Lou Reed Died Today At The Age Of 71

I thought that since Lou Reed made out of the 70s alive that would outlive us all. But today, Rolling Stone reports some news that’ll make you want to grab your iPhone, go under the covers and play “Sunday Morning“ over and over again until today is over. They say that the legendary Lou Reed died today. He was 71.

Lou’s cause of death hasn’t been released yet, but he had been dealing with liver problems. He underwent a liver transplant back in May and afterward, he wrote on his website that he was “bigger and stronger.”

Rolling Stone has a pretty thorough bio of Lou Reed’s life from when he formed the band the Primitives (which later became the Velvet Underground) in the 60s to his solo career in the 70s to his collaborations with his wife Laurie Anderson. I read through Lou’s Wikipedia page just right now and one thing I didn’t know is that when he was a teenager, he got electroshock therapy because some crazy doctors said it would cure his bisexuality.

“They put the thing down your throat so you don’t swallow your tongue, and they put electrodes on your head. That’s what was recommended in Rockland County to discourage homosexual feelings. The effect is that you lose your memory and become a vegetable. You can’t read a book because you get to page 17 and have to go right back to page one again.”
—Lou Reed quoted in Please Kill Me (1996)

The fuck. I guess I’ll be reading the rest of Please Kill Me today.

Rest in peace, Lou Reed…