Lou Reed

Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, at Beth-El Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Freeport, New York. His father, Sidney Joseph Reed, was an accountant who had changed the family surname from Rabinowitz; his mother was Toby, née Futterman. The family was Jewish, with grandparents who had emigrated from Russia and Poland in the early twentieth century. Reed attended Atkinson Elementary School and Freeport Junior High School before going on to study journalism, film directing, and creative writing at Syracuse University, where he enrolled in 1960 after recovering from a period of illness. At Syracuse he studied under poet Delmore Schwartz, whom Reed credited with demonstrating how simple language could achieve remarkable artistic results. A fellow student at Syracuse during those years was musician Garland Jeffreys, who remained a close friend of Reed's until Reed's death. Reed also hosted a late-night radio program on WAER called Excursions on a Wobbly Rail beginning in 1961, which featured doo-wop, rhythm and blues, and free jazz.

Reed's earliest recording came as a member of a doo-wop trio called the Jades, for whom he played guitar and sang backing vocals. Following a talent show appearance at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958, the group recorded an original single, with saxophonist King Curtis brought in as a session musician by producer Bob Shad. The single received airplay during a substitute DJ's slot on the Murray the K radio show. During his high school years Reed had taught himself guitar from the radio and performed in several bands, developing an early interest in rock and roll and rhythm and blues.

In 1965, Reed co-founded the Velvet Underground with John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Angus MacLise. The band built a reputation in the avant-garde music scene and attracted the attention of Andy Warhol, who became their manager and at whose art studio, The Factory, the band became a regular presence. The group's first album was released in 1967, by which point drummer Moe Tucker had joined and German singer Nico was featured. The band parted ways with Warhol shortly after that debut release. Following several lineup changes and three additional albums that reached limited audiences, Reed left the Velvet Underground in 1970. Though the band was not commercially successful during its existence, it came to be regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of underground and alternative rock.

After departing the Velvet Underground, Reed pursued a solo career that produced twenty studio albums over five decades. His second solo album, Transformer, released in 1972 and produced by David Bowie with arrangements by Mick Ronson, brought him mainstream recognition and is considered a landmark of the glam rock genre. The album's single "Walk on the Wild Side" became his most successful charting song. The album Berlin peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. The live album Rock 'n' Roll Animal, released in 1974, sold strongly, and Sally Can't Dance, also from 1974, reached number ten on the Billboard 200. Reed achieved sobriety in the early 1980s and returned to prominence with The Blue Mask in 1982 and New Sensations in 1984. His 1989 album New York represented a critical and commercial peak in his career. Magic and Loss, released in 1992, became his highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number six.

Reed also contributed music to theatrical interpretations of nineteenth-century writers, one of which he developed into an album titled The Raven. In 1989, he appeared on Broadway in Lou Rawls on Broadway. Reed also collaborated with John Cale on Songs for Drella, a tribute album to their former mentor Andy Warhol, and participated in the Velvet Underground's reformation in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996 and as a solo artist in 2015. Reed died on October 27, 2013.