Summary by Dayna Stein, TicketNews
This week, the world lost one of the most musically influential musicians of the past century. Lou Reed passed away this past Sunday from liver complications after receiving a liver transplant earlier this year. Most famously known as the front-man of the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed went on to influence much of modern music today as well as to speak out about traditionally taboo topics.
In 1997, his song “Perfect Day” was covered by Reed, Bono, Elton John, Burning Spear, Lauri Anderson, and others, raising $3 million for the nonprofit Children In Need and pushing the song to No. 1 in Great Britain for three weeks.
Lou Reed was also an activist when it came to the LGBT and AIDS issues. He joined forces with Bono, U2, Rufus Wainwright, and others to raise money towards eliminating AIDS in Africa. He also joined forces with Cyndi Lauper and her True Colors Fund to raise awareness and funding.
Reed was an activist, musician, poet, and artist. His music has moved countless people over his life and continues to bring out the poetry in all of us.
To read more about Lou Reed, the full article is available here.