Lou Reed passed away yesterday. He was 71 years old. Reed was an icon of rock n’ roll, indie rock, experimental rock, pop art, politics, and whatever else you can think of. My first exposure to Reed was when I first listened to The Velvet Underground when I was a young teenager – it was a revelation that at some point (in the late 1960s), there was a band making music that defied what we conventionally thought of as “music”. I fell in love with Nico’s bizarre, breathy, light voice, but I’ll admit that it took a bit longer for me to fall for Lou Reed’s already-hard voice.

After The Velvet Underground split in 1970, Lou Reed continued his solo career. I’m including some videos of some of my favorite Lou Reed songs below. He’s survived by his wife Laurie Anderson, an artist. Lou underwent a liver transplant earlier this year, but friends and colleagues say that even though he was frail this past year, he was still vital and passionate. One of his last acts was a written review of Kanye West’s latest album, which Lou Reed loved – you can read the review here. Doesn’t it seem like Kanye and Lou would have loved to hang out with each other?

Anyway, rest in peace to the coolest guy in New York.

Photos courtesy of WENN.