Date of Birth
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02-March-1942
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Place of Birth
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Brooklyn
(United States of America, New York City, New York, New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division)
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Nationality
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United States of America
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Also know as
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Lou Red, Lou Read, Lou Ree, Lewis Allen Reed, Lewis Allan Reed, Lewis Alan Reed, Lewis Alan Reed, Lewis Allen Reed, Lewis Allen Rabinowitz, Lewis Alan Reed, prince de la nuit et des angoisses, Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed, Lewis Allan Reed, Lewis Allen "Lou" Reed, Lewis Allen Reed, Louis Firbank
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Profession
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Musician, Songwriter, Singer, Singer-songwriter, Photographer, Record producer, Guitarist, Actor, Voice Actor
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Quotes
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- There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out.
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Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter. After serving as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, his solo career spanned several decades.
The Velvet Underground was a commercial failure in the late 1960s, but the group gained a considerable cult following in the years since its demise and has gone on to become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era – hence Brian Eno's famous quote that while the Velvet Underground's debut album only sold 30,000 copies, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."
After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1972. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", but subsequently lacked the mainstream commercial success its chart status seemed to indicate. Reed was known for his distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and for pioneering and coining the term ostrich guitar tuning.
In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time included two albums by Reed as a solo artist, Transformer and Berlin.
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