Editing Nico (section)

===The Velvet Underground (1966–67)===
After being introduced by Brian Jones, she began working in New York with [[Andy Warhol]] and [[Paul Morrissey]] on their [[experimental films]], including ''[[Chelsea Girls]]'', ''The Closet'', ''Sunset'' and ''[[Imitation of Christ (film)|Imitation of Christ]]''. Warhol began managing [[the Velvet Underground]], a New York City rock band and he proposed that the group take on Nico as a "[[wikt:chanteuse|chanteuse]]", an idea to which they consented, reluctantly for both personal and musical reasons.<ref>{{cite book |last=Joe |first=Harvard |date=2004 |title=The Velvet Underground and Nico |location=London |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-8264-1550-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/velvetundergroun00harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Legs |author-link1=Legs McNeil |last2=McCain |first2=Gillian |author-link2=Gillian McCain |date=1996 |title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk |location=London |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/pleasekillmeunce00legs_0/page/9 9] |isbn=978-0-14026-690-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/pleasekillmeunce00legs_0/page/9}}</ref>

The group became the centerpiece of Warhol's ''[[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]'', a [[multimedia]] performance featuring [[music]], [[lighting]], [[film]] and [[modern dance|dance]]. Nico sang lead vocals on three songs ("[[Femme Fatale (The Velvet Underground song)|Femme Fatale]]", "[[All Tomorrow's Parties (song)|All Tomorrow's Parties]]", "[[I'll Be Your Mirror]]"), and backing vocal on "[[Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)|Sunday Morning]]", on the band's debut album, ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' (1967).<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> Reviewer [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]] describes Nico as "half goddess, half icicle" and writes that her Velvet Underground vocal "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning".<ref name="Lindberg 2005 115">{{cite book |first=Ulf |last=Lindberg |title=Rock Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers, and Cool-headed Cruisers |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2005 |isbn=978-0820474908 |page=115}}</ref>

[[File:Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable with Nico.png|thumb|left|upright|Nico performing with Andy Warhol's ''[[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]'' in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1966]]
Nico's tenure with the Velvet Underground was marked by personal and musical difficulties. Multi-instrumentalist [[John Cale]] wrote that Nico's long dressing room preparations, and pre-performance ritual of burning a candle, often held up performances, which especially irritated songwriter [[Lou Reed]]. Nico's partial deafness sometimes caused her to veer off key, for which she was ridiculed by other band members.<ref>{{Cite book |title=What's Welsh For Zen?: The Autobiography of John Cale |first1=John |last1=Cale |last2=Bockris |first2=Victor |author-link2=Victor Bockris |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1999 |isbn=1582340684 |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/whatswelshforzen00cale}}</ref> The album became a classic, ranked 13th on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]],<ref name="Rolling Stone 500">{{cite web | title=13. The Velvet Underground and Nico, 'The Velvet Underground' |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=31 May 2012 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/the-velvet-underground-and-nico-the-velvet-underground-20120524}}</ref> though it was poorly received at the time of its release.<ref>Harvard, J. (2004), p.5.</ref>