David Bowie
has led the tributes to US singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou
Reed, who died on Sunday aged 71.
Bowie's Facebook page said of his "old
friend", considered one of the most influential singers and
songwriters in rock: "He was a master."
Reed's second solo album Transformer, featuring
Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side, was co-produced by Bowie.
Reed's literary agent said he died of a
"liver-related ailment".
The last
tweet posted on his official Twitter account, hours before the news
of his death, simply stated: "The Door". The tweet links through to a
photograph of a door, with a poster of Reed on it and the words "Papa
Loves Baby" scrawled underneath.
Reed's former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale
wrote on his website:
"The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I've lost my 'school-yard
buddy.'"
Other stars paying tribute included The Who, who tweeted:
"RIP Lou Reed. Walk on the peaceful side." Iggy Pop said
it was "devastating news".
An admitted hard drinker and drug user for many
years, Reed had a liver transplant this May after suffering liver failure.
"I am a triumph of modern medicine," Reed
posted on his website on 1 June.
But Reed's literary agent Andrew Wylie said the
musician, who died at his home in Long Island, New York, on Sunday morning, had
not been well "for a few months".
He said that although Velvet Underground were
"spectacularly unsuccessful", The Beatles and Bowie were "huge
fans" of Reed, and that he "exercised huge influence on glam rock and
punk and everything that grew out of those phenomena".
Mr Murray added that Reed "did not suffer
fools... or journalists gladly", adding that "he was not considered a
likeable man, except by his closest friends".
He used the "deliberate withholding of charm as
a weapon" and "performed to a smallish but loyal audience sufficient
in number to sustain a comfortable lifestyle".
Many musicians paid homage to the influence Reed had
on their own careers.
Nikki Sixx of heavy metal band Motley Crue tweeted:
"RIP Lou Reed. Thank you for your beautiful/dark lyrics/music and stance
on life. You inspired me from my teenage years right up till today."
US singer Cyndi Lauper added
that she was grateful for "his music and the influence he had on my
music".
Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave, said:
"My intro to Lou Reed/Velvet Underground was Jane's Addiction cover of
'Rock n Roll'. He was a singular, unique talent. RIP Lou and thanks."
Reed's individuality was also hailed by Paul Stanley
of Kiss, who called
him "a musician, artist and trailblazer who played by his own
rules".
The Velvet
Underground became renowned for their fusion of art and music and for
collaborating with Andy Warhol.
However, the
band never achieved commercial success during their 1960s existence, but their
influence on music in later decades was widely recognised.
The glam, punk
and alternative rock movements of the 1970s, 80s and 90s were all indebted to
Reed, whose songs were covered by the likes of REM, Bowie, Nirvana, Patti Smith
and countless others.
Music producer
Brian Eno once summed up their influence by saying: "The first Velvet
Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a
band."
The group were
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
US actress Mia Farrow, whose career also began in the
1960s, simply
said: "Deepest Gratitude Lou Reed. Peace. "
British author Salman Rushdie expressed his loss by tweeting:
"My friend Lou Reed came to the end of his song. So very sad. But hey,
Lou, you'll always take a walk on the wild side. Always a perfect day."
US actress Whoopi Goldberg, paid
tribute, saying: "The great & amazing Lou Reed has died my
condolences 2 his wife Laurie Anderson. Lou was 1 of a kind & this colored
girl still says dededede...".
US actor Samuel L Jackson added:
"R.I.P. Lou Reed. Just met at the GQ Awards. The music of my generation.
Still Relevant!"
British comic and actor Ricky Gervais described
Reed as was "one of the greatest artists of our time", while
presenter and broadcaster Jonathan Ross said
of the musician: "A great talent, a nice man, a sad day."
After quitting The Velvet Underground in 1970, Reed
released his self-titled debut in 1972, but it wasn't until the Bowie-produced
LP Transformer later that year that he achieved chart success.
Perfect Day enjoyed a revival in 1996 when it was
featured in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, and again a year later when it was
re-recorded by a celebrity cast for a BBC charity single.
Ian Broudie from the Lightning Seeds, who sang on the
single, told the BBC Reed was able to convey life in New York.
"His
lyrics are poetry, really. And he seemed to deal with things that no other
writer seemed to really deal with in songs. The Velvet Underground would
probably be dealing with drugs, sexuality, everything."
As a solo
artist, he released 20 studio albums. His last, Hudson River Wind Meditations,
was released in 2007.
Reed is survived
by his second wife, the musician and performing artist Laurie Anderson.
Source: BBC
