Download Free Lou Reed Songs

Lou Reed music biography continued...

Long Island, and then attended Syracuse University, where he studied poetry. After college, he got an administrative job at Pickwick Records in New York City, where he met the musicians who would later form the groundbreaking group Velvet Underground, which was considered by many to be the world's first art rock band. During Reed's tenure with the band, he wrote many of their hit songs, including "Venus in Furs" (a fetishistic odyssey that took its title from a Sacher-Masoch novel), "Femme Fatale," "Heroin," "I'm Waiting for My Man," "White Light/White Heat," "Sweet Jane," and many others, In 1970, Reed split with is band on bad terms and didn't come out with his first solo album until two years later. In 1973, he had a breakthrough with his sophomore effort, Transformer. Produced by Reed devotee and emerging glam-rock phenom David Bowie, the album included the smash hit "Walk on the Wild Side," Reed's most successful commercial offering which became an anthem for the decade. The album it was off of, Sally Can't Dance, also reached the Top Ten in the U.S., making Reed a household name.



Reed released a number of other glam-rocking albums in the 1970s and several other genre benders which failed to impress critics or fans. He formed a new band for the release of 1982's critically acclaimed The Blue Mask. In the mid-Eighties Reed gained more of the spotlight when a number of post punk bands, including R.E.M., U2 and Sonic Youth, began singing his praises and vocally claiming inspiration by The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground reunited in 1993 for some well-received European dates, but again broke up bitterly before their planned U.S. performances. The band reunited once more in 1996, after the death of member Sterling Morrison, to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and perform a tribute to the late guitarist. Not content to rest on his laurels, Reed continued his solo recording career throughout the 90s and well into the new millennium as his fans remained committed to his musical evolution.