Report: Lou Reed Dead at 71

Report: Lou Reed Dead at 71

Lou Reed, one of the most influential songwriters and guitarists of the past 50 years, died Sunday, Rolling Stone reported. He was 71. The cause of death is unknown, although he underwent a liver transplant in May. Reed befriended musician John Cale in the mid ‘60s, and later formed the Velvet Underground with Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. They caught the attention of Andy Warhol, who incorporated the Velvets into his Exploding Plastics Inevitable. Reed split with the Velvets in 1972, and went on to a solo career, achieving cult-like status with his second album "Transformer." After becoming famous for his excessive drug use and wild sex in the ‘70s, he took a more commercial approach in the '80s. In 2008, he married musician-performing artist Laurie Anderson.