This is what wikipedia says about Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed[1] (born March 2, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965 - 1973). The band gained relatively little notice during its life, but is widely considered by some to be one of the seeds of alternative rock music. [2] As the Velvets’ principal songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects such as sadism and masochism ("Venus in Furs"), transvestites ("Sister Ray"), heroin addiction ("Heroin", and "I'm Waiting for the Man"), and transsexuals undergoing lobotomies ("Lady Godiva's Operation"). As a guitarist, he made use of distortion, volume-driven feedback, and nonstandard tunings.
This is what wikipedia says about Lou Reed Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed[1] (born March 2, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965 - 1973). The band gained relatively little notice during its life, but is widely considered by some to be one of the seeds of alternative rock music. [2] As the Velvets’ principal songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects such as sadism and masochism ("Venus in Furs"), transvestites ("Sister Ray"), heroin addiction ("Heroin", and "I'm Waiting for the Man"), and transsexuals undergoing lobotomies ("Lady Godiva's Operation"). As a guitarist, he made use of distortion, volume-driven feedback, and nonstandard tunings.