Editing Lou Reed (section)

==Biography==
===1942–1957: Early life===
Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, at Beth-El Hospital (later [[Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center|Brookdale]]) in [[Brooklyn]] and grew up in [[Freeport, New York|Freeport]], [[Long Island|New York]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-27/lou-reed-rocker-who-sang-walk-on-the-wild-side-dies-at-71.html |title=Lou Reed, 'Walk on the Wild Side' Rocker, Dies at 71 |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=October 27, 2013 |access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref>{{refn|Contrary to some sources, his birth name was Lewis Allan Reed, not Louis Firbanks, a name that was coined as a joke by [[Lester Bangs]] in ''[[Creem]]'' magazine.{{sfnp|Roberts|Reed|2004|p=18}}|group=nb}} Reed was the son of Toby (née Futterman) (1920–2013) and Sidney Joseph Reed (1913–2005), an accountant.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lou_Reed.aspx |title=Lou Reed Facts, information, pictures|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=December 24, 2012}}</ref> His family was Jewish and his grandparents were [[Russian Jews]] who had fled antisemitism;{{sfnp|Beeber|2006|p=11}} his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}

Reed attended Atkinson Elementary School in Freeport and went on to Freeport Junior High School. His sister Merrill, born Margaret Reed, said that as an adolescent, he suffered [[panic attack]]s, became socially awkward and "possessed a fragile temperament" but was highly focused on things that he liked, mainly music.<ref name=medium>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/a-family-in-peril-lou-reed-s-sister-sets-the-record-straight-about-his-childhood-20e8399f84a3|title=A Family in Peril: Lou Reed's Sister Sets the Record Straight About His Childhood|first=Merrill Reed|last=Weiner|date=April 11, 2015|website=[[Medium.com]]|access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref> Having learned to play the guitar from the radio, he developed an early interest in [[rock and roll]] and [[rhythm and blues]], and during high school played in several bands.<ref name="Costello interview">{{cite episode|title=Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel|url=http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500328617|series=Spectacle|airdate=2008|season=1|number=2|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415182218/http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500328617|archive-date=April 15, 2009}}</ref>

Reed was [[dyslexic]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHB0YVZvz1U| title = Elvis Costello and Lou Reed| date = November 21, 2008| via = YouTube}}</ref>

=== 1958–1964: Early recordings and education ===
[[File:Lou Reed HS Yearbook (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Reed as a high school senior, 1959]]
He began using drugs at the age of 16.<ref name=medium/>
Reed's first recording was as a member of a [[doo-wop]] three-piece group called the Jades, with Reed providing guitar accompaniment and backing vocals.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}} After participating at a talent show at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958, and receiving an enthusiastic response from the audience,<ref name=landemaine>{{cite web|first=Olivier |last=Landemaine |date=October 26, 2008 |title=So Blue: An interview with Phil Harris |url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/loureed/thejades/jades.html}}</ref> the group was given the chance to record an original single "So Blue" with the B-side "Leave Her for Me" later that year.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}} While the single did not reach any music hit parade, notable saxophonist [[King Curtis]] was brought in as a session musician by the producer [[Bob Shad]] to play on both songs,{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}}<ref name=landemaine/> and the single was played by a substitute DJ during the [[Murray the K]] radio show,{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=54}} which gave Reed his first-ever airplay.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=53}}<ref name=landemaine/> Reed's love for playing music and his desire to play gigs brought him into confrontation with his anxious and unaccommodating parents.<ref name=medium/>

His sister recalled that during his first year in college, at [[New York University]], he was brought home one day, having had a [[mental breakdown]], after which he remained "depressed, anxious, and socially unresponsive" for a time, and that his parents were having difficulty coping.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hermes |first=Will |title=Lou Reed: the King of New York |date=2023 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-19339-3 |edition=1st |location=New York |publication-date=2023 |pages=24–31}}</ref> Visiting a psychologist, Reed's parents were made to feel guilty as inadequate parents, and they consented to giving him [[electroconvulsive therapy]] (ECT).<ref name=medium/> Reed appeared to blame his father for the treatment to which he had been subjected.<ref name=medium/> He wrote about the experience in his song "Kill Your Sons" from the album ''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' (1974).<ref name="Salon.com_LouReed_Syracuse_BA">{{cite web|url=http://dir.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/16/reed|title=Lou Reed|last=Colin|first=Chris|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|access-date=June 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107125917/http://dir.salon.com/people/bc/2000/05/16/reed|archive-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref> Reed later recalled the experience as having been traumatic and leading to memory loss. He believed that he was treated to dispel his homosexual feelings.{{sfnp|McNeil|McCain|2006|p=4}} After Reed's death, his sister denied the ECT treatments were intended to suppress his "homosexual urges", asserting that their parents were not [[homophobic]] but had been told by his doctors that ECT was necessary to treat Reed's mental and behavioral issues.<ref name=medium/>

Upon his recovery from his illness and associated treatment, Reed resumed his education at [[Syracuse University]] in 1960,<ref name=medium/> studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. He was a [[platoon leader]] in [[ROTC]]; he said he was later expelled from the program for holding an unloaded gun to his superior's head.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916140,00.html|title=Music: Lou Reed's Nightshade Carnival|date=April 24, 1978|first=Jay|last=Cocks|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=October 28, 2013}}</ref>

Reed played music on campus under numerous band names (one being L.A. and the Eldorados) and played throughout Central New York.<ref name="lasting legacy at Syracuse">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Chris |title=Lou Reed's lasting legacy at Syracuse University: A criminal, a dissident and a poet |url=https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/2013/10/lou_reed_syracuse_university.html |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Post-Standard]] |date=October 31, 2013 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lieberman |first1=Michael |title='The Velvet Underground' brilliantly recalls one of music's most innovative bands |url=https://dailyorange.com/2021/11/velvet-underground-brilliantly-recalls-music-innovative-bands-documentary-lou-reed-screentime/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> Per his bandmates, they were routinely kicked out of fraternity parties for their brash personalities and insistence on performing their own material.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='I'll be your mirror': Lou Reed's time at SU shapes career as music legend |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/ill-be-your-mirror-lou-reeds-time-at-su-shapes-career-as-music-legend/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> In 1961, he began hosting a late-night radio program on [[WAER]] called ''Excursions on a Wobbly Rail''.<ref name="Costello interview"/><ref name="Wobbly rail at WAER">{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='Excursions on a Wobbly Rail': Alumna remembers Lou Reed's time at WAER |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/excursions-on-a-wobbly-rail-alumna-remembers-lou-reeds-time-at-waer/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> Named after a song by pianist [[Cecil Taylor]], the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues, and [[jazz]], particularly the [[free jazz]] developed in the mid-1950s.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|first=David|last=Fricke|type=liner notes|title=Peel Slowly and See|publisher=Polydor|year=1995}}</ref> Reed said that when he started out he was inspired by such musicians as [[Ornette Coleman]], who had "always been a great influence" on him; he said that his guitar on "[[European Son]]" was his way of trying to imitate the jazz saxophonist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/jazzpunk.html|title=The Jazz-Punk Connection|work=furious.com|access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref>

Reed's sister said that during her brother's time at [[Syracuse University|Syracuse]], the university authorities had tried unsuccessfully to expel him because they did not approve of his extracurricular activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loureed.com/inmemoriam|title=Lou Reed, 1942-2013|work=loureed.com|access-date=January 18, 2017|quote=[He] started a band, he had his own radio show. He reportedly libeled some student on his radio show; the kid's family tried to sue my father. And there were other extracurricular possibly illegal activities of which the university didn't approve. I believe they tried to kick him out. But he was a genius; what could they do? He stayed and he graduated.}}</ref> At Syracuse University, he studied under poet [[Delmore Schwartz]], who he said was "the first great person I ever met", and they became friends.<ref name="lasting legacy at Syracuse"/> He credited Schwartz with showing him how "with the simplest language imaginable, and very short, you can accomplish the most astonishing heights."<ref name=documentary>"Rock and Roll Heart", documentary on the life of Lou Reed, ''American Masters''</ref> One of Reed's fellow students at Syracuse in the early 1960s (who also studied under Schwartz) was the musician [[Garland Jeffreys]]; they remained close friends until the end of Reed's life.<ref name="syracuse.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/01/garland_jeffreys_le_moyne_lou_reed.html|title=Garland Jeffreys remembers his friend, Lou Reed|work=syracuse.com|date=January 24, 2014|access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref>

Jeffreys recalled Reed's time at Syracuse: "At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at [the bar] The Orange Grove. Me, Delmore and Lou. That would often be the center of the crew. And Delmore was the leader – our quiet leader."<ref name="syracuse.com"/> While at Syracuse, Reed was also introduced to intravenous drug use for the first time, and quickly contracted [[hepatitis]].{{sfnp|Clapton|2012|p=}} Reed later dedicated the song "European Son", from the first Velvet Underground album, to Schwartz.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=The Velvet Underground & Nico |year=1967 |type=album cover notes and record label}}</ref> In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" from his album ''[[The Blue Mask]]'' as a tribute to his late mentor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Segelbaum |first1=Dylan |last2=van Rheenan |first2=Erik |title='He had novel-sized ideas': SU professor, classmate reflect on Lou Reed's admiration for poet |url=https://dailyorange.com/2013/11/he-had-novel-sized-ideas-su-professor-classmate-reflect-on-lou-reeds-admiration-for-poet/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |work=[[The Daily Orange]] |date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write the [[Great American Novel]] in a record album.<ref>Interview in ''Rolling Stone'' Nov/Dec 1987: Twentieth Anniversary Issue.</ref> Reed met [[Sterling Morrison]], a student at [[City University of New York]], while the latter was visiting mutual friend, and fellow Syracuse student, Jim Tucker. Reed graduated from Syracuse University's [[Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences|College of Arts and Sciences]] with a BA ''[[cum laude]]'' in English in June 1964.<ref name="Salon.com_LouReed_Syracuse_BA"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.syr.edu/statement-from-syracuse-university-regarding-the-passing-of-lou-reed-59708|title=Statement from Syracuse University Regarding the Passing of Lou Reed|date=October 28, 2013|access-date=October 28, 2013|archive-date=November 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108234847/http://news.syr.edu/statement-from-syracuse-university-regarding-the-passing-of-lou-reed-59708/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Renée Gearhart |title=On Our Short List: From the Wild Side |journal=Syracuse University Magazine |date=December 1989 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=5–6 |url=https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol6/iss2/3/ |access-date=May 9, 2022 |publisher=[[Syracuse University]]}}</ref>

===1964–1970: Pickwick and the Velvet Underground===
[[File:Velvet Underground 1968 by Billy Name.png|thumb|upright=0.75|The Velvet Underground, 1968 (left to right: Reed, Tucker, Yule, Morrison)]]
Reed moved to New York City in 1964 to work as an in-house songwriter for [[Pickwick Records]]. He can be heard singing lead on two cuts on ''The Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Surfsiders-The-Surfsiders-Sing-The-Beach-Boys-Songbook/release/2066726|title = The Surfsiders – the Surfsiders Sing the Beach Boys Songbook (1967, Vinyl)|website = [[Discogs]]| year=1967 }}</ref> For Pickwick, Reed also wrote and recorded the single "The Ostrich", a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as "put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it". His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and assembled a supporting band to help promote the recording. The ''ad hoc'' band, called the Primitives: Reed; Welsh musician [[John Cale]], who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer [[La Monte Young]]'s [[Theatre of Eternal Music]], on bass; [[Tony Conrad]], violinist in the Theatre of Eternal Music, on guitar; and sculptor [[Walter De Maria]] on percussion. Cale and Conrad were surprised to find that for "The Ostrich", Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note, which they began to call his "[[ostrich guitar]]" tuning. This technique created a [[drone (music)|drone]] effect similar to their experimentation in Young's [[avant-garde]] ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "[[Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)|Heroin]]"), and a partnership began to evolve.<ref name=documentary/>

Reed and Cale (who played viola, keyboards and bass guitar) lived together on the [[Lower East Side]], and invited Reed's college acquaintance Sterling Morrison and Cale's neighbor and Theatre of Eternal Music bandmate [[Angus MacLise]] to join the band on guitar and drums respectively, thus forming [[the Velvet Underground]]. When the opportunity came to play their first paying gig at [[Summit High School (New Jersey)|Summit High School]] in [[Summit, New Jersey]], MacLise quit because he believed that accepting money for art was a [[sellout]] and did not want to participate in a structured gig. He was replaced on drums by [[Moe Tucker]], the sister of Reed and Morrison's mutual friend Jim Tucker. Initially a fill-in for that one show, she soon became a full-time member with her drumming an integral part of the band's sound, despite Cale's initial objections. Though it had little commercial success, the band is considered one of the most influential in rock history.<ref name="nrr-loc">{{cite web |title=News from the Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-039.html |website=National Recording Registry |publisher=Library of Congress |date=March 6, 2007 |quote=For decades this album has cast a huge shadow over nearly every sub-variety of avant-garde rock, from 1970s art-rock to No Wave, New Wave and Punk. Referring to their sway over the rock music of the '70s and '80s, critic Lester Bangs stated, 'Modern music starts with the Velvets, and the implications and influence of what they did seem to go on forever.'}}</ref><ref name=rrhallbio>{{cite web |title=The Velvet Underground Biography |url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/the-velvet-underground/bio/ |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |quote=The influence of the Velvet Underground on rock greatly exceeds their sales figures and chart numbers. They are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time, laying the groundwork in the Sixties for many tangents rock music would take in ensuing decades.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131125-do-the-velvets-beat-the-beatles |title=The Velvet Underground: As influential as The Beatles? |last=Kot |first=Greg |publisher=BBC |date=October 21, 2014 |access-date=November 25, 2016}}</ref> Reed was the main singer and songwriter in the band.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title=The Velvet Underground – Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-velvet-underground-mn0000840402/biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|align=right|quote=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.|source= —''[[Rolling Stone]]'', 1975<ref>Nelson, Paul. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', June 5, 1975. p. 60.</ref>}}

The band soon came to the attention of [[Andy Warhol]]. One of Warhol's first contributions was to integrate them into the [[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]. Warhol's associates inspired many of Reed's songs as he fell into a thriving, multifaceted artistic scene.{{sfnp|Reed|1991|pp=22, 38, 42}}{{sfnp|Thompson|2009|p=18}} Reed rarely gave an interview without paying homage to Warhol as a mentor. Warhol pushed the band to take on a [[chanteuse]], the German former model and singer [[Nico]]. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=104, 106, 107}}

''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' was released in March 1967 and peaked at No. 171 on the U.S. [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref name=rrhallbio /> Much later, ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as the 13th greatest album of all time; Musician [[Brian Eno]] once stated that although few people bought the album at the time of its release, most of those who did were inspired to form their own bands.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jones, Chris |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fq4h |archive-date= April 30, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120430223626/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fq4h/ |title=Review of The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Deluxe Edition) |work=BBC Music |year=2002 |access-date=October 28, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Václav Havel]] credited the album, which he bought while visiting the U.S., with inspiring him to become president of [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/lou-reed-and-vaclav-havel-vs-communism-2013-10|title=The True Story Of How Lou Reed Helped Overthrow Communism In Eastern Europe|date=October 27, 2013|work=Business Insider|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

By the time the band recorded ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'', Nico had quit the band and Warhol had been fired, both against Cale's wishes. Warhol's replacement as manager was [[Steve Sesnick]]. In September 1968, Reed told Morrison and Tucker that he would dissolve the band if they did not let him fire Cale; they agreed, and Reed had Morrison inform Cale of his firing.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=160}} Morrison and Tucker were discomfited by Reed's tactics but remained in the band. Cale's replacement was [[Boston]]-based musician [[Doug Yule]], who played bass guitar and keyboards and would soon share lead vocal duties with Reed.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=164, 167}} The band now took on a more pop-oriented sound and acted more as a vehicle for Reed to develop his songwriting craft.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|pp=164, 166}} They released two studio albums with this lineup: 1969's ''[[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]'' and 1970's ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]''. Reed left the Velvet Underground in August 1970.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=177}} The band disintegrated after Morrison and Tucker departed in 1971, and their final album [[Squeeze (The Velvet Underground album)|''Squeeze'']] was almost entirely Yule's work.{{sfnp|Unterberger|2009|pp=307, 317}}

===1970–1975: Glam rock and commercial breakthrough===
After leaving the Velvet Underground, Reed moved to his parents' home on [[Long Island]], and took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week<ref>{{cite web |title=Topic 354: Richie Unterberger, White Light / White Heat |date=May 30, 2009 |page=3 |work=The WELL |url=http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/354/Richie-Unterberger-White-Light-W-page03.html#post58 |access-date=November 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202055654/http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/354/Richie-Unterberger-White-Light-W-page03.html#post58 |archive-date=December 2, 2012}}</ref> (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|40|1970}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). He began writing poetry, which was published later in 2018 by [[Anthology Editions]] through the Lou Reed Estate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Do Angels Need Haircuts? |url=https://anthology.net/book/do-angels-need-haircuts/ |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=Anthology |language=en-US}}</ref> He signed a recording contract with [[RCA Records]] in 1971 and recorded his first solo album at [[Morgan Studios]] in [[Willesden]], London with session musicians including [[Steve Howe]] and [[Rick Wakeman]] from the band [[Yes (band)|Yes]]. The album, ''[[Lou Reed (album)|Lou Reed]]'', contained versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which had originally been recorded for ''Loaded'' but shelved.{{refn|Some later appeared on the ''[[Peel Slowly and See]]'' box set.|group=nb}} This album was overlooked by most pop music critics and did not sell well, although music critic [[Stephen Holden]], in ''Rolling Stone'', called it an "almost perfect album. ... which embodied the spirit of the Velvets." Holden went on to compare Reed's voice with those of [[Mick Jagger]] and [[Bob Dylan]] and praise the poetic quality of his lyrics.<ref>Holden, Stephen (May 25, 1972). ''Rolling Stone''. p. 68</ref>

Reed's commercial breakthrough album, ''[[Transformer (Lou Reed album)|Transformer]]'', was released in November 1972. ''Transformer'' was co-produced by [[David Bowie]] and [[Mick Ronson]], and it introduced Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK. The single "[[Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed song)|Walk on the Wild Side]]" was a salute to the misfits and hustlers who once surrounded Andy Warhol in the late '60s and appeared in his films. Each of the song's five verses describes a person who had been a fixture at [[The Factory]] during the mid-to-late 1960s: (1) [[Holly Woodlawn]], (2) [[Candy Darling]], (3) [[Joe Dallesandro|"Little Joe" Dallesandro]], (4) "Sugar Plum Fairy" [[Joe Campbell (actor)|Joe Campbell]] and (5) [[Jackie Curtis]]. The song's transgressive lyrics evaded radio censorship. Though the jazzy arrangement (courtesy of bassist [[Herbie Flowers]] and saxophonist [[Ronnie Ross]]) was musically atypical for Reed, it eventually became his signature song.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Wiener|first1=John|title=Beatles Buy-Out|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/music/beatles-buy-out|magazine=The New Republic|date=May 11, 1987}}</ref> It came about as a result of a commission to compose a soundtrack to a theatrical adaptation of [[Nelson Algren]]'s [[A Walk on the Wild Side|novel of the same name]]; the play failed to materialize.{{sfnp|Reed|1991|p=42}} "Walk on the Wild Side" was Reed's only entry in the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles chart, at No. 16.<ref name="Caulfield">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5770575/lou-reed-billboard-chart-history|title=Lou Reed's 'Perfect' Billboard Chart History|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|date=October 27, 2013|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs. "[[Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)|Perfect Day]]", for example, features delicate strings and soaring dynamics. It was rediscovered in the 1990s and allowed Reed to drop "Walk on the Wild Side" from his concerts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/blurred-vision-at-the-beeb-1235724.html|last1=Walker|first1=Nick|date=October 13, 1997|title=Blurred vision at the Beeb|website=The Independent}}</ref>

Several years later, Bowie and Reed fell out during a late-night meeting which led to Reed hitting Bowie. Bowie had reportedly told Reed that he would have to "clean up his act" if they were to work together again.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}{{refn|The two reconciled years later, and Reed performed with Bowie at the latter's 50th birthday concert at [[Madison Square Garden]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesound.co.nz/home/music/2018/01/david-bowie-s-50th-birthday-performance-with-lou-reed.html|title=David Bowie's 50th birthday performance with Lou Reed|access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref>|group=nb}}

Reed hired a local New York bar-band, the Tots, to tour in support of ''Transformer'' and spent much of 1972 and early 1973 on the road with them. Though they improved over the months, Reed (with producer [[Bob Ezrin]]'s encouragement) decided to recruit a new backing band in anticipation of the upcoming ''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' album. He chose keyboardist [[Moogy Klingman]] to come up with a new five-member band on barely a week's notice.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lou-reed-and-moogy-klingman-band/concerts/kansas-city-memorial-hall-may-02-1973.html | work=Wolfgangs Vault | title=Concert Summary: May 2, 1973 | last=Bershaw | access-date=March 2, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523090717/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lou-reed-and-moogy-klingman-band/concerts/kansas-city-memorial-hall-may-02-1973.html | archive-date=May 23, 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' (July 1973) was a [[concept album]] about two [[Amphetamine#Addiction|speed-freaks]] in love in the city. The songs variously concern [[domestic violence]] ("Caroline Says I", "Caroline Says II"), drug addiction ("How Do You Think It Feels"), adultery and prostitution ("The Kids"), and suicide ("The Bed"). Reed's late 1973 European tour, featuring lead guitarists [[Steve Hunter]] and [[Dick Wagner]], mixed his ''Berlin'' material with older numbers. Response to ''Berlin'' at the time of its release was generally negative, with ''Rolling Stone'' pronouncing it "a disaster".{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=221}} Reed found the poor reviews it received very disheartening.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8e40a4de-4245-11e3-bb85-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/8e40a4de-4245-11e3-bb85-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lou Reed: rock 'n' roll animal|last=Morley|first=Paul|date=November 1, 2013|work=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref> Since then the album has been critically reevaluated, and in 2003 ''Rolling Stone'' included it in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 344. Lou Reed, Berlin|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/lou-reed-berlin-20120524|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 31, 2009|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=September 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922133950/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/lou-reed-berlin-20120524|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Berlin'' peaked at No. 7 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14017/lou-reed/|title=Lou Reed full Official Chart History|work=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=May 12, 1973 |access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

Following the commercial disappointment of ''Berlin'', Reed befriended [[Steve Katz (musician)|Steve Katz]] of [[Blood, Sweat & Tears]] (brother of his then-manager Dennis Katz), who suggested Reed put together a "great live band" and release a live album of Velvet Underground songs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/10/he-treads-kind-of-softly-musicians-remember-working-with-lou-reed/|title='He Treads Kind of Softly': Two Musicians Remember Working with Lou Reed|date=October 28, 2013|website=Bedfordandbowery.com}}</ref> Katz would come on board as producer, and the album ''[[Rock 'n' Roll Animal]]'' (February 1974) contained live performances of the Velvet Underground songs "Sweet Jane", "Heroin", "White Light/White Heat", and "Rock and Roll". Wagner's live arrangements, and Hunter's intro to "[[Sweet Jane]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/2795/dick-wagner-and-steve-hunter/|title=Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter|first=Greg|last=Pedersen|date=May 15, 2001|website=Vintageguitar.com}}</ref> which opened the album, gave Reed's songs the live rock sound he was looking for, and the album peaked at No. 45 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] for 28 weeks and soon became Reed's biggest selling album.{{refn|''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' and its follow-up ''[[Lou Reed Live]]'' (1975) were both recorded at the [[Palladium (New York City)|Academy of Music]], New York City, on December 21, 1973.|group=nb}} It went gold in 1978, with 500,000 certified sales.<ref name="riaa">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=lou+reed#search_section|title=RIAA|publisher=Record Industry Association of America|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' which was released later that year (in August 1974), became Reed's highest-charting album in the United States, peaking at No. 10 during a 14-week stay on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart in October 1974.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/lou-reed/chart-history/tlp/ |title=Sally Can't Dance Chart History |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=February 9, 2018 }}</ref>

In October 2019, an audio tape of publicly unknown music by Reed, based on Warhol's 1975 book, "''[[The Philosophy of Andy Warhol|The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again]]''", was reported to have been discovered in an archive at [[The Andy Warhol Museum]] in [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania.<ref name="NYT-20191030">{{cite news|last=Sisaro|first=Ben|title=A Long-Lost Lou Reed Tape with a Surprise: Andy Warhol Lyrics - The cassette, discovered at the Andy Warhol Museum, finds the Velvet Underground musician performing snippets from his mentor's 1975 book|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/arts/music/lou-reed-andy-warhol-tape.html|date=October 30, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 30, 2019}}</ref>

===1975–1979: Addiction and creative work===
[[File:Lou Reed 1977.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.75|Reed in 1977]]

Throughout the 1970s, Reed was a heavy user of [[methamphetamine]] and alcohol.<ref name="nyt" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10092969/Lou-Reed-saved-by-liver-transplant-after-years-of-drugs-and-alcohol-take-their-toll.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/10092969/Lou-Reed-saved-by-liver-transplant-after-years-of-drugs-and-alcohol-take-their-toll.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lou Reed saved by liver transplant after years of drugs and alcohol take their toll - Telegraph|last=Sawer|first=Patrick|date=June 1, 2011|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=February 17, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the summer of 1975, he was booked to headline Startruckin' 75 in Europe, a touring [[rock festival]] organized by [[Miles Copeland III|Miles Copeland]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=West|first=Aaron J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfqACgAAQBAJ&q=startruckin'+75+lou+reed+turner&pg=PA59|title=Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps|date=October 1, 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-8491-5|language=en}}</ref> However, Reed's drug addiction made him unreliable and he never performed on the tour, causing Copeland to replace him with [[Ike & Tina Turner]].<ref name=":0" />

Reed's double album ''[[Metal Machine Music]]'' (1975) was an hour of modulated feedback and guitar effects. Described by ''Rolling Stone'' as the "tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator",<ref name="Dayal2013">{{cite news |author1=Geeta Dayal |title=Lou Reed Was a Rock God and the Epitome of Cool. He Was Also a Big Nerd. |url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/10/lou-reeds-metal-machine-music-the-artist-was-a-rock-god-he-was-also-a-big-nerd.html |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=Slate |date=October 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311073715/https://slate.com/culture/2013/10/lou-reeds-metal-machine-music-the-artist-was-a-rock-god-he-was-also-a-big-nerd.html |archive-date=March 11, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> many critics interpreted it as a gesture of contempt, an attempt to break his contract with RCA or to alienate his less sophisticated fans. Reed claimed that the album was a genuine artistic effort inspired by the [[drone music]] of [[La Monte Young]],<ref>[[Alan Licht]], ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', [[Blank Forms]] Edition, ''Interview with Lou Reed'', pp.155-172</ref> and suggesting that references to classical music could be found buried in the feedback,<ref name="Little2018">{{cite news |author1=Michael H. Little |title=Graded on a Curve: Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music |url=http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2018/03/graded-on-a-curve-lou-reed-metal-machine-music/ |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=The Vinyl District |date=March 9, 2018}}</ref> but he also said, "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am."<ref name="BogdanovWoodstra2002">{{cite book|editor1=Vladimir Bogdanov |editor2=Chris Woodstra |editor3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-pH4i3jXvAC&pg=PA927|year=2002|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-653-3|page=927}}</ref><ref name="McPadden2012">{{cite book|author=Mike McPadden|title=If You Like Metallica...: Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies and Other Oddities That You Will Love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtGGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|date=May 1, 2012|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=978-1-4768-1358-5|page=61}}</ref> Lester Bangs declared it "genius", though also psychologically disturbing. The album, now regarded as a visionary textural guitar masterpiece by some music critics,<ref name="McGonigal2015">{{cite news |author1=Mike McGonigal |title=Coming to Cranbrook Nov. 21: '3-D installation' of Lou Reed's 1975 feedback masterpiece 'Metal Machine Music' |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2015/09/04/coming-to-cranbrook-nov-21-3-d-installation-of-lou-reeds-1975-feedback-masterpiece-metal-machine-music |access-date=November 16, 2019 |work=Detroit Metro Times |date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116160623/https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2015/09/04/coming-to-cranbrook-nov-21-3-d-installation-of-lou-reeds-1975-feedback-masterpiece-metal-machine-music |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands and was withdrawn after a few weeks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://92yondemand.org/lou-reed-with-anthony-decurtis|title=Lou Reed with Anthony DeCurtis - 92Y On Demand|date=September 18, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2018|archive-date=March 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315212414/http://92yondemand.org/lou-reed-with-anthony-decurtis|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wzwx/|title=Review of Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music: Re-mastered|publisher=BBC|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|align=left|quote=Lou Reed doesn't just write about squalid characters, he allows them to leer and breathe in their own voices, and he colors familiar landscapes through their own eyes. In the process, Reed has created a body of music that comes as close to disclosing the parameters of human loss and recovery as we're likely to find. That qualifies him, in my opinion, as one of the few real heroes rock & roll has raised.|source=—[[Mikal Gilmore]], ''Rolling Stone'', (1979)<ref name=Gilmore/>}}

1975's ''[[Coney Island Baby]]'' was dedicated to Reed's then-partner [[Rachel Humphreys]], a [[transgender]] woman Reed dated and lived with for three years.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=180}} Humphreys also appears in the photos on the cover of Reed's 1977 "best of" album, ''[[Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed]]''. ''[[Rock and Roll Heart]]'' was his 1976 debut for his new record label [[Arista Records|Arista]], and ''[[Street Hassle]]'' (1978) was released in the midst of the [[punk rock]] scene he had helped to inspire. Reed took on a watchful, competitive and sometimes dismissive attitude towards punk. Aware that he had inspired the scene, he regularly attended shows at [[CBGB]] to track the artistic and commercial development of numerous punk bands, and a cover illustration and interview of Reed appeared in the first issue of ''[[Punk (magazine)|Punk]]'' magazine by [[Legs McNeil]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://13thdimension.com/punk-magazine-began-with-lou-reed-comic/|title=PUNK Magazine Began With Lou Reed Comic|date=October 28, 2013|website=13thdimension.com}}</ref>
[[File:Chuck Hammer and Lou Reed.jpg|thumb|Reed performing onstage with guitarist [[Chuck Hammer]], June 1979, [[The Bottom Line (venue)|The Bottom Line]], New York City]]
Reed released his third live album, ''[[Live: Take No Prisoners]]'', in 1978; some critics thought it was his "bravest work yet", while others considered it his "silliest".<ref name=Gilmore>{{cite magazine |last=Gilmore |first=Mikal |title=Lou Reed's heart of darkness |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=March 22, 1979 |pages=8, 12 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/lou-reeds-heart-of-darkness-19790322 |access-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216085145/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/lou-reeds-heart-of-darkness-19790322 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' described it as "one of the funniest live albums ever recorded" and compared Reed's monologs with those of [[Lenny Bruce]].<ref name=Gilmore/> Reed felt it was his best album to date.<ref name=Gilmore/> ''[[The Bells (Lou Reed album)|The Bells]]'' (1979) featured jazz trumpeter [[Don Cherry (trumpeter)|Don Cherry]]. During 1979 Reed toured extensively in Europe and throughout the United States performing a wide range of songs, including a suite of core songs from his ''Berlin'' album and the title track from ''The Bells'' featuring [[Chuck Hammer]] on guitar-synth. Around this time Reed also appeared as a record producer in [[Paul Simon]]'s film ''[[One-Trick Pony (film)|One-Trick Pony]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=One-Trick Pony (1980)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081280/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> From around 1979 Reed began to wean himself off drugs.<ref name="nyt"/>

===1980–1989: Mid-period===
Reed's 1980 marriage to designer Sylvia Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980's ''[[Growing Up in Public (Lou Reed album)|Growing Up in Public]]''{{sfnp|Reed|1991|p=71}} and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982's ''[[The Blue Mask]]''. The latter album was enthusiastically received by critics such as ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' writer Tom Carson, whose review began, "Lou Reed's ''The Blue Mask'' is a great record, and its genius is at once so simple and unusual that the only appropriate reaction is wonder. Who expected anything like this from Reed at this late stage of the game?"<ref name=carson>{{cite magazine|last1=Carson|first1=Tom|title=The Blue Mask|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=April 15, 1982|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-blue-mask-19820415|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103181236/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-blue-mask-19820415|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the ''[[Village Voice]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] called ''The Blue Mask'' "his most controlled, plainspoken, deeply felt, and uninhibited album."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2150|website=RobertChristgau.com|title=Lou Reed: The Blue Mask|first=Robert|last=Christgau|access-date=July 4, 2021}}</ref> After ''[[Legendary Hearts]]'' (1983) and ''[[New Sensations]]'' (1984), Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become a spokesman for [[Honda]] scooters.{{sfnp|Bockris|1994|p=351}} In the early 1980s, Reed worked with guitarists including [[Chuck Hammer]] on ''Growing Up in Public'', and [[Robert Quine]] on ''The Blue Mask'' and ''Legendary Hearts''.

Reed's 1984 album ''[[New Sensations]]'' marked the first time that Reed had charted within the US Top 100 since 1978's ''[[Street Hassle]]'', and the first time that Reed had charted in the UK altogether since 1976's ''[[Coney Island Baby]]''. Although its [[lead single]] "[[I Love You, Suzanne]]" only charted at No. 78 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] it did receive light rotation on [[MTV]]. Two more singles were released from the album: "[[My Red Joystick]]" and the Dutch-only release "[[High in the City]]" but they both failed to chart.

In 1998, ''[[The New York Times]]'' observed that in the 1970s, Reed had a distinctive persona: "Back then he was publicly gay, pretended to shoot heroin onstage, and cultivated a 'Dachau panda' look, with cropped peroxide hair and black circles painted under his eyes."<ref name="Lewis">{{Cite news|last=Lewis|first=Randy|date= October 28, 2013|title= Lou Reed, 1942 - 2013 Influential pioneer of punk, art rock|work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |page=1 |url=https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-lou-reed-20131028,0,347074.story?page=2 |access-date=December 7, 2013}}</ref> The newspaper wrote that in 1980, "Reed renounced druggy theatrics, even swore off intoxicants themselves, and became openly heterosexual, openly married."<ref name="Lewis"/>

[[File:Lou Reed-Conspiracy of Hope-by Steven Toole.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Reed performing live during a benefit concert for [[A Conspiracy of Hope]] at [[Giants Stadium]] in [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]], 1986]]
On September 22, 1985, Reed performed at the first [[Farm Aid]] concert in [[Champaign, Illinois]]. He performed "Doin' the Things That We Want To", "I Love You, Suzanne", "New Sensations" and "Walk on the Wild Side" as his solo set. In June 1986, Reed released ''[[Mistrial (album)|Mistrial]]'' (co-produced with bassist [[Fernando Saunders]]). To support the album, he released two music videos: "[[No Money Down (Lou Reed song)|No Money Down]]" and "[[The Original Wrapper]]". In the same year, he joined [[Amnesty International]]'s [[A Conspiracy of Hope]] short tour and was outspoken about New York City's political issues and personalities. He also appeared on [[Steven Van Zandt]]'s 1985 [[Apartheid|anti-Apartheid]] song "[[Sun City (song)|Sun City]]", pledging not to play at [[Sun City (South Africa)|that resort]].

The 1989 album ''[[New York (album)|New York]]'', which commented on crime, AIDS, civil rights activist [[Jesse Jackson]], then-President of Austria [[Kurt Waldheim]], and [[Pope John Paul II]], became his second gold-certified work when it passed 500,000 sales in 1997.<ref name="riaa"/> Reed was nominated for a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance for the album.<ref name="Caulfield"/>

===1990–1999: Velvet Underground reunion and various projects===
Reed met John Cale for the first time in several years at Warhol's funeral in 1987. They worked together on the album ''[[Songs for Drella]]'' (April 1990), a [[song cycle]] about Warhol.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2013/10/28/lou-reed-dead-john-cale-statement/|title=Lou Reed remembered by VU bandmate John Cale|last=Anderson|first=Kyle|date=October 28, 2013|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> On the album, Reed sings of his love for his late friend, and criticizes both the doctors who were unable to save Warhol's life and Warhol's would-be assassin, [[Valerie Solanas]]. In 1990, the first Velvet Underground lineup reformed for a [[Fondation Cartier]] benefit show in France.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-velvet-underground-play-heroin-at-1990-reunion-w446616|title=See Velvet Underground Play 'Heroin' at 1990 Reunion - Rolling Stone|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=October 25, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=February 18, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923142153/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-velvet-underground-play-heroin-at-1990-reunion-w446616|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June and July 1993, the Velvet Underground again reunited and toured Europe, including an appearance at the [[Glastonbury Festival]]; plans for a North American tour were canceled following a dispute between Reed and Cale.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/05/arts/older-but-still-hip-the-velvet-underground-rocks-again.html|title=Older but Still Hip, the Velvet Underground Rocks Again|last=Rockwell|first=John|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 5, 1993|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_velvet_underground_live_paris_1993|title=Their Last Tour: The Velvet Underground - Live in Paris, 1993|work=Dangerous Minds|date=January 16, 2011|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

Reed had released his sixteenth solo album, ''[[Magic and Loss]]'', in January 1992. The album is focused on mortality, inspired by the death of two close friends from cancer. In 1994, he appeared in ''[[A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who]]''. In 1995, Reed made a cameo appearance in the unreleased video game ''[[Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors]]''. If the player selects the "impossible" difficulty setting, Reed appears shortly after the game begins as an unbeatable [[Boss (video games)|boss]] who murders the player with his laser beam eyes. Reed then pops up on the screen and says to the player, "This is the impossible level, boys. Impossible doesn't mean very difficult, very difficult is winning the Nobel Prize, impossible is eating the sun."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWlbzdaJJ| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310074234/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWlbzdaJJ| archive-date=March 10, 2021 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube|via=YouTube}}</ref>

The Velvet Underground were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1996. At the ceremony, Reed, Cale and Tucker performed a song titled "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend", dedicated to Sterling Morrison, who had died the previous August.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/26-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-reunions-that-actually-happened-20140407/7-the-velvet-underground-1996-0317341|title=7. The Velvet Underground (1996)|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=April 7, 2014|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=February 15, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025038/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/26-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-reunions-that-actually-happened-20140407/7-the-velvet-underground-1996-0317341|url-status=dead}}</ref> In February 1996 Reed released ''[[Set the Twilight Reeling]]'', and later that year, Reed contributed songs and music to ''Time Rocker'', a theatrical interpretation of [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' by [[Experimental theatre|experimental]] director [[Robert Wilson (director)|Robert Wilson]]. The piece premiered in the [[Thalia Theater, Hamburg]], and was later also shown at the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] in New York.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E5D81738F937A25752C1A961958260&sec=&spon= |work=The New York Times |title=Next Wave Festival: Echoes of H. G. Wells, Rhythms of Lou Reed |first=Jon |last=Pareles |date=November 14, 1997}}</ref>

In 1997, the [[BBC]] created a version of [[Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)|Perfect Day]] which featured many artists, including Reed. Initially created for advertising purposes, it was later released as a charity single for [[Children in Need]] and became a Uk no.1 single.

===2000–2012: Rock and ambient experimentation===
In February 2000, Reed worked with Robert Wilson at the [[Bowery Theatre|Thalia Theater]] again, on POEtry, another production inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer, this time [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. In April 2000, Reed released ''[[Ecstasy (Lou Reed album)|Ecstasy]]''. In January 2003, Reed released a 2-CD set, ''[[The Raven (Lou Reed album)|The Raven]]'', based on POEtry. The album consists of songs written by Reed and spoken-word performances of reworked and rewritten texts of Edgar Allan Poe by actors, set to electronic music composed by Reed. It features [[Willem Dafoe]], David Bowie, [[Steve Buscemi]], and [[Ornette Coleman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1459300/20021226/reed_lou.jhtml |publisher=VH1 |title=Lou Reed's Obsession With Edgar Allan Poe Spawns ''The Raven'' |date=December 27, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030102/http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1459300/20021226/reed_lou.jhtml |archive-date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref> A single disc CD version of the album, focusing on the music, was also released.{{refn|In 2011, Reed developed the CD into an illustrated book, with art by [[Lorenzo Mattotti]], published by [[Fantagraphics]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/ravenous-reed?mobify=0#slide_ss_0=1|title=Ravenous Reed|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>|group=nb}}

In May 2000, Reed performed before Pope John Paul II at the Great Jubilee Concert in [[Rome]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1499424/pope-john-paul-ii-friend-of-bono-fan-of-pop-culture/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224180351/http://www.mtv.com/news/1499424/pope-john-paul-ii-friend-of-bono-fan-of-pop-culture/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 24, 2015|title=Pope John Paul II: Friend Of Bono, Fan Of Pop Culture|publisher=[[MTV]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> In 2001, Reed made a cameo appearance in the [[Prozac Nation (film)|movie adaptation]] of ''[[Prozac Nation]]''. On October 6, 2001, ''the New York Times'' published a Reed poem called "Laurie Sadly Listening" in which he reflects on the [[September 11 attacks]] (also referred to as 9/11).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bushwatch.com/auden.htm |title=War Poems |website=Bushwatch.com |access-date=March 26, 2010 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181114/http://www.bushwatch.com/auden.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[List of premature obituaries|Incorrect reports]] of Reed's death were broadcast by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from [[Reuters]]) which said he had died of a drug overdose.<ref>[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/05_09_2001.html "Death of Lou Reed"], Museum of Hoaxes web site</ref> In April 2003, Reed began a world tour featuring the cellist [[Jane Scarpantoni]] and singer [[Anohni]].

In 2003, Reed released a book of photographs, ''Emotions in Action''. This comprised an [[A4 paper size|A4]]-sized book called ''Emotions'' and a smaller one called ''Actions'' laid into its hard cover. In January 2006, he released a second book of photographs, ''Lou Reed's New York''.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.artbook.com/3865211526.html |title=Lou Reed's New York |via=Artbook.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908102734/http://www.artbook.com/3865211526.html |archive-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref> A third volume, ''Romanticism'', was released in 2009.{{sfnp|DeCurtis|2017|p=}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/lou-reed-photographer-1817676.html|title=Lou Reed: Photographer|date=November 10, 2009|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Lou Reed Malaga, Spain 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Reed performing in [[Málaga]], Spain, 2008]]
In 2004, a Groovefinder [[remix]] of his song "[[Satellite of Love]]", called "Satellite of Love '04", was released. It peaked at No. 10 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14017/lou-reed/|title=Lou Reed full Official Chart History|work=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=May 12, 1973 |access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref>

In October 2006, Reed appeared at Hal Willner's [[Leonard Cohen]] tribute show "Came So Far for Beauty" in [[Dublin]], along with Laurie Anderson, [[Nick Cave]], Anohni, [[Jarvis Cocker]], and [[Beth Orton]]. He played a [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] version of Cohen's "The Stranger Song".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/dublin.html|title="Came so far for Beauty" in Dublin|website=Leonardcohenfiles.com|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

In December that year, Reed played a series of shows at [[St. Ann's Warehouse]], Brooklyn, based on ''Berlin''. Reed played with guitarist [[Steve Hunter]], who played on the original album and ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'', and was joined by singers Anohni and [[Sharon Jones]]. The show was produced by [[Bob Ezrin]], who also produced the original album, and Hal Willner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/spectacle-elvis-costello-with/watch/lou-reed-and-julian-schnabel-1243213/|title=Watch Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ... - Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel Online|website=TV.com|access-date=October 22, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914020729/http://www.tv.com/shows/spectacle-elvis-costello-with/watch/lou-reed-and-julian-schnabel-1243213/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The show played at the [[Sydney Festival]] in January 2007 and in Europe during June and July 2007. The album version of the concert, entitled ''[[Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse]]'', and a live film recording of these concerts were both released in 2008. In April 2007, he released ''[[Hudson River Wind Meditations]]'', an album of [[ambient music|ambient]] [[meditation]]al music. It was released on the [[Sounds True]] record label. In June 2007, he performed at the Traffic Festival 2007 in [[Turin]], Italy, a five-day free event organized by the city. In the same month "[[Pale Blue Eyes]]" was included in the soundtrack of the French-language film, ''[[The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401383/soundtrack?ref_=tt_ql_trv_7|title=The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) - Soundtracks|publisher=IMDb}}</ref> In August 2007, Reed recorded "[[Tranquilize]]" with [[The Killers]] in New York City, a duet with [[Brandon Flowers]] for the B-side/rarities album ''[[Sawdust (album)|Sawdust]]''.

[[File:Lou Reed at the Hop Farm Music Festival.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Reed performing at the<br />[[Hop Farm Festival]] in [[Paddock Wood]], Kent, 2011]]

On October 2 and 3, 2008, he introduced his new group, which was later named [[Metal Machine Trio]], at the [[REDCAT|Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex]] in Los Angeles. The trio featured Ulrich Krieger (saxophone) and [[Sarth Calhoun]] (electronics), and played improvised instrumental music inspired by ''Metal Machine Music''. Recordings of the concerts were released under the title ''[[The Creation of the Universe]]''. The trio played at New York's [[Gramercy Theatre]] in April 2009, and appeared as part of Reed's band at the 2009 [[Lollapalooza]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/24/lou-reed-brings-controversial-metal-machine-music-to-new-york/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090427042824/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/24/lou-reed-brings-controversial-metal-machine-music-to-new-york/ |archive-date= April 27, 2009 |title=Rolling Stone review of the Metal Machine Trio concert at the Gramercy in New York |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status= dead |date=April 24, 2009}}</ref>

Reed provided the voice of Maltazard, the villain in the 2009 [[Luc Besson]] animated/live-action feature film ''[[Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard]]'' and appeared as himself in [[Wim Wenders]]' 2008 film ''[[Palermo Shooting]]''.

Reed played "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" with [[Metallica]] at [[Madison Square Garden]] during the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2009. In 2010, Reed featured on the song "Some Kind of Nature" with [[virtual band]] [[Gorillaz]], from their third studio album ''[[Plastic Beach]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://2009.lollapalooza.com/band/lou-reed |title=Lou Reed at Lollapalooza 2009 |publisher=Lollapalooza 2009 |access-date=March 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328163729/http://2009.lollapalooza.com/band/lou-reed |archive-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=129623 |title=Metallica with Ozzy, Lou Reed, Ray Davies at Rock Hall Concert: More Video Footage Available |publisher= Roadrunner Records |access-date=March 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104034032/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-with-ozzy-lou-reed-ray-davies-at-rock-hall-concert-more-video-footage-available/ |archive-date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> In October 2011, Metallica and Reed released the collaboration album [[Lulu (Lou Reed and Metallica album)|''Lulu'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metallica.com/news/20110615_news.asp |title=Secret Recording Project? |date=June 15, 2010 |website=Metallica.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619190555/http://www.metallica.com/news/20110615_news.asp |archive-date=June 19, 2011 |access-date=June 18, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was based on the "Lulu" plays by the German playwright [[Frank Wedekind]] (1864–1918). The album received mixed and mainly negative reviews from music critics.<ref name="meta">{{cite web| title = ''Lulu'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More|publisher=[[Metacritic]]| url = http://www.metacritic.com/music/lulu |access-date=January 28, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Sputnik">{{cite web|url=http://sputnikmusic.com/review/46170/Lou-Reed-and-Metallica-Lulu/ |title=Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu (staff review) |website=Sputnikmusic |date=October 21, 2011 |access-date=October 25, 2011}}</ref> Reed joked that he had no fans left after Metal Machine Music.<ref name="usatoday-genrebender">{{cite news |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |date=November 1, 2011 |title=Metallica, Lou Reed go on a genre bender with 'Lulu' |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-11-25/lou-reed-metallica/51021572/1 |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103233336/https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-11-25/lou-reed-metallica/51021572/1 |archive-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref> The album debuted at No. 36 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 13,000 copies,<ref name="Billboard200">{{cite magazine|last=Greene|first=Andy|title=On The Charts: Justin Bieber Annihilates Loutallica|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/on-the-charts-justin-bieber-annihilates-loutallica-20111109|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=November 10, 2011|date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=November 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112014317/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/on-the-charts-justin-bieber-annihilates-loutallica-20111109|url-status=dead}}</ref> and went on to sell 280,000 copies worldwide.<ref name="USSoundscan2023">{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Simon |date=March 9, 2023 |title=Here are the astonishing US sales stats for every Metallica album |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/metallica-album-sales-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311130902/https://www.loudersound.com/features/metallica-album-sales-us |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |access-date=March 12, 2023 |website=[[Metal Hammer]] (loudersound) |language=en}}</ref>

In 2012, Reed collaborated with [[indie rock]] band [[Metric (band)|Metric]] on "The Wanderlust", the tenth track on their fifth studio album ''[[Synthetica]]''. This was to be the last original composition he worked on.<ref>{{cite news|title=Metric On Recording Lou Reed Duet 'The Wanderlust'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/28/metric-lou-reed-wanderlust_n_4170594.html|access-date=December 12, 2013|newspaper=HuffPost|date=October 28, 2013|author=Joshua Ostroff}}</ref>