Legendary rock musician Lou Reed has died at the age of 71. According to Rolling Stone, the songwriter and guitarist died Sunday, Oct. 27, but the cause of death is still unknown. He recently underwent a liver transplant in May.
Reed was best known for forming The Velvet Underground in the late 1960s. He was a guitarist, vocalist and a principal songwriter, and made four original albums with the band. After splitting from the group in 1970, the American rock musician continued with a solo career.
Reed released several albums during his lifetime, including the self-titled Lou Reed, Berlin, Sally Can't Dance, Rock 'n' Roll Animal, Metal Machine Music and Coney Island Baby. But the musician really broke into mainstream with his second solo album, Transformers, in 1972.
Some of his best known songs include "Sweet Jane," "Rock and Roll," "Walk on the Wild Side," "Satellite of Love" and "Femme Fatale."
"All through this, I've always thought that if you thought of all of it as a book then you have the Great American Novel, every record as a chapter," he said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1987. "They're all in chronological order. You take the whole thing, stack it and listen to it in order, there’s my Great American Novel."
The Brooklyn native is survived by his wife Laurie Anderson. Reed and the performance artist dated for several years beginning in the early '90s before marrying in 2008.
