Lou Reed

Born Lewis Allan Reed on March 2nd, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, Lou Reed is best known as a guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground. He began writing and recording songs about sex and drugs, which had not been popular in rock and roll before the 1960s. During the 1960s, The Velvet Underground was not very popular, they became better known after the band broke up. Their best known album: The Velvet Underground and Nico was titled by Lou Reed. He wanted to make it clear that Nico was not a member of the band. While performing together, Nico and Lou Reed had a brief personal relationship but then the band broke up. Their last album, Loaded (1970), held the band's two most comercially popular songs: "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane". After the album was released, Lou Reed left the band and began his career as a solo artist in 1971. His first hit song as a solo artist came in 1972 with "Walk on the Wild Side".  Since going solo, he has performed with other well known artists such as Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and Patti Smith.  Today, Lou Reed still performs as a solo artist, but he also has a passion for photography.