Lou Reed, The Godfather of Punk Rock died at 71

Lou Reed, the godfather of punk rock, died in New York on Sunday (October 27) at the age of 71. According to Rolling Stone, the hugely influential guitarist and songwriter best known for genre-defining hits such as "Rock & Roll," "Sweet Jane" and "Walk on the Wild Side," died of undisclosed causes, six months after undergoing a liver transplant in May.

Beginning with his work with the Velvet Underground in the late 1960s, Reed created a new blueprint for rock and roll, incorporating elements of avant garde music, dark poetry and subject matter that pushed the envelope for rock, including songs about sadomasochism and homosexuality.

Though VU were not huge sellers in their time, it was often said that everyone who bought one of the 30,000 copies initially sold of the band's 1967 debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico went on to form a band. In the subsequent years, everyone from David Bowie to Iggy Pop, the Pixies, Nirvana, the Cure, R.E.M., U2 and the Smashing Pumpkins have paid homage to Reed and his renegade style. And, it's fair to say, the road would have been even harder for Lady Gaga and Kanye West if Reed had not smashed down the musical barriers between music and art for them.

Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, and gained his early education in music by listening to doo-wop and early rock and roll icons from the 1950s. After having marginal success after college, he hooked up with classically trained violist John Cale in the mid-sixties, forming the Velvet Underground with guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker in 1964.

Legendary pop art provocateur Andy Warhol made the VU the house band of his studio, the Factory, as well as designing the iconic peeling banana cover of their debut album. The group set itself apart thanks to Reed's nihilistic lyrics and story songs full of drug and S&M references, which made some of the dark output from the Rolling Stones seem tame by comparison. Reed also helped bring the use of feedback and distortion to the fore for rock bands, inspiring countless bands to step out of the shackles of traditional melody and meter and explore noisier, more difficult territory.

The band's final album, 1970's Loaded, contained two of their most beloved songs, "Rock & Roll" and "Sweet Jane."