Lou Reed 1942 - 2013

"Had he accomplished nothing else, his work with the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties would assure him a place in anyone's rock & roll pantheon; those remarkable songs still serve as an articulate aural nightmare of men and women caught in the beauty and terror of sexual, street and drug paranoia, unwilling or unable to move. The message is that urban life is tough stuff—it will kill you; Reed, the poet of destruction, knows it but never looks away and somehow finds holiness as well as perversity in both his sinners and his quest. . . . [H]e is still one of a handful of American artists capable of the spiritual home run."

Rolling Stone, (1975)

Lou Reed, guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the widely influential band The Velvet Underground, passed away today of undisclosed causes at the age of 71. The musical luminary first became a prominent figure in the burgeoning New York music - and art - scene in the 1960s when he helped form The Velvet Underground and later maintained authenticity as a solo artist in the face of pressures to conform to the mainstream. Today, we remembered the impressive legacy he leaves behind with one of VU's most beloved albums - Loaded. R.I.P. Lou.