Lou Reed Dead At 71 - Pollstar News

Lou Reed, the influential songwriter and guitarist for the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, has died. He was 71. He’d undergone a liver transplant in May, though no cause of death was immediately released, according to Rolling Stone.

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Dailymotion’s "Music In Motion: Hall Willner’s Freedom Rides," Highline Ballroom, New York City

Reed, married to musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson, joined John Cale to form the Primitives and later added drummer Maureen Tucker and guitarist Sterling Morrison to form the Velvet Underground.

He split with the Velvets in 1970 and embarked on a successful solo career, including such influential albums as Transformer, Berlin and Metal Machine Music.

Reed collaborated with Metallica last year, to mixed results, and his career was marked with commercial hits and misses — which bothered him not a bit.

According to Rolling Stone, Reed explained his career trajectory by telling famed music journalist Lester Bangs, “my bullshit is worth more than other people’s diamonds.”