe 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.<ref name="nrr-loc">{{cite web |title=News from the Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-039.html |website=National Recording Registry |publisher=Library of Congress |date=March 6, 2007 |quote=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.'}}</ref><ref name=rrhallbio>{{cite web |title=The Velvet Underground Biography |url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/the-velvet-underground/bio/ |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131125-do-the-velvets-beat-the-beatles |title=The Velvet Underground: As influential as The Beatles? |last=Kot |first=Greg |publisher=BBC |date=October 21, 2014 |access-date=November 25, 2016}}</ref> Reed was the main singer and songwriter in the band.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title=The Velvet Underground – Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-velvet-underground-mn0000840402/biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|align=right|quote=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.|source= —''[[Rolling Stone]]'', 1975<ref>Nelson, Paul. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', June 5, 1975. p. 60.</ref>}}

The band soon came to the attention of [[Andy Warhol]]. One of Warhol's first contributions was to integrate them into the [[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]. Warhol's associates inspired many of Reed's songs as he fell into a thriving, multifaceted artistic scene.{{sfnp|Reed|1991|pp=22, 38, 42}}{{sfnp|Thompson|2009|p=18}} Reed rarely gave an interview without paying homage to Warhol as a mentor. Warhol pushed the band to take on a [[chanteuse]], the German former model and singer [[Nico (German singer)|Nico]]. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=104, 106, 107}}

''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' was released in March 1967 and peaked at No. 171 on the U.S. [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref name=rrhallbio /> Much later, ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as the 13th greatest album of all time; musician [[Brian 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.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jones, Chris |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fq4h |archive-date= April 30, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120430223626/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fq4h/ |title=Review of The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Deluxe Edition) |work=BBC Music |year=2002 |access-date=October 28, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Václav Havel]] credited the album, which he bought while visiting the U.S., with inspiring him to become president of [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/lou-reed-and-vaclav-havel-vs-communism-2013-10|title=The True Story Of How Lou Reed Helped Overthrow Communism In Eastern Europe|date=October 27, 2013|work=Business Insider|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

By the time the band recorded ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'', Nico had quit the band and Warhol had been fired, both against Cale's wishes. Warhol's replacement as manager was [[Steve 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.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=160}} Morrison and Tucker were discomfited by Reed's tactics but remained in the band. Cale's replacement was [[Boston]]-based musician [[Doug Yule]], who played bass guitar and keyboards and would soon share lead vocal duties with Reed.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=164, 167}} The band now took on a more pop-oriented sound and acted more as a vehicle for Reed to develop his songwriting craft.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=164, 166}} They released two studio albums with this lineup: 1969's ''[[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]'' and 1970's ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]''. Reed left the Velvet Underground in August 1970.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=177}} The band disintegrated after Morrison and Tucker departed in 1971, and their final album [[Squeeze (The Velvet Underground album)|''Squeeze'']] was almost entirely Yule's work.{{sfnp|Unterberger|2009|pp=307, 317}}

===1970–1975: Glam rock and commercial breakthrough===
After leaving the Velvet Underground, Reed moved to his parents' home on [[Long Island]] and took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week<ref>{{cite web |title=Topic 354: Richie Unterberger, White Light / White Heat |date=May 30, 2009 |page=3 |work=The WELL |url=http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/354/Richie-Unterberger-White-Light-W-page03.html#post58 |access-date=November 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202055654/http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/354/Richie-Unterberger-White-Light-W-page03.html#post58 |archive-date=December 2, 2012}}</ref> (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|40|1970}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). He began writing poetry, which was published later in 2018 by [[Anthology Editions]] through the Lou Reed Estate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Do Angels Need Haircuts? |url=https://anthology.net/book/do-angels-need-haircuts/ |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=Anthology |language=en-US}}</ref> He signed a recording contract with [[RCA Records]] in 1971 and recorded his first solo album at [[Morgan Studios]] in [[Willesden]], London with session musicians including [[Steve Howe]] and [[Rick Wakeman]] from the band [[Yes (band)|Yes]]. The album, ''[[Lou Reed (album)|Lou Reed]]'', contained versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which had originally been recorded for ''Loaded'' but shelved.{{refn|Some later appeared on the ''[[Peel Slowly and See]]'' box set.|group=nb}} This album was overlooked by most pop music critics and did not sell well, although music critic [[Stephen Holden]], in ''Rolling Stone'', called it an "almost perfect album. ... which embodied the spirit of the Velvets." Holden went on to compare Reed's voice with those of [[Mick Jagger]] and [[Bob Dylan]] and praise the poetic quality of his lyrics.<ref>Holden, Stephen (May 25, 1972). ''Rolling Stone''. p. 68</ref>

Reed's commercial breakthrough album, ''[[Transformer (Lou Reed album)|Transformer]]'', was released in November 1972. ''Transformer'' was co-produced by [[David Bowie]] and [[Mick Ronson]], and it introduced Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK. The single "[[Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed song)|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 at [[The Factory]] during the mid-to-late 1960s. The five individuals described in the song are [[Holly Woodlawn]] (verse one), [[Candy Darling]] (verse two), [[Joe Dallesandro|"Little Joe" Dallesandro]] (verse three), "Sugar Plum Fairy" [[Joe Campbell (actor)|Joe Campbell]] (verse four), and [[Jackie Curtis]] (verse five). The song's transgressive lyrics evaded radio censorship. Though the jazzy arrangement (courtesy of bassist [[Herbie Flowers]] and saxophonist [[Ronnie Ross]]) was musically atypical for Reed, it eventually became his signature song.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Wiener|first1=John|title=Beatles Buy-Out|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/music/beatles-buy-out|magazine=The New Republic|date=May 11, 1987}}</ref> It came about as a result of a commission to compose a soundtrack to a theatrical adaptation of [[Nelson Algren]]'s [[A Walk on the Wild Side|novel of the same name]]; the play failed to materialize.{{sfnp|Reed|1991|p=42}} "Walk on the Wild Side" was Reed's only entry in the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles chart, at No. 16.<ref name="Caulfield">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5770575/lou-reed-billboard-chart-history|title=Lou Reed's 'Perfect' Billboard Chart History|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|date=October 27, 2013|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs. "[[Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/blurred-vision-at-the-beeb-1235724.html|last1=Walker|first1=Nick|date=October 13, 1997|title=Blurred vision at the Beeb|website=The Independent}}</ref>

In 1979,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=2024-03-20 |title=The tragic moment Lou Reed punched David Bowie in the face |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/lou-reed-david-bowie-punch-face/ |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}{{refn|The two reconciled years later, and Reed performed with Bowie at the latter's 50th birthday concert at [[Madison Square Garden]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesound.co.nz/home/music/2018/01/david-bowie-s-50th-birthday-performance-with-lou-reed.html|title=David Bowie's 50th birthday performance with Lou Reed|access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref>|group=nb}}

Reed hired a local New York bar-band, the Tots, to tour in support of ''Transformer'' and spent much of 1972 and early 1973 on the road with them. Though they improved over the months, Reed (with producer [[Bob Ezrin]]'s encouragement) decided to recruit a new backing band in anticipation of the upcoming ''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' album. He chose keyboardist [[Moogy Klingman]] to come up with a new five-member band on barely a week's notice.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lou-reed-and-moogy-klingman-band/concerts/kansas-city-memorial-hall-may-02-1973.html | work=Wolfgangs Vault | title=Concert Summary: May 2, 1973 | last=Bershaw | access-date=March 2, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523090717/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lou-reed-and-moogy-klingman-band/concerts/kansas-city-memorial-hall-may-02-1973.html | archive-date=May 23, 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' (July 1973) was a [[concept album]] about two [[Amphetamine#Addiction|speed-freaks]] in love in the city. The songs variously concern [[domestic 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 guitarists [[Steve Hunter]] and [[Dick Wagner]], mixed his ''Berlin'' material with older numbers. Response to ''Berlin'' at the time of its release was generally negative, with ''Rolling Stone'' pronouncing it "a disaster".{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=221}} Reed found the poor reviews it received very disheartening.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8e40a4de-4245-11e3-bb85-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/8e40a4de-4245-11e3-bb85-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lou Reed: rock 'n' roll animal|last=Morley|first=Paul|date=November 1, 2013|work=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref> Since then the album has been critically reevaluated, and in 2003 ''Rolling Stone'' included it in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 344. Lou Reed, Berlin|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/lou-reed-berlin-20120524|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 31, 2009|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=September 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922133950/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/lou-reed-berlin-20120524|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Berlin'' peaked at No. 7 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14017/lou-reed/|title=Lou Reed full Official Chart History|work=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=May 12, 1973 |access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

Following the commercial disappointment of ''Berlin'', Reed befriended [[Steve Katz (musician)|Steve Katz]] of [[Blood, 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/10/he-treads-kind-of-softly-musicians-remember-working-with-lou-reed/|title='He Treads Kind of Softly': Two Musicians Remember Working with Lou Reed|date=October 28, 2013|website=Bedfordandbowery.com}}</ref> Katz would come on board as producer, and the album ''[[Rock '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]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/2795/dick-wagner-and-steve-hunter/|title=Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter|first=Greg|last=Pedersen|date=May 15, 2001|website=Vintageguitar.com}}</ref> which opened the album, gave Reed's songs the live rock sound he was looking for, and the album peaked at No. 45 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] for 28 weeks and soon became Reed's biggest selling album.{{refn|''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' and its follow-up ''[[Lou Reed Live]]'' (1975) were both recorded at the [[Palladium (New York City)|Academy of Music]], New York City, on December 21, 1973.|group=nb}} It went gold in 1978, with 500,000 certified sales.<ref name="riaa">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=lou+reed#search_section|title=RIAA|publisher=Record Industry Association of America|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

''[[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 the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart in October 1974.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/lou-reed/chart-history/tlp/ |title=Sally Can't Dance Chart History |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=February 9, 2018 }}</ref>

In October 2019, an audio tape of publicly unknown music by Reed, based on Warhol's 1975 book, "''[[The Philosophy of Andy Warhol|The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again]]''", was reported to have been discovered in an archive at [[The Andy Warhol Museum]] in [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania.<ref name="NYT-20191030">{{cite news|last=Sisaro|first=Ben|title=A 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 book|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/arts/music/lou-reed-andy-warhol-tape.html|date=October 30, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 30, 2019}}</ref>

===1975–1979: Addiction and creative work===
[[File:Lou Reed 1977.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.75|Reed in 1977]]

Throughout the 1970s, Reed was a heavy user of [[methamphetamine]] and alcohol.<ref name="nyt" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10092969/Lou-Reed-saved-by-liver-transplant-after-years-of-drugs-and-alcohol-take-their-toll.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10092969/Lou-Reed-saved-by-liver-transplant-after-years-of-drugs-and-alcohol-take-their-toll.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lou Reed saved by liver transplant after years of drugs and alcohol take their toll - Telegraph|last=Sawer|first=Patrick|date=June 1, 2011|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the summer of 1975, he was booked to headline Startruckin' 75 in Europe, a touring [[rock festival]] organized by [[Miles Copeland III|Miles Copeland]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=West|first=Aaron J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfqACgAAQBAJ&q=startruckin'+75+lou+reed+turner&pg=PA59|title=Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps|date=October 1, 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-8491-5|language=en}}</ref> However, Reed's drug addiction made him unreliable and he never performed on the tour, causing Copeland to replace him with [[Ike & Tina Turner]].<ref name=":0" />

Reed's double album ''[[Metal Machine Music]]'' (1975) was an hour of modulated feedback and guitar effects. Described by ''Rolling Stone'' as the "tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator",<ref name="Dayal2013">{{cite news |author1=Geeta Dayal |title=Lou Reed Was a Rock God and the Epitome of Cool. He Was Also a Big Nerd. |url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/10/lou-reeds-metal-machine-music-the-artist-was-a-rock-god-he-was-also-a-big-nerd.html |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=Slate |date=October 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311073715/https://slate.com/culture/2013/10/lou-reeds-metal-machine-music-the-artist-was-a-rock-god-he-was-also-a-big-nerd.html |archive-date=March 11, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> 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 the [[drone music]] of [[La Monte Young]],<ref>[[Alan Licht]], ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', [[Blank Forms]] Edition, ''Interview with Lou Reed'', pp.155-172</ref> and suggesting that references to classical music could be found buried in the feedback,<ref name="Little2018">{{cite news |author1=Michael H. Little |title=Graded on a Curve: Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music |url=http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2018/03/graded-on-a-curve-lou-reed-metal-machine-music/ |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=The Vinyl District |date=March 9, 2018}}</ref> but he also said, "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am."<ref name="BogdanovWoodstra2002">{{cite book|editor1=Vladimir Bogdanov |editor2=Chris Woodstra |editor3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-pH4i3jXvAC&pg=PA927|year=2002|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-653-3|page=927}}</ref><ref name="McPadden2012">{{cite book|author=Mike McPadden|title=If You Like Metallica...: Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies and Other Oddities That You Will Love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtGGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|date=May 1, 2012|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=978-1-4768-1358-5|page=61}}</ref> Lester Bangs declared it "genius", though also psychologically disturbing. The album, now regarded as a visionary textural guitar masterpiece by some music critics,<ref name="McGonigal2015">{{cite news |author1=Mike McGonigal |title=Coming to Cranbrook Nov. 21: '3-D installation' of Lou Reed's 1975 feedback masterpiece 'Metal Machine Music' |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2015/09/04/coming-to-cranbrook-nov-21-3-d-installation-of-lou-reeds-1975-feedback-masterpiece-metal-machine-music |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=Detroit Metro Times |date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116160623/https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2015/09/04/coming-to-cranbrook-nov-21-3-d-installation-of-lou-reeds-1975-feedback-masterpiece-metal-machine-music |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands and was withdrawn after a few weeks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://92yondemand.org/lou-reed-with-anthony-decurtis|title=Lou Reed with Anthony DeCurtis - 92Y On Demand|date=September 18, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2018|archive-date=March 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315212414/http://92yondemand.org/lou-reed-with-anthony-decurtis|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wzwx/|title=Review of Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music: Re-mastered|publisher=BBC|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

{{quote box
| width = 30em
| align = left
| quote = 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.
| source = —[[Mikal Gilmore]], ''Rolling Stone'', (1979)<ref name=Gilmore/>
}}

1975's ''[[Coney Island Baby]]'' was dedicated to Reed's then-partner [[Rachel Humphreys]], a [[transgender]] woman Reed dated and lived with for three years.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=180}} 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 label [[Arista Records|Arista]], and ''[[Street Hassle]]'' (1978) was released in the midst of the [[punk 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 at [[CBGB]] to track the artistic and commercial development of numerous punk bands, and a cover illustration and interview of Reed appeared in the first issue of ''[[Punk (magazine)|Punk]]'' magazine by [[Legs McNeil]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://13thdimension.com/punk-magazine-began-with-lou-reed-comic/|title=PUNK Magazine Began With Lou Reed Comic|date=October 28, 2013|website=13thdimension.com}}</ref>
[[File:Chuck Hammer and Lou Reed.jpg|thumb|Reed performing onstage with guitarist [[Chuck Hammer]], June 1979, [[The Bottom Line (venue)|The Bottom Line]], New York City]]
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".<ref name=Gilmore>{{cite magazine |last=Gilmore |first=Mikal |title=Lou Reed's heart of darkness |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=March 22, 1979 |pages=8, 12 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/lou-reeds-heart-of-darkness-19790322 |access-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216085145/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/lou-reeds-heart-of-darkness-19790322 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' described it as "one of the funniest live albums ever recorded" and compared Reed's monologs with those of [[Lenny Bruce]].<ref name=Gilmore/> Reed felt it was his best album to date.<ref name=Gilmore/> ''[[The Bells (Lou Reed album)|The Bells]]'' (1979) featured jazz trumpeter [[Don Cherry (trumpeter)|Don 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 his ''Berlin'' album and the title track from ''The Bells'' featuring [[Chuck Hammer]] on guitar-synth. Around this time Reed also appeared as a record producer in [[Paul Simon]]'s film ''[[One-Trick Pony (film)|One-Trick Pony]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=One-Trick Pony (1980)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081280/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> From around 1979 Reed began to wean himself off drugs.<ref name="nyt"/>

===1980–1989: Mid-period===
Reed's 1980 marriage to designer Sylvia Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980's ''[[Growing Up in Public (Lou Reed album)|Growing Up in Public]]''{{sfnp|Reed|1991|p=71}} and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982's ''[[The Blue Mask]]''. The latter album was enthusiastically received by critics such as ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' writer Tom Carson, whose review began, "Lou Reed's ''The 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?"<ref name=carson>{{cite magazine|last1=Carson|first1=Tom|title=The Blue Mask|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=April 15, 1982|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-blue-mask-19820415|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103181236/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-blue-mask-19820415|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the ''[[Village Voice]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] called ''The Blue Mask'' "his most controlled, plainspoken, deeply felt, and uninhibited album."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2150|website=RobertChristgau.com|title=Lou Reed: The Blue Mask|first=Robert|last=Christgau|access-date=July 4, 2021}}</ref> After ''[[Legendary Hearts]]'' (1983) and ''[[New Sensations]]'' (1984), Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become a spokesman for [[Honda]] scooters.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=351}} In the early 1980s, Reed worked with guitarists including [[Chuck Hammer]] on ''Growing Up in Public'', and [[Robert Quine]] on ''The Blue Mask'' and ''Legendary Hearts''.

Reed's 1984 album ''[[New Sensations]]'' marked the first time that Reed had charted within the US Top 100 since 1978's ''[[Street Hassle]]'', and the first time that Reed had charted in the UK altogether since 1976's ''[[Coney Island Baby]]''. Although its [[lead single]] "[[I Love You, Suzanne]]" only charted at No. 78 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] it did receive light rotation on [[MTV]]. Two more singles were released from the album: "[[My Red Joystick]]" and the Dutch-only release "[[High in the City]]" but they both failed to chart.

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."<ref name="Lewis">{{Cite news|last=Lewis|first=Randy|date= October 28, 2013|title= Lou Reed, 1942 - 2013 Influential pioneer of punk, art rock|work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |page=1 |url=https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-lou-reed-20131028,0,347074.story?page=2 |access-date=December 7, 2013}}</ref> The newspaper wrote that in 1980, "Reed renounced druggy theatrics, even swore off intoxicants themselves, and became openly heterosexual, openly married."<ref name="Lewis"/>

[[File:Lou Reed-Conspiracy of Hope-by Steven Toole.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Reed performing live during a benefit concert for [[A Conspiracy of Hope]] at [[Giants Stadium]] in [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]], 1986]]
On September 22, 1985, Reed performed at the first [[Farm Aid]] concert in [[Champaign, Illinois]]. He performed "Doin' the Things That We Want To", "I Love You, Suzanne", "New Sensations" and "Walk on the Wild Side" as his solo set. In June 1986, Reed released ''[[Mistrial (album)|Mistrial]]'' (co-produced with bassist [[Fernando Saunders]]). To support the album, he released two music videos: "[[No Money Down (Lou Reed song)|No Money Down]]" and "[[The Original Wrapper]]". In the same year, he joined [[Amnesty International]]'s [[A Conspiracy of Hope]] short tour and was outspoken about New York City's political issues and personalities. He also appeared on [[Steven Van Zandt]]'s 1985 [[Apartheid|anti-Apartheid]] song "[[Sun City (song)|Sun City]]", pledging not to play at [[Sun City (South Africa)|that resort]].

The 1989 album ''[[New York (album)|New York]]'', which commented on crime, AIDS, civil rights activist [[Jesse Jackson]], then-President of Austria [[Kurt Waldheim]], and [[Pope John Paul II]], became his second gold-certified work when it passed 500,000 sales in 1997.<ref name="riaa"/> Reed was nominated for a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance for the album.<ref name="Caulfield"/>

===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 album ''[[Songs for Drella]]'' (April 1990), a [[song cycle]] about Warhol.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2013/10/28/lou-reed-dead-john-cale-statement/|title=Lou Reed remembered by VU bandmate John Cale|last=Anderson|first=Kyle|date=October 28, 2013|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> 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 a [[Fondation Cartier]] benefit show in France.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-velvet-underground-play-heroin-at-1990-reunion-w446616|title=See Velvet Underground Play 'Heroin' at 1990 Reunion - Rolling Stone|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=October 25, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=February 18, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923142153/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-velvet-underground-play-heroin-at-1990-reunion-w446616|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June and July 1993, the Velvet Underground again reunited and toured Europe, including an appearance at the [[Glastonbury Festival]]; plans for a North American tour were canceled following a dispute between Reed and Cale.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/05/arts/older-but-still-hip-the-velvet-underground-rocks-again.html|title=Older but Still Hip, the Velvet Underground Rocks Again|last=Rockwell|first=John|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 5, 1993|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_velvet_underground_live_paris_1993|title=Their Last Tour: The Velvet Underground - Live in Paris, 1993|work=Dangerous Minds|date=January 16, 2011|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

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 in ''[[A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who]]''. In 1995, Reed made a cameo appearance in the unreleased video game ''[[Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors]]''. If the player selects the "impossible" difficulty setting, Reed appears shortly after the game begins as an unbeatable [[Boss (video games)|boss]] 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/penn-jillette/|title=Penn Jillette-Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart|website=PBS.org|date=June 26, 1997|access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref>

The Velvet Underground were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1996. At the ceremony, Reed, Cale and Tucker performed a song titled "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend", dedicated to Sterling Morrison, who had died the previous August.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/26-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-reunions-that-actually-happened-20140407/7-the-velvet-underground-1996-0317341|title=7. The Velvet Underground (1996)|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=April 7, 2014|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=February 15, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025038/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/26-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-reunions-that-actually-happened-20140407/7-the-velvet-underground-1996-0317341|url-status=dead}}</ref> In February 1996 Reed released ''[[Set the Twilight Reeling]]'', and later that year, Reed contributed songs and music to ''Time Rocker'', a theatrical interpretation of [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' by [[Experimental theatre|experimental]] director [[Robert Wilson (director)|Robert Wilson]]. The piece premiered in the [[Thalia Theater, Hamburg]], and was later also shown at the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] in New York.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E5D81738F937A25752C1A961958260&sec=&spon= |work=The New York Times |title=Next Wave Festival: Echoes of H. G. Wells, Rhythms of Lou Reed |first=Jon |last=Pareles |date=November 14, 1997}}</ref>

In 1997, the [[BBC]] created a version of [[Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)|Perfect Day]] which featured many artists, including Reed. Initially created for advertising purposes, it was later released as a charity single for [[Children in Need]] and became a UK no.1 single{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}.

===2000–2012: Rock and ambient experimentation===
In February 2000, Reed worked with Robert Wilson at the [[Bowery Theatre|Thalia Theater]] again, on POEtry, another production inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer, this time [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. In April 2000, Reed released ''[[Ecstasy (Lou Reed album)|Ecstasy]]''. In January 2003, Reed released a 2-CD set, ''[[The Raven (Lou Reed album)|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 features [[Willem Dafoe]], David Bowie, [[Steve Buscemi]], and [[Ornette Coleman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1459300/20021226/reed_lou.jhtml |publisher=VH1 |title=Lou Reed's Obsession With Edgar Allan Poe Spawns ''The Raven'' |date=December 27, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030102/http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1459300/20021226/reed_lou.jhtml |archive-date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref> A single disc CD version of the album, focusing on the music, was also released.{{refn|In 2011, Reed developed the CD into an illustrated book, with art by [[Lorenzo Mattotti]], published by [[Fantagraphics]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/ravenous-reed?mobify=0#slide_ss_0=1|title=Ravenous Reed|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>|group=nb}}

In May 2000, Reed performed before Pope John Paul II at the Great Jubilee Concert in [[Rome]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1499424/pope-john-paul-ii-friend-of-bono-fan-of-pop-culture/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224180351/http://www.mtv.com/news/1499424/pope-john-paul-ii-friend-of-bono-fan-of-pop-culture/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 24, 2015|title=Pope John Paul II: Friend Of Bono, Fan Of Pop Culture|publisher=[[MTV]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> In 2001, Reed made a cameo appearance in the [[Prozac Nation (film)|movie adaptation]] of ''[[Prozac Nation]]''. On October 6, 2001, ''the New York Times'' published a Reed poem called "Laurie Sadly Listening" in which he reflects on the [[September 11 attacks]] (also referred to as 9/11).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bushwatch.com/auden.htm |title=War Poems |website=Bushwatch.com |access-date=March 26, 2010 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181114/http://www.bushwatch.com/auden.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[List of premature obituaries|Incorrect reports]] of Reed's death were broadcast by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from [[Reuters]]) which said he had died of a drug overdose.<ref>[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/05_09_2001.html "Death of Lou Reed"], Museum of Hoaxes web site</ref> In April 2003, Reed began a world tour featuring the cellist [[Jane Scarpantoni]] and singer [[Anohni]].

In 2003, Reed released a book of photographs, ''Emotions in Action''. This comprised an [[A4 paper size|A4]]-sized book called ''Emotions'' and a smaller one called ''Actions'' laid into its hard cover. In January 2006, he released a second book of photographs, ''Lou Reed's New York''.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.artbook.com/3865211526.html |title=Lou Reed's New York |via=Artbook.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908102734/http://www.artbook.com/3865211526.html |archive-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref> A third volume, ''Romanticism'', was released in 2009.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/lou-reed-photographer-1817676.html|title=Lou Reed: Photographer|date=November 10, 2009|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Lou Reed Malaga, Spain 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Reed performing in [[Málaga]], Spain, 2008]]
In 2004, a Groovefinder [[remix]] of his song "[[Satellite of Love]]", called "Satellite of Love '04", was released. It peaked at No. 10 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14017/lou-reed/|title=Lou Reed full Official Chart History|work=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=May 12, 1973 |access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref>

In October 2006, Reed appeared at Hal Willner's [[Leonard Cohen]] tribute show "Came So Far for Beauty" in [[Dublin]], along with Laurie Anderson, [[Nick Cave]], Anohni, [[Jarvis Cocker]], and [[Beth Orton]]. He played a [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] version of Cohen's "The Stranger Song".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/dublin.html|title="Came so far for Beauty" in Dublin|website=Leonardcohenfiles.com|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

In December that year, Reed played a series of shows at [[St. Ann's Warehouse]], Brooklyn, based on ''Berlin''. Reed played with guitarist [[Steve Hunter]], who played on the original album and ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'', and was joined by singers Anohni and [[Sharon Jones]]. The show was produced by [[Bob Ezrin]], who also produced the original album, and Hal Willner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/spectacle-elvis-costello-with/watch/lou-reed-and-julian-schnabel-1243213/|title=Watch Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ... - Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel Online|website=TV.com|access-date=October 22, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914020729/http://www.tv.com/shows/spectacle-elvis-costello-with/watch/lou-reed-and-julian-schnabel-1243213/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The show played at the [[Sydney Festival]] in January 2007 and in Europe during June and July 2007. The album version of the concert, entitled ''[[Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse]]'', and a live film recording of these concerts were both released in 2008. In April 2007, he released ''[[Hudson River Wind Meditations]]'', an album of [[ambient music|ambient]] [[meditation]]al music. It was released on the [[Sounds True]] record label. In June 2007, he performed at the Traffic Festival 2007 in [[Turin]], 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 (film)|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401383/soundtrack?ref_=tt_ql_trv_7|title=The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - Soundtracks|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> In August 2007, Reed recorded "[[Tranquilize]]" with [[The Killers]] in New York City, a duet with [[Brandon Flowers]] for the B-side/rarities album ''[[Sawdust (album)|Sawdust]]''.

[[File:Lou Reed at the Hop Farm Music Festival.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Reed performing at the<br />[[Hop Farm Festival]] in [[Paddock Wood]], Kent, 2011]]

On October 2 and 3, 2008, he introduced his new group, which was later named [[Metal Machine Trio]], at the [[REDCAT|Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex]] in Los Angeles. The trio featured Ulrich Krieger (saxophone) and [[Sarth Calhoun]] (electronics), and played improvised instrumental music inspired by ''Metal Machine Music''. Recordings of the concerts were released under the title ''[[The Creation of the Universe]]''. The trio played at New York's [[Gramercy Theatre]] in April 2009, and appeared as part of Reed's band at the 2009 [[Lollapalooza]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/24/lou-reed-brings-controversial-metal-machine-music-to-new-york/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090427042824/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/24/lou-reed-brings-controversial-metal-machine-music-to-new-york/ |archive-date= April 27, 2009 |title=Rolling Stone review of the Metal Machine Trio concert at the Gramercy in New York |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status= dead |date=April 24, 2009}}</ref>

Reed provided the voice of Maltazard, the villain in the 2009 [[Luc Besson]] animated/live-action feature film ''[[Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard]]'' and appeared as himself in [[Wim Wenders]]' 2008 film ''[[Palermo Shooting]]''.

Reed played "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" with [[Metallica]] at [[Madison 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" with [[virtual band]] [[Gorillaz]], from their third studio album ''[[Plastic Beach]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://2009.lollapalooza.com/band/lou-reed |title=Lou Reed at Lollapalooza 2009 |publisher=Lollapalooza 2009 |access-date=March 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328163729/http://2009.lollapalooza.com/band/lou-reed |archive-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=129623 |title=Metallica with Ozzy, Lou Reed, Ray Davies at Rock Hall Concert: More Video Footage Available |publisher= Roadrunner Records |access-date=March 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104034032/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-with-ozzy-lou-reed-ray-davies-at-rock-hall-concert-more-video-footage-available/ |archive-date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> In October 2011, Metallica and Reed released the collaboration album [[Lulu (Lou Reed and Metallica album)|''Lulu'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metallica.com/news/20110615_news.asp |title=Secret Recording Project? |date=June 15, 2010 |website=Metallica.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619190555/http://www.metallica.com/news/20110615_news.asp |archive-date=June 19, 2011 |access-date=June 18, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was based on the "Lulu" plays by the German playwright [[Frank Wedekind]] (1864–1918). The album received mixed and mainly negative reviews from music critics.<ref name="meta">{{cite web| title = ''Lulu'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More|publisher=[[Metacritic]]| url = http://www.metacritic.com/music/lulu |access-date=January 28, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Sputnik">{{cite web|url=http://sputnikmusic.com/review/46170/Lou-Reed-and-Metallica-Lulu/ |title=Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu (staff review) |website=Sputnikmusic |date=October 21, 2011 |access-date=October 25, 2011}}</ref> Reed joked that he had no fans left after Metal Machine Music.<ref name="usatoday-genrebender">{{cite news |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |date=November 1, 2011 |title=Metallica, Lou Reed go on a genre bender with 'Lulu' |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-11-25/lou-reed-metallica/51021572/1 |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103233336/https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-11-25/lou-reed-metallica/51021572/1 |archive-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref> The album debuted at No. 36 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 13,000 copies,<ref name="Billboard200">{{cite magazine|last=Greene|first=Andy|title=On The Charts: Justin Bieber Annihilates Loutallica|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/on-the-charts-justin-bieber-annihilates-loutallica-20111109|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=November 10, 2011|date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=November 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112014317/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/on-the-charts-justin-bieber-annihilates-loutallica-20111109|url-status=dead}}</ref> and went on to sell 280,000 copies worldwide.<ref name="USSoundscan2023">{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Simon |date=March 9, 2023 |title=Here are the astonishing US sales stats for every Metallica album |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/metallica-album-sales-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311130902/https://www.loudersound.com/features/metallica-album-sales-us |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |access-date=March 12, 2023 |website=[[Metal Hammer]] (loudersound) |language=en}}</ref>

In 2012, Reed collaborated with [[indie rock]] band [[Metric (band)|Metric]] on "The Wanderlust", the tenth track on their fifth studio album ''[[Synthetica]]''. This was to be the last original composition he worked on.<ref>{{cite news|title=Metric On Recording Lou Reed Duet 'The Wanderlust'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/28/metric-lou-reed-wanderlust_n_4170594.html|access-date=December 12, 2013|newspaper=HuffPost|date=October 28, 2013|author=Joshua Ostroff}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Reed married Bettye Kronstad in 1973. She later said he had been a violent drunk when on tour.<ref name="nyt">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/fashion/who-was-the-real-lou-reed.html |first=Alex |last=Williams |date=November 1, 2015 |title=Who Was the Real Lou Reed? |work=The New York Times }}</ref> From 1973 to early 1978, Reed was in a relationship with [[Rachel Humphreys]], a trans woman he met at Club 82.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Simakovsky|first=Rob|title=New York Series: Lou Reed "Coney Island Baby" - NYS Music|date=March 30, 2021 |url=https://nysmusic.com/2021/03/30/new-york-series-lou-reed-coney-island-baby/|access-date=August 22, 2021|language=en-us}}</ref> Reed married British designer Sylvia Morales in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/bettye-kronstad-speaks-for-the-first-time-about-her-marriage-to-lou-reed-fame-is-a-fiend-it-turns-10166659.html|title=Bettye Kronstad has spoken about her marriage to Lou Reed for the first time|work=[[The Independent]]|date=April 10, 2015|access-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="timesonline">{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Sandall |title=Lou Reed: Walk on the mild side |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article860207.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100531190342/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article860207.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 31, 2010 |work=[[The Sunday Times]]|date=February 9, 2003 |access-date=December 20, 2008 |location=London}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In 1994, they divorced.{{sfnp|Brown|2013|p=98}} From 1992 on, Reed was romantically linked to musician and artist [[Laurie Anderson]], and the two worked together on several recordings. They married on April 12, 2008.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aleksander |first=Irina |url= http://observer.com/2008/04/morning-memo-lou-reed-and-laurie-anderson-make-it-legal-suri-cruises-100000-birthday/ |title=Morning Memo: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson Make it Legal |work=The New York Observer |date=April 23, 2008 |access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref>

Reed said that despite his Jewish background, his "real god was rock 'n' roll".<ref name="NYROCK1998">{{cite web|url=http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/loureed_int.htm|title=The Gospel According to Lou: Interview with Lou Reed|author=Gabriella|website=Nyrock.com|date=November 1998|access-date=October 27, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031184208/http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/loureed_int.htm|archive-date=October 31, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/lou-reeds-contradictory-jewishness/|title=Lou Reed's paradoxical Jewishness|work=[[The Times of Israel]]|date=October 27, 2013|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref> He practiced [[tai chi]] during the last part of his life.<ref name="nyt"/><ref name="andersonrs"/> He studied [[meditation]] with [[Tibetan Buddhist]] teacher [[Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche]], and described himself as "a student of Buddhist philosophy."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sperry |first1=Rod Meade |title=Magic & Loss: Celebrating Lou Reed |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/magic-loss-lou-reed/ |website=Lion's Roar |access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>

==Death, legacy, and honors==
Reed had [[hepatitis]] and [[diabetes]] for several years. He was treated with [[interferons]] but developed [[liver cancer]].<ref name="andersonrs">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/laurie-andersons-farewell-to-lou-reed-a-rolling-stone-exclusive-20131106|title=Laurie Anderson, "For 21 years we tangled our minds and hearts together"|date=November 6, 2013|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-date=June 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616203801/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/laurie-andersons-farewell-to-lou-reed-a-rolling-stone-exclusive-20131106|url-status=dead}}</ref> In May 2013, he underwent a [[liver transplant]] at the [[Cleveland Clinic]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-recovering-from-liver-transplant-20130601|title=Lou Reed Recovering From Liver Transplant|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 2013|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-date=October 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019113501/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-recovering-from-liver-transplant-20130601|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Tom|last=Feran|date=June 11, 2013|url=http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/06/cleveland_clinic_confirms_rock.html|title=Cleveland Clinic confirms rock legend Lou Reed underwent liver transplant at hospital|newspaper=[[The Plain Dealer]]|access-date=October 31, 2013}}</ref> Afterward, he wrote on his website of feeling "bigger and stronger" than ever. On October 27, 2013, however, he died from liver disease at his home in [[East Hampton, New York]], at the age of 71.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.verbicidemagazine.com/lou-reed-cause-of-death-liver-disease-transplant/|title=Lou Reed's Cause of Death Confirmed|magazine=Verbicide|location=New Haven, CT|publisher=Scissor Press|date=October 29, 2013|access-date=June 11, 2025}}</ref> He was cremated and the ashes were given to his family.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ben|last=Ratliff|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/arts/music/lou-reed-dies-at-71.html|title=Outsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision Helped Shape Rock 'n' Roll |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 27, 2013 |access-date=October 28, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Jon|last=Dolan|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027|title=Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 27, 2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055132/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His widow, [[Laurie Anderson]], said his last days were peaceful, and described him as a "prince and a fighter".<ref name="andersonrs"/> [[David Byrne]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-byrne-remembers-the-brave-lou-reed-20131028|title=David Byrne Remembers the 'Brave' Lou Reed|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-date=March 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317050243/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-byrne-remembers-the-brave-lou-reed-20131028|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Patti Smith]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/patti-smith-lou-reed-was-a-very-special-poet-20131028|title=Patti Smith: 'Lou Reed Was a Very Special Poet|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=September 28, 2014|archive-date=March 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317050241/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/patti-smith-lou-reed-was-a-very-special-poet-20131028|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[David Bowie]], [[Morrissey]], [[Miley Cyrus]], [[Iggy Pop]], [[Courtney Love]], [[Lenny Kravitz]], and many others also paid tribute to Reed.<ref name="BBC-Bowie">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24703353|title=David Bowie leads tributes to 'master' Lou Reed|work=[[BBC News]]|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/just-wild-about-lou-tributes-pour-in-for-rock-pioneer-reed-8909458.html|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Just wild about Lou: Tributes pour in for rock pioneer Lou Reed|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Carrie|last=Battan|url= https://pitchfork.com/news/52786-david-bowie-morrissey-john-cale-release-statements-on-lou-reeds-death/ | title=David Bowie, Morrissey, John Cale Release Statements on Lou Reed's Death | work=[[Pitchfork Media]] | date=October 28, 2013 | access-date=October 29, 2013 }}</ref> Former Velvet Underground members Moe Tucker<ref>{{cite news |first1=Steve|last1=Almasy |first2=Matt|last2=Smith |url= http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/27/showbiz/lou-reed-obit/index.html |title=Rock legend Lou Reed dies at 71 |publisher=[[CNN]] |date= October 28, 2013 |access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref> and John Cale made statements on Reed's death,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/lou-reed-remembered-by-john-cale-651146 |title=John Cale Remembers Friend Lou Reed: 'We Have the Best of Our Fury Laid Out on Vinyl' |date=October 27, 2013 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref> and those from outside the music industry paid their respects such as [[Gianfranco Ravasi|Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi]].<ref name=tributes>{{cite news|first=Charlotte|last=Runcie|date=October 28, 2013|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10408554/Vatican-leads-tributes-to-Lou-Reed.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10408554/Vatican-leads-tributes-to-Lou-Reed.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Vatican leads tributes to Lou Reed|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On October 27, 2013, the day of Reed's death, [[Pearl Jam]] dedicated their song "[[Man of the Hour]]" to him at their show in [[Baltimore]] and then played "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]".<ref name="Baltimore">Case, Wesley (October 28, 2013).[http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bal-after-23-years-pearl-jam-finally-comes-to-baltimore-20131028,0,7370922.story "After 23 Years Pearl Jam Finally Comes to Baltimore"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006100019/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bal-after-23-years-pearl-jam-finally-comes-to-baltimore-20131028,0,7370922.story |date=October 6, 2014 }}. ''The Sun'' (Baltimore). Retrieved October 28, 2013</ref> On the same day, [[The Killers]] dedicated their rendition of "Pale Blue Eyes" to Reed at the Life Is Beautiful festival in [[Las Vegas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/the-killers/73527 |title=The Killers cover Lou Reed's 'Pale Blue Eyes' at Las Vegas gig – watch |work=NME |date=October 30, 2013 |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> [[My Morning Jacket]] performed a cover of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" in California,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hogan |first1=Marc |title=See Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket Pay Musical Tribute to Lou Reed |url=https://www.spin.com/2013/10/lou-reed-pearl-jam-my-morning-jacket-live-covers/ |access-date=August 19, 2018 |work=Spin (magazine)|date=October 28, 2013}}</ref> while [[Arctic Monkeys]] performed "Walk on the Wild Side" in Liverpool.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ayers |first1=Mike |title=Arctic Monkeys Honor Lou Reed |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/arctic-monkeys-cover-lou-reeds-walk-on-the-wild-side-67816/ |access-date=August 19, 2018 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 29, 2013 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308131953/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/arctic-monkeys-cover-lou-reeds-walk-on-the-wild-side-67816/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> That same night, [[Phish]] opened their show in Hartford, Connecticut, with the Velvet Underground's "[[Rock & Roll (The Velvet Underground song)|Rock & Roll]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phish.in/2013-10-27|title=phish.in'|website=phish.in|date=October 27, 2013|access-date=March 6, 2019}}</ref> [[Lana Del Rey]] has said that Reed was supposed to record backing vocals on her single, "[[Brooklyn Baby]]", on the day of his death.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 12, 2014 |title=Lana Del Rey Says Lou Reed Died the Day They Were Supposed to Record 'Brooklyn Baby' Together |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/55558-lana-del-rey-says-lou-reed-died-the-day-they-were-supposed-to-record-brooklyn-baby-together/ |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> On November 14, 2013, a three-hour public memorial was held near [[Lincoln Center]]'s [[Paul Milstein]] Pool and Terrace. Billed as "New York: Lou Reed at Lincoln Center", the ceremony featured favorite Reed recordings selected by family and friends.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Chiu|first=David|title=Lou Reed's Memorial Lets the Music Speak for Itself|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reeds-memorial-lets-the-music-speak-for-itself-20131114|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=November 14, 2013|date=March 4, 2014|archive-date=November 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115035600/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reeds-memorial-lets-the-music-speak-for-itself-20131114|url-status=dead}}</ref> On March 14, 2014, [[Richard Barone]] and [[Alejandro Escovedo]] produced and hosted the first full-scale tribute to Lou Reed at the [[SXSW]] Music Festival in Austin, Texas, with over twenty international acts performing Reed's music.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5930169/lou-reed-tribute-concert-sxsw-lineup-spandau-ballet-sean-lennon|title=Inside the Lou Reed Tribute at SXSW: 20-Plus Acts, All-Star House Band to Create 'Austin Meets New York Street Vibe'|magazine=Billboard|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=March 7, 2014}}</ref>

Reed's estate was valued at $30&nbsp;million, $20&nbsp;million of which accrued after his death. He left everything to his wife and his sister.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/01/lou-reed-leaves-30m-fortune|title=Lou Reed leaves $30m fortune|date=July 1, 2014|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

Reed's induction into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] as a solo artist was announced on December 16, 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/12/16/2015-rock-hall-of-fame-inductees/20310347/|title=Green Day, Lou Reed among Rock Hall inductees|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=December 16, 2014|access-date=December 18, 2014}}</ref> He was inducted by [[Patti Smith]] at a ceremony in Cleveland on April 18, 2015.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Read Patti Smith's Poignant Lou Reed Rock Hall Induction|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-patti-smiths-poignant-lou-reed-rock-hall-induction-20150419|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 19, 2015|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024100756/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-patti-smiths-poignant-lou-reed-rock-hall-induction-20150419|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017, ''Lou Reed: A Life'' was published by the ''Rolling Stone'' critic [[Anthony DeCurtis]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Anthony |last=DeCurtis |author-link=Anthony DeCurtis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/01/my-brilliant-troubled-friend-lou-reed-a-life-anthony-decurtis-berlin |title=My brilliant and troubled friend Lou Reed |date=October 1, 2017 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=February 12, 2018 |ref=none}}</ref>

Asteroid [[270553 Loureed]], discovered by [[Maik Meyer]] at [[Palomar Observatory]] in 2002, was named in his honor.<ref name="MPC-object" /> The official {{MoMP|270553|naming citation}} was published by the [[Minor Planet Center]] on June 2, 2015 ({{small|[[Minor Planet Circulars|M.P.C.]] 94391}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" /> A spider discovered in Spain, in 2019, was named ''[[Loureedia]]'' in his honor. It has a velvet body and lives underground.<ref>{{cite web |title=Velvet spider named after Lou Reed found in Europe for the first time |first=Josh|last=Davis|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/january/velvet-spider-named-after-lou-reed-found-in-europe-for-the-first.html |website=Natural History Museum |date=January 18, 2019|access-date=February 1, 2019}}</ref>

An archive of his letters and other personal effects was donated to the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]], where it can be viewed by members of the public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nypl.org/loureed|title=Lou Reed Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts|website=The New York Public Library|access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref> In June 2022, the Library for the Performing Arts at [[Lincoln Center]] hosted the "''Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars''", the first exhibition drawn from Reed's archive.<ref>{{cite press release |last1=Teplitzky |first1=Alex |title=Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars to Open at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts |url=https://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/september-15-2021/lou-reed-caught-between-twisted-stars-open-new-york-public |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=[[The New York Public Library]] |date=March 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sisario |first1=Ben |last2=Tanner |first2=Erik |title='You Don't Become Lou Reed Overnight.' A New Exhibition Proves It. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/arts/music/lou-reed-caught-between-the-twisted-stars.html |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 6, 2022}}</ref>

In 2015, writer [[Howard Sounes]], in the unofficial biography ''Notes From The Velvet Underground'' and in interviews, said many of Reed's intimates referred to him as "a prick—[...] that exact word, independently of each other". Sounes described Reed as [[misogynistic]] and violent toward women he was in relationships with;<ref name="guardianmusic">{{cite news |last=Guardian Music |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/13/lou-reed-new-biography-domestic-violence-abuse-women |title=Lou Reed biographer alleges history of violence against women |work=The Guardian |date=October 13, 2015 |access-date=October 13, 2015}}</ref> as having called [[Donna Summer]] a racial slur and sometimes using that word in conversation "to project a bad boy image"; and as referring to (his fellow Jew) [[Bob Dylan]] as "a pretentious kike".<ref name=hines>{{cite news |last=Hines |first=Nico |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/lou-reed-described-bob-dylan-as-a-pretentious-kike |title=Lou Reed Described Bob Dylan as a 'Pretentious Kike' |work=The Daily Beast |date=October 10, 2015 |access-date=October 10, 2015}}</ref><ref name=oyler>{{cite news |last=Oyler |first=Lauren |url= https://www.vice.com/en/article/lou-reed-was-a-jealous-misogynistic-prick-who-acted-obnoxious-to-sell-records/ |title=Lou Reed Was a Jealous, Misogynistic 'Prick' Who Acted Obnoxious to Sell Records |work=Vice Media |date=October 23, 2015 |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref>

In 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Reed at number 107 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/lou-reed-19-1234643033/|access-date=June 5, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2023, Laurie Anderson edited ''The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi''.<ref name=straightline>{{cite book |last=Reed |first=Lou |title=The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Laurie |editor2-last=Currie |editor2-first=Bob |editor3=Berwick |editor3-first=Stephan |editor4-last=Richman |editor4-first=Scott |publisher=Faber |date=2023}}</ref> The critically acclaimed book covers Reed's deep love and commitment to [[tai chi]] and meditation, as told by Reed and his friends and family.

===Posthumous release===
In June 2022, ''Lou Reed Archive Series'' was announced by [[Light in the Attic Records]] with [[Laurie Anderson]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Minsker |first1=Evan |last2=Monroe |first2=Jazz |title=Lou Reed Archive Series, With Unreleased Songs, Announced by Light in the Attic |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/lou-reed-archive-series-with-unreleased-songs-announced-by-light-in-the-attic/ |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=June 6, 2022}}</ref> The collection has released previously unreleased material with an album called ''Words & Music, May 1965'', along with a reissue of his final solo studio album ''[[Hudson River Wind Meditations]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hopper |first1=Alex |title=Lou Reed Archive Series to Roll Out Rare and Unreleased Material from the Godfather of Punk |url=https://americansongwriter.com/lou-reed-archive-series-to-roll-out-rare-and-unreleased-material-from-the-godfather-of-punk/ |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=[[American Songwriter]] |date=June 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaumont-Thomas |first1=Ben |title=Lou Reed's earliest Velvet Underground demos unearthed for reissue |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/06/lou-reeds-earliest-velvet-underground-demos-unearthed-for-reissue |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=June 6, 2022}}</ref>

==Artistry==
Reed's songwriting style has been described as "unusually literate" {{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} 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 the [[noise music|noisy]] nature of his lead guitar style.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Deming |first1=Mark |title=Lou Reed Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More &#124; |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lou-reed-mn0000233066#biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=November 18, 2024}}</ref>

==Equipment==

===Guitars===
Reed's main guitar during the Velvet Underground era was a 1964 [[Gretsch Country Gentleman]], which he modified extensively, to the extent that it became unplayable.<ref>{{Cite web|last=di Perna|first=Alan|date=November 6, 2013|title=Lou Reed Talks About the Velvet Underground, Songwriting and Gear in 1998 Guitar World Interview|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/lou-reed-talks-about-velvet-underground-songwriting-and-gear-1998-guitar-world-interview|access-date=December 17, 2021|website=guitarworld|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=August 3, 2021|title=Lou Reed Guitars & Gear List (with Videos)|url=https://www.guitarlobby.com/lou-reed-guitars-and-gear/|access-date=December 17, 2021|website=Guitar Lobby|language=en-US}}</ref> Modifications included the addition of Stratocaster pick ups, a repeater effect with speed and tremolo controls taken from a Vox pedal,<ref>{{cite web |last1=M. |first1=Simon |title=VU Guitar Photos Thread |url=https://velvetforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3196&start=10 |website=Velvet Forum |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Uptight">{{cite book |last1=Bockris |first1=Victor |title=Uptight |date=January 1, 1983 |publisher=Music Sales Corp |location=United States |isbn=978-0711901681 |page=65}}</ref> stereo outputs, and a battery powered pre-amp.<ref>{{Cite web|last=di Perna|first=Alan|date=November 6, 2013|title=Lou Reed Talks About the Velvet Underground, Songwriting and Gear in 1998 Guitar World Interview|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/lou-reed-talks-about-velvet-underground-songwriting-and-gear-1998-guitar-world-interview|access-date=December 17, 2021|website=guitarworld|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1"/> He later played various stock [[Fender Telecaster]]s, favoring models that were built specifically for him, such as the [[Fender Telecaster Custom|Rick Kelly 'Lou Reed's T' Custom Telecaster]] and the [[Fender Telecaster Custom|Fender Custom Shop Danny Gatton Telecaster]].<ref name=":1"/> He played various other electric guitars throughout his career:
* [[Carl Thompson (luthier)|Carl Thompson]]<ref name=":1"/>
* Steve Klein<ref name=":1"/>
* [[Epiphone]] Riviera<ref name=":1"/>
* [[Steinberger]] Synapse Transcale ST-2FPA Custom<ref name=":1"/>
* [[Gibson ES-335]]TD
* [[Fender Electric XII]] twelve-string
* [[Gibson SG]]

===Amplifiers===
* [[Jim Kelley Amplifiers]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vintageguitar.com/26365/jim-kelley-reverb-model/|title=Jim Kelley Reverb Model|first=Bob|last=Dragich|website=Vintageguitar.com|date=December 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/lou-reed-talks-about-velvet-underground-songwriting-and-gear-1998-guitar-world-interview|title=Lou Reed Talks About the Velvet Underground, Songwriting and Gear in 1998 Guitar World Interview|author=Alan di Perna|website=Guitarworld.com|date=November 6, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Fender Deluxe|Fender 'wide panel tweed' Deluxe Amp 5C3]]
* [[Soldano SLO-100]] 100-watt tube guitar amplifier
* [[Tone King]] Imperial 1×12 combo guitar amplifier
* [[Sears]] [[Silvertone (brand)|Silvertone]] 1484 Twin-Twelve

==Discography==
{{Main|Lou Reed discography}}

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

'''The Velvet Underground'''
* ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' (1967)
* ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]'' (1970)

'''Solo'''
* ''[[Lou Reed (album)|Lou Reed]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Transformer (Lou Reed album)|Transformer]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Rock n Roll Animal]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Metal Machine Music]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Coney Island Baby]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Rock and Roll Heart]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Street Hassle]]'' (1978)
* ''[[The Bells (Lou Reed album)|The Bells]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Growing Up in Public (Lou Reed album)|Growing Up in Public]]'' (1980)
* ''[[The Blue Mask]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Legendary Hearts]]'' (1983)
* ''[[New Sensations]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Mistrial (album)|Mistrial]]'' (1986)
* ''[[New York (album)|New York]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Magic and Loss]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Set the Twilight Reeling]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Ecstasy (Lou Reed album)|Ecstasy]]'' (2000)
* ''[[The Raven (Lou Reed album)|The Raven]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Hudson River Wind Meditations]]'' (2007)

'''Collaborations'''
* ''[[Songs for Drella]]'' (1990) <small>(with [[John Cale]])</small>
* ''[[Lulu (Lou Reed and Metallica album)|Lulu]]'' (2011) <small>(with [[Metallica]])</small>
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1966
|''[[The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound]]''
|Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1980
| ''[[One-Trick Pony (film)|One-Trick Pony]]''
| Steve Kunelian
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| 1983
| ''[[Get Crazy]]''
| Auden
|
|-
| ''[[Rock & Rule]]''
| Mok's singing voice
| "My Name Is Mok" and "Triumph"; third song "Pain and Suffering" was sung by [[Iggy Pop]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1988
| ''[[Permanent Record (film)|Permanent Record]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1993
| ''[[Faraway, So Close!]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1995
| ''[[Blue in the Face]]''
| Man with Strange Glasses
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1995
| ''[[Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors]]''
| Himself
| Unreleased video game; appears as an unbeatable [[Boss (video gaming)|Boss]] if the player sets the game's difficulty to "Impossible".
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1997
| ''[[Closure (video)|Closure]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| ''[[Lulu on the Bridge]]''
| Not Lou Reed
| Cameo
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2001
| ''[[Prozac Nation (film)|Prozac Nation]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| 2008
| ''[[Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| ''[[Palermo Shooting]]''
| Himself
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| ''[[Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard]]''
| Emperor Maltazard (voice)
| Replaced [[David Bowie]], who voiced the character in the first installment.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| ''[[Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds]]''
| Emperor Maltazard (voice)
|
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| ''[[Red Shirley]]''
| Director, Interviewer
| Documentary, 28 mins.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2016
| ''[[Danny Says (film)|Danny Says]]''
| Subject
| Documentary, 104 mins. Features archival tape from 1975 of Lou Reed listening to the [[Ramones]] for the first time with music manager [[Danny Fields]]
|}

==References==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=nb}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="MPC-object">{{cite web
  |title      = 270553 Loureed (2002 GG178)
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=270553
  |access-date = September 5, 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive">{{cite web
  |title      = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html
  |access-date = September 5, 2019}}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beeber |first1=Steven Lee |title=The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDk6FuQcxpoC&q=Toby+Futterman+Sidney+Joseph+Reed&pg=PA11 |isbn=9781556527616 |year=2006|publisher=Chicago Review Press }}
* {{cite book |last1=Bockris |first1=Victor |title=Transformer: The Lou Reed Story |year=1994 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-684-80366-6 |author-link=Victor Bockris |url=https://archive.org/details/transformerlour000bock}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Bill |title=Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JIpBgAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=Colossal Books |isbn=9780615933771}}
* {{cite book |last=Clapton |first=Diana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHb_AgAAQBAJ&q=Lou%20Reed%20hepatitis%20from%20a%20negro%20named%20jaw&pg=PT21 |title=Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground |year=2012 |publisher=Music Sales Group |isbn=9780857127570}}
* {{cite book |last=DeCurtis |first=Anthony |title=Lou Reed: A Life |year=2017 |location=New York |publisher=Little Brown |isbn=978-0-316-37654-9 |author-link=Anthony DeCurtis}}
* {{cite book |last=Hermes |first=Will |title=Lou Reed: The King of New York |year=2023 |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=9780374193393 |author-link=Will Hermes}}
* {{cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Legs |last2=McCain |first2=Gillian |title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mkG7Y6_J7pUC |year=2006 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=9780802142641}}
* {{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Lou |title=Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou Reed |year=1991 |publisher=Hyperion |isbn=1-56282-923-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/betweenthoughtex00lreed}}
* {{Cite book |last=Reed |first=Lou |title=Do Angels Need Haircuts? |publisher=Anthology Editions |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-944860-21-9 |location=Brooklyn, NY}}
* {{cite book |last=Reed |first=Lou |title=The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Laurie |editor2-last=Currie |editor2-first=Bob |editor3=Berwick |editor3-first=Stephan |editor4-last=Richman |editor4-first=Scott |publisher=Faber |date=2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Chris |first2=Lou |last2=Reed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdiPJ8sPF18C&q=%22Lewis+Allan+Reed%22&pg=PA18 |title=Lou Reed: The Stories Behind the Songs |year=2004 |publisher=Hal Leonard |isbn=0-634-08032-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |title=Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed |year=2009 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=9781617134081 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFJMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT18}}
* {{cite book |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title=White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-by-Day |year=2009 |publisher=Jawbone Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-906002-22-0}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
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{{Commons category|Lou Reed}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000233066}}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|0715563}}
* {{IBDB name|84104}}
* [https://archives.nypl.org/mus/24078 Lou Reed papers, 1958–2015], held by the Music Division, [https://www.nypl.org/locations/lpa New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]

{{Lou Reed}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Lou Reed
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}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Lou}}
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