Lou Reed

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.