Legendary rock musician Lou Reed has died, according to Rolling Stone. He was 71 and had received a liver transplant in May. The cantankerous, groundbreaking New York legend gave the world over 50 years of music during a career that included his membership in the Velvet Underground, various work with Andy Warhol, collaborations with John Cale and a solo career that spawned too many classics to mention.
For electronic music fans, Reed’s most famous foray into the genre was 1975’s controversial Metal Machine Music, an avant-garde album he produced that helped usher in the noise and industrial music movements. I saw Reed perform the album live with Sarth Calhoun and Ulrich Krieger at the Gramercy Theatre in New York in 2010. It was a magical experience watching Reed begin the show by apologizing for the din he was about to make before launching into MMM‘s difficult to listen songs and what seemed like improv jams.
Rest in peace, Lou.