Lou Reed Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York

Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Freehold and later Brookville on Long Island — a suburban upbringing that he spent much of his career either fleeing from or processing. His parents, alarmed by his homosexuality and depression as a teenager, subjected him to electroconvulsive therapy — an experience he drew on for the rest of his life, most explicitly in songs like "Kill Your Sons." He studied at Syracuse University, where he met the poet Delmore Schwartz, who became a profound influence, and began writing songs that treated street life, drugs, and transgressive sexuality with journalistic directness.

Reed's work with the Velvet Underground established his reputation among musicians and a small but intensely committed audience. His solo career — launched with the glam-era hit "Walk on the Wild Side" (1972) and continuing through "Transformer," the challenging double album "Berlin," "Street Hassle," "New York," and "Magic and Loss" — was marked by the same refusal to choose between accessibility and difficulty that had defined the Velvets. He was capable of both brutal unlistenability and moments of piercing emotional directness, sometimes on the same album.

Reed died on October 27, 2013, in Southampton, New York, from liver disease. He was 71 years old and had received a liver transplant earlier that year. He is remembered as one of the defining voices of New York City — its cruelty, its glamour, its tenderness, its addiction — and as a songwriter who expanded what rock music was permitted to say. Brooklyn has acknowledged his connection to the borough with various tributes since his death.