Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed dead at 71
New York - Music legend Lou Reed, 71, singer of ground-breaking art-rock band the Velvet Underground, died Sunday in New York, his agent said.
He "was as great an artist as it's possible to be, in my opinion, "Andrew Wylie, Reed's literary agent, told The New York Times.
The Velvet Underground exerted huge influence since the 1970s on the alternative rock genre. Reed went on to a notable solo career.
He had undergone a liver transplant earlier this year.
In the 1960s, the Velvet Underground was closely allied with pop art giant Andy Warhol in New York's avantgarde scene.
Bassist John Cale tendency toward experimental sounds, combined with Reed's mumbling vocals and dark, gritty lyrics about the sex, drugs and violence of urban life, created a sharp contrast with the flower-power pop music of the era.
Their debut album, Velvet Underground and Nico, was a commercial failure but is ranked by Rolling Stone as the 13th most influential album in rock history. 1970's Loaded was Reed's last with the group, producing their biggest hits, Rock and Roll and Sweet Jane.
Velvet Underground members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.//DPA
