Lou Reed Biography

With dark eyes to match his even darker mind, Lou Reed has been an underground rock legend since the late '60s, when he served as the face and voice of The Velvet Underground. Along with David Bowie and Iggy Pop, his solo work would be crucial in shaping punk, alternative rock and sharp-tongued singer/songwriters for decades to come. Besides his musical experimentation, his druggy, surreal lyrics and razor wit have made him stand out as an untouchable pioneer in a class of his own. His songs are often colorful short stories about urban life in the New York art scene. If you're surrounded by transvestites, junkies nodding off and Andy Warhol's hangers-on, there's a good chance you're in a Lou Reed song.Reed's music spans several decades and numerous creative phases. With the Velvet Underground, he crafted a persona of cool nonchalance, even while singing about subjects that were generally considered taboo for pop songs. Drug use ("Heroin") S&M ("Venus in Furs") and sex changes ("Lady Godiva's Operation") all appear in his music. The band's music contained just enough of an avant-garde influence to seem dangerous, and for some listeners even unlistenable. While Reed had a hand in pushing the music's boundaries, he was also a stabilizing force who knew how to craft a great pop song. This is noticeable on The Velvet Underground's later albums, especially Loaded.When the band separated and Reed went solo, his fascination with dark themes and characters would ferment into a complex, full-bodied wine called Transformer. Though Reed has released dozens of albums as a solo artist, this would eventually become his best-known, and play a crucial role in shaping rock music in the decades after its release. Produced by David Bowie and borrowing more than a hint of glam, the album's songs catalog the bizarre denizens of New York's underground. "Walk on the Wild Side" perfectly encapsulates the feeling of weird, liberated boho life while getting you grooving to Reed's trademark, pop perfection. Songs like "Perfect Day" prove the often sarcastic songwriter was capable of painfully honest, tender love songs as well.Reed has also become known for more avant-garde work, such as the experimental rock of Berlin and the impenetrable white noise of Metal Machine Music. Throughout the '80s he would go on to create mature pop songs on albums like The Blue Mask and New York. Predictably, The Big Apple would remain a focus for his songs, which chronicled the changes in the city and his own life.Eclectic to the end, Reed's recent albums include spoken word pieces and ambient music. 2003 saw the release of The Raven, a collection of readings of the works of Edgar Allen Poe set to music composed by Reed. Such celebrity voices as Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi appear on the album, as well as musical collaboration with David Bowie. In 2007, Reed released Hudson River Wind Meditations, an album of four tracks featuring subtle, ambient music tailored for life's background.