- Source of Wealth: Music
- Birth Place: Brooklyn, New York United States
- Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Marital Status: Widowed (Laurie Anderson)
- Full Name: Lewis Allan Reed
- Nationality: American
- Date of Birth: March 2, 1942
- Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
- Occupation: Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Composer and Photographer
- Education: Syracuse University
American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and photographer Lou Reed has an estimated net worth of $15 million.
A firmer grasp of rock’s earthier qualities has ensured a more consistent career path than Bowie’s, particularly in his later years. Yet his catalog is extremely inconsistent, in both quality and stylistic orientation. Few would deny Reed’s immense importance and considerable achievements, however. As has often been written, he expanded the vocabulary of rock & roll lyrics into the previously forbidden territory of kinky sex, drug use (and abuse), decadence, transvestites, homosexuality, and suicidal depression. As has been pointed out less often, he remained (and remains) committed to using rock & roll as a forum for literary, mature expression well into middle age, without growing lyrically soft or musically complacent. By and large, he’s taken on these challenging duties with uncompromising honesty and a high degree of realism.
For these reasons, he’s often cited as punk’s most important ancestor. It’s often overlooked, though, that he’s equally skilled at celebrating romantic joy, and rock & roll itself, as he is at depicting harrowing urban realities.