Lou Reed — Syracuse University and Long Island Origins

Lou Reed grew up in Freeport, Long Island, and studied at Syracuse University, where he studied under the poet Delmore Schwartz — an encounter that changed his life and to whom he dedicated the Velvet Underground song 'European Son.' Reed had already been subjected to electroconvulsive therapy as a teenager by parents alarmed by his homosexuality, an experience that left permanent psychological scars and informed the damage at the centre of his best work. At Syracuse he wrote for the college radio station and played in various bands before moving to New York in 1964.

In New York Reed met John Cale, and together with Sterling Morrison and Nico they formed the Velvet Underground in 1965. The band, managed and bankrolled by Andy Warhol, recorded The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967) and White Light/White Heat (1968) — two albums that were commercial failures but are now considered among the most important in rock history. Reed's solo career, launched after leaving the Velvets in 1970, produced 'Walk on the Wild Side,' Transformer (produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson), and the harrowing Berlin — as well as later work of uneven quality.

Syracuse University remains an active institution, and Reed's connection to the campus is acknowledged in its arts programming. Delmore Schwartz's tragic life — he died destitute in a hotel hallway in 1966 — is documented in James Atlas's biography. Reed's childhood home in Freeport, Long Island, is a private residence. Reed died in Southampton, New York, in 2013.