Thread: Lou Reed Dead at 71

Lou Reed, the punk-poet of rock n' roll who profoundly influenced generations of musicians as leader of the 1960s cult band Velvet Underground and remained a vital solo performer for decades after, has died.

Reed's literary agent Andrew Wylie says the legendary musician died Sunday morning in Southampton at age 71 of an ailment related to his recent liver transplant.

Reed never approached the commercial success of such contemporaries as the Beatles and Bob Dylan, but no songwriter to emerge after Dylan so radically expanded the territory of rock lyrics.