In what might be one of the saddest and surprising news of the weekend, rock icon, Lou Reed has passed away.
The former frontman of the Velvet Underground who went on to make a name for himself as a solo artist, passed away Sunday, according to Rolling Stone. The musician was 71 years old.
According to Reed’s literary agent, Andrew Wylie, the musicians’ death might have to do in part with a liver transplant that he was recipient of earlier in the year. Wylie also says that Reed is survived by his wife of five years, Laurie Anderson.
It has been reported that Reed did in fact die from liver disease according to Dr. Charles Miller of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where Reed had his liver transplant surgery earlier this year.
“He died peacefully, with his loved ones around him,” Dr. Miller, who is the director of the hospital’s liver transplant program, said.
“We did everything we could. He really wanted to be at home,” he added as he explained that Reed wished to be home when the doctors at the hospital could no longer treat liver disease.
Back in March, he had to cancel several gigs in April; at the time there was no official word as to why he had decided to cancel his gigs. Then in May, he announced that the reason he had chosen to cancel his gig at Coachella was because he had to undergo a liver transplant in Cleveland at that time.
After receiving the transplant, he had to be rushed to the ER in June due to complications. At the time when he was being treated, the medical team feared that the complication resulted from the body rejecting the liver.
“I am a triumph of modern medicine, physics and chemistry,” he wrote in a public statement once he was released from the hospital. “I am bigger and stronger than ever.”
A month after being released, he continued working, writing a review of Kanye West’s new release at the time Yeezus for the online publication, The Talkhouse.
“I have never thought of music as a challenge — you always figure the audience is at least as smart as you are,” he wrote. “You do this because you like it, you think what you’re making is beautiful. And if you think it’s beautiful, maybe they think it’s beautiful.”
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