Among the first to react to the news was Carl Barat who says: "Goodbye Lou Reed. You gave me my strength and helped me in my weakness."
"Sad to hear about Lou Reed, one of the greatest songwriters ever. Rest in peace," proffers Tom Odell; "Just heard about Lou Reed," adds Tim Burgess from The Charlatans. "He was a true uncompromising genius. He leaves behind a legacy and back catalogue like no other. Goodbye Lou"; "VU was a big influence when Weezer was being formed, and Ric Ocasek told us cool stories of his friendship with him," is the word from Weezer HQ; "Very sorry to hear of the death of Lou Reed, he blazed a trail, a true rock and roll poet," rues Tom Dunne; "Very sad to hear about the death of music pioneer Lou Reed. Our condolences to his family, we were all huge fans," note Duran Duran; "Damn. Lou Reed is dead. Suddenly I don't care about a whole bunch of stuff which was incredibly important and urgent ten minutes ago," proffers author and former Toasted Heretic man Julian Gough and Graham Norton weighs in with, "Goodbye Lou Reed. Thanks for Transformer one of the best albums EVER! Might listen to Perfect Day and have a little weep."
Part of Andy Warhol’s coterie of superstars – ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ is a musical document of those heady ‘70s times – Reed’s big commercial breakthrough came when David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced Transformer for him in 1972.
Before then of course he’d been a member of the legendary Velvet Underground who re-convened in the ‘90s.
Married to fellow singer Laurie Anderson, his is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most eclectic bodies of work. ‘Eclectic’ is certainly the only word for Lulu, his 2011 collaboration with Metallica which was loved by some, loathed by others.
His fan club included U2 who recorded a cover of ‘Satellite Of Love’ and included Reed on some of their Zoo TV live broadcasts. A true American original, Lou will be sorely missed.