Pouring one out on this imperfect day for the great Lou Reed, who according to Rolling Stone has died today, aged 71. The cause of death is not yet known. What is known, however, is Reed’s massively influential, decades-spanning body of work, both with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist.
From Rolling Stone:
With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music, marrying beauty and noise, while bringing a whole new lyrical honesty to rock & roll poetry. As a restlessly inventive solo artist, from the Seventies into the 2010s, he was chameleonic, thorny and unpredictable, challenging his fans at every turn. Glam, punk and alternative rock are all unthinkable without his revelatory example. “One chord is fine,” he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. “Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.”
RIP, Lou. Hope you had one last walk on the wild side.