Legendary American singer-songwriter and founding Velvet Underground member Lou Reed has passed away aged 71.

Reed had been unwell for several months following a liver transplant in April, though his physician stated he had been ‘fighting right up until the end’.

With a career spanning nearly five decades, few can claim a musical legacy as important as Mr. Reed’s.  Beginning as a radio DJ and in-house songwriter in the early 1960’s, Reed eventually founded a little band with his roommate that would change music history.

While The Velvet Underground may have become eclipsed by their own iconography in the eyes of younger music fans – the famous Banana image is as prevalent to alternative culture as the visage of Che Guevera – their influence is undeniable, and their debut,  ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, while commercially unsuccessful at the time, has gone on to earn recognition as one of the most influential rock albums of all time   ‘Only 10,000 people bought the album.’ Brian Eno famously mused years later, ‘but everyone who bought it went out and formed a band.’

Lou Reed departed The Velvet Underground and after a brief career break, turned to solo work, releasing two albums, ‘Lou Reed’ and ‘Transformer’ in 1972. The latter, in a case of history repeating itself, met mixed reviews at the time, but has since gained enormous critical accolade, recognised as among the best albums of the era, and launching the renowned tracks, ‘Perfect Day’ and ‘Walk on the Wild Side’.

Several successful albums followed, though Reed did not always take kindly to commercial success, evidenced by his fifth album, ‘Metal Machine Music’, an unlistenable hour-long piece consisting entirely of distorted feedback, generally viewed as a middle finger to his record company.

Reed released twenty-five albums in total as a solo artist, and twelve with The Velvet Underground, reuniting with them at various points in the 80’s and 90’s.

Reed continued to perform into his elder years, collaborating with Gorillaz, Metric, and Metallica, as well as supporting numerous political and social causes.

In tribute to his stellar career, below is but a small sample, his 1972 hit, ‘Walk on the Wild Side’.