# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/lou-reed
# Generated: 2026-08-31T13:50:11.976Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/lou-reed"
name: "Lou Reed"
slug: "lou-reed"
description: "He made rock that sounded like it came from the street after midnight — deadpan, transgressive, and uninterested in whether you liked it. The Velvet Underground barely sold during its brief run, but its shadow stretches across every band that wanted something darker than the radio would allow."
tagline: "American rock musician (1942–2013)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Lou_Reed_at_the_Hop_Farm_Music_Festival.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1942-03-02"
deathDate: "2013-10-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           78.72
  momentum:             17.26242531215271
  historical:           28.714992
  currentAttention:     70.21552262631872
  sourceConfidence:     85
  profileCompleteness:  90
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
totalFollowers: 45200
tags:
  - name: "Musicians"
    slug: "musicians"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Singer-Songwriter"
    slug: "singer-songwriter"
  - name: "Photography"
    slug: "photography"
  - name: "Classical"
    slug: "classical"
  - name: "Poetry"
    slug: "poetry"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Music Production"
    slug: "music-production"
platforms:
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/LouReed"
    handle:    "LouReed"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0715563/"
    handle:    "nm0715563"
  - platform:  "SPOTIFY"
    url:       "https://open.spotify.com/artist/42TFhl7WlMRXiNqzSrnzPL"
    handle:    "42TFhl7WlMRXiNqzSrnzPL"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.loureed.com"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5J-utqOg4GnsFlDflgXdrw"
    handle:    "@loureedvevo"
    followers: 45200
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189080"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Lou%20Reed"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88_%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF"
    title: "لو ريد"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88_%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF"
    title: "لو ريد"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88_%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AF"
    title: "لو رید"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%83_%D0%A0%D1%8B%D0%B4"
    title: "Лу Рыд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%83_%D0%A0%D0%B8%D0%B9%D0%B4"
    title: "Лу Рийд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88_%DA%95%DB%8C%D8%AF"
    title: "لو ڕید"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://co.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%A1%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%84"
    title: "Λου Ριντ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88_%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AF"
    title: "لو رید"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Lou Reed"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lou_Reed"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://he.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D7%9C%D7%95_%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%93"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9d1ebcfe-4c15-4d18-95d3-d919898638a1"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Lewis Allan Reed formed the Velvet Underground in 1965 with John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Angus MacLise, building a reputation in New York's avant garde scene before Andy Warhol made them his house band at The Factory. The group released its first album in 1967 with Moe Tucker and Nico, parted ways with Warhol, then issued three more little-heard records before Reed left in 1970. His solo career began quietly but hit commercial ground with Transformer in 1972, produced by David Bowie and driven by "Walk on the Wild Side" — a glam-rock landmark that finally brought him above ground. The critically praised Berlin and the live Rock 'n' Roll Animal followed, though when sales fell his drug addiction and drinking deepened until he got sober in the early '80s. He returned with The Blue Mask and New Sensations, then reached a commercial and critical peak with New York in 1989, rejoined the Velvet Underground briefly in the '90s, and kept recording — including Songs for Drella with Cale and Magic and Loss, which hit No. 6 in the UK — until his death on October 27, 2013.