Former Velvet Underground singer, rock and roll icon, lifelong New Yorker, and cantankerous genius Lou Reed died on Sunday at the age of 71. His doctor has since confirmed that the cause of death was his liver disease, which he had undergone liver surgery for in May. Rock Paper Photo, a fine art photography archive site, has now released an online gallery dedicated to Reed—you can see five of those incredible photos above, along with the last photo ever taken of him (#2) and 22 classic and recent shots that capture his spirit.
And below, you can check out more tributes, remembrances, and other Reed ephemera from the last couple days.
- The Museum of the Moving Image will present a screening of Lou Reed’s Berlin, the 2007 documentary that captured Reed’s live shows of his concept album Berlin at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. The screening takes place on Saturday, November 2, 7:30 p.m., in the Museum’s Redstone Theater. You can purchase tickets here.
- The Vatican showed their appreciation for Reed by tweeting out lyrics from "Perfect Day," until they realized what that song was actually about (hint: heroin).
- Reed's album sales went up 607% after his death. Transformer and Rock N' Roll Animal hit Amazon's Top 25. We'll be happy when everyone owns a copy of New York and Magic & Loss.
- Remember that time The Velvet Underground freaked out a group of psychiatrists in 1966? “A short-lived torture of cacophony,” said one.
- Moe Tucker, former drummer of the Velvet Underground, talked to The Daily Beast: "Lou was, I don’t know—Lou and I had a special friendship. I loved him very much. "
- Metallica's Lars Ulrich writes about his relationship with Reed, who apparently was into emoticons: "I'll always remember his fragility. I felt in some way that I connected to his fragility, and identified with it. He was very open, he would say, "Lars, I love you", and text me a heart. It was so beautiful."
- David Bowie, John Cale and Morrissey all released statements as well. Neil Gaiman wrote about how his music was the "soundtrack to his life." And journalist Ben Fong-Torres gave his own remembrances to The Hollywood Reporter. David Byrne, Patti Smith, and John Cameron Mitchell also wrote moving tributes.
- Revisit the apartment where Reed and Cale first formed The Velvet Underground.
- Musical tributes have been coming from everyone this week, including Pearl Jam, of Montreal, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket and Phish.
- Never forget that there is a spider named after Reed. And that he once had a very aggressive mullet.
- And here's a 20-minute interview with Reed on Charlie Rose from 1998.
