Sterling Morrison

Sterling Morrison was born Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. on August 28th, 1942. He was born and raised in East Meadow, New York. He studied the trumpet as a child, but switched to guitar when his teacher was drafted. Sterling Morrison attended Syracuse University and majored in English. This is where he met Lou Reed, who was also English major, and Maureen Tucker’s brother, his roommate. They separated when Morrison dropped out but reunited in New York City in 1965, which is where The Velvet Underground got its start. Once Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison reunited they began The Velvet Underground with a friend of Reed’s, John Cale. Morrison’s role in the Velvet Underground was primarily playing the guitar or bass, although the bass was not his favorite. The role of lead guitar fluctuated between Morrison and Reed until their third album, when the role became Morrison’s. Morrison was able to finish his studies at City College in 1970 while The Velvet Underground was stationed in New York City for an extended period of time. When the band moved to Texas, Morrison earned his PhD in medieval studies from The University of Texas at Austin. Morrison enjoyed Texas so much that he decided to stay. His last performance with The Velvet Underground was in Houston, Texas on August 21st, 1971. When the band headed back to New York City, Morrison accompanied them as far as the airport, with an empty suitcase in hand, until he informed them, at the gate, that he’d decided to leave the band. After that, Morrison’s music career simmered. He continued to perform occasionally in Texas, but only for his own personal enjoyment. He worked with a few bands throughout Texas, most notably The Bizarros. While he did not play with The Velvet Underground again until the 1990s, he did perform with his former band mates; Cale, Reed, and Tucker, on various occasions. For the most part, throughout the 1980s, Morrison became the captain of a tugboat. Morrison married a woman named Martha and they had two children, Mary Anne and Thomas. In the early 1990s, The Velvet Underground reunited for a European tour, both headlining and opening up for U2. There were thoughts of an American tour, however tensions grew during the European tour and that idea was nixed. In 1994 Morrison went on tour with Maureen Tucker’s band. He was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1994, which he died from on August 30th, 1995, two days after his 53rd birthday.