Lou Reed

Lou Reed – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Explore the life of Lou Reed (1942–2013), the American musician, songwriter, and founding member of The Velvet Underground. Trace his artistic evolution, influence, struggles, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Lou Reed, born Lewis Allan Reed on March 2, 1942, was an American rock musician, poet, and cultural icon whose work challenged norms, blurred boundaries, and influenced countless artists.

As guitarist, lyricist, and frontman of The Velvet Underground, and later as a solo artist, Reed left an indelible mark: merging avant-garde sensibility with streetwise narratives, writing about addiction, alienation, sexuality, New York life, and more.

In what follows, we examine his biography, creative style, achievements, and some of his best-known quotes.

Early Life and Background

Lou Reed was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. His parents were Toby (née Futterman) and Sidney Joseph Reed, an accountant. His grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants; originally, his family name was Rabinowitz before being shortened to “Reed.”

He grew up in Freeport, Long Island, New York, where he attended schools and developed an early fascination with music. As a youth, Reed experienced shyness, panic attacks, and emotional turbulence, while showing a strong focus on musical pursuits.

He also struggled with dyslexia, which made formal academics challenging, and he began experimenting with drug use during his teenage years.

During his college years, he attended Syracuse University, where he studied journalism, film, and creative writing. At Syracuse, he met the poet Delmore Schwartz, who became a mentor and whose influence Reed acknowledged in later work.

Career and Artistic Evolution

The Velvet Underground Era

In 1965, Lou Reed co-founded The Velvet Underground along with John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Angus MacLise. The band initially worked under the patronage and influence of Andy Warhol, who brought them into his Factory and introduced the singer Nico to the group.

Though not a commercial success in its time, the Velvet Underground has since been recognized as one of the most influential rock bands in history. Their music was raw, experimental, literate, and often controversial—addressing drug addiction, sexuality, urban decay, and darker aspects of life.

Reed left the band in 1970, after internal tensions and creative direction conflicts.

Solo Career and Breakthroughs

After leaving The Velvet Underground, Reed’s solo career had a modest start. He briefly worked in his father’s accounting office, then gradually invested more in songwriting and performance.

In 1972, Reed released Transformer, produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. That album brought him mainstream attention, especially with the enduring hit “Walk on the Wild Side.”

He followed with bold and often controversial albums like Berlin (1973), which painted a dark portrait of love, loss, addiction, and despair.

One of his most radical works was Metal Machine Music (1975), an experimental double album of feedback and noise. Many interpreted it as provocation, contract frustration, or a conceptual statement.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he reemerged with albums like The Blue Mask, New York, Magic and Loss, and collaborations with John Cale (e.g. Songs for Drella). The album New York (1989) was critical and commercial success, with songs that tackled social issues, day-to-day life, and urban storytelling.

He also experimented with more literary and ambient projects, such as The Raven (inspired by Edgar Allan Poe) and theatrical works.

Themes, Style & Influence

• Lyrical realism & vivid storytelling
  Reed’s lyrics were often direct, gritty, unsparing, and observant—drawing from street life, marginal figures, addiction, love, identity, and mortality.

• Merging art and rock
  He treated rock music as a vehicle for poetic, sometimes avant-garde expression, not just entertainment.

• Experimental edge
  From harmonic dissonance, feedback, ambient textures, to noise, Reed pushed rock’s boundaries. Metal Machine Music is one of the most famous examples.

• New York as muse
  The city—its grit, contradictions, loneliness, vitality—features heavily in Reed’s work. The voices of outsiders, lost souls, and city streets animate many songs.

• Influence across genres
  Many later rock, punk, alternative, indie, and experimental artists cite Reed (and the Velvet Underground) as foundational.

Personal Life & Challenges

Lou Reed’s personal life was often turbulent. He struggled with drug addiction and alcohol abuse in the 1970s. In later life he cleaned up habits and experimented with tai chi, meditation, and introspective practices.

He married several times:

• In 1973 he married Bettye Kronstad.

• Later he was in a relationship with Rachel Humphreys (a trans woman) in the mid-1970s.

• He married British designer Sylvia Morales in 1980; they divorced later.

• From 1992 onward, he was with Laurie Anderson; they married in 2008.

Health issues in later years included liver disease. In 2013 Reed underwent a liver transplant, but complications ultimately led to his death on October 27, 2013.

Legacy & Impact

• The Velvet Underground’s albums initially sold poorly, but their influence grew over time. A famous adage attributed to Brian Eno is: “Only 30,000 copies sold, but everyone who bought one started a band.” (Though apocryphal, it captures the band’s outsized influence.)

• Reed is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist.

• His songs and style continue to be covered, sampled, studied, and revered across many musical genres.

• His willingness to confront taboo topics—sexuality, addiction, identity—helped open doors for more candid songwriting in rock.

Famous Quotes by Lou Reed

Here are some memorable quotes that reflect Reed’s perspective on art, life, and music:

“There’s a bit of magic in everything. And some loss to even things out.”
“You can’t ask me to explain the lyrics because I won’t do it.”
“You can’t beat 2 guitars, bass, and drums.”
“I don’t think anybody is anybody else’s moral compass.”
“I can’t do anything I want to … within my little world, nobody tells me what to put on the albums.”
“Some people drink to unleash their libidos, and other people drink to prop up their egos.”

These quotes show his defiance of overinterpretation, his embrace of simplicity, and his ambivalence toward moral authority.

Lessons from Lou Reed’s Life

1. Dare to push boundaries
   Reed never confined himself to standard rock tropes. He experimented and challenged his audience.

2. Honor the voice of the outsider
   His art gave voice to those on society’s margins (users, misfits, outsiders) in a way that felt authentic and empathetic.

3. Art needn’t be easily digestible
   He resisted simplifying his work for mass appeal; he trusted complexity and ambiguity.

4. Keep evolving
   Even after decades, Reed explored new forms—from noise records to literary and theatrical projects.

5. Live with your scars
   His life included struggle, addiction, loss—and he did not erase them; instead, he often used them in his art.

Conclusion

Lou Reed’s life and work stand as a testament to the power of uncompromising vision in popular music. He bridged poetry and rock, the underground and the mainstream, the beautiful and the abrasive. His music endures not only for its sound, but for the worlds it conjured—NYC streets, broken lives, dreams, despair, and hope.