Lou Reed

Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Born: 2.3.1942
Years active: 1965 – present

Lou Reed, is an influential American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The
Velvet Underground(1965-1973). The band gained little mainstream attention during their career,
but in hindsight became one of the most influential of their era. As the Velvets’ principal songwriter,
Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined in rock and roll,
including BDSM ("Venus in Furs"), transvestites ("Sister Ray" and "Candy Says"), drug culture
("Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man"), and transsexuals undergoing surgery
("Lady Godiva's Operation"). As a guitarist, he was a pioneer in the use of distortion,
volume-driven feedback, and nonstandard tunings.

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