# Did Lou Reed die last night? (I hope this is a hoax) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 8, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782 "2001-05-08T17:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/1 "2001-05-08T17:29:00Z")
I just got this in email but can’t verify anywhere else: > [@](#): > > NEW YORK, New York (Reuters) – A city still mourning the death of punk rock > innovator Joey Ramone has endured another tragedy as Velvet Underground > leader Lou Reed was found dead in his apartment last night, apparently from > an overdose of the painkiller demerol. > > His body was discovered at approximately 10:45 PM last night in the Chelsea > apartment he was sharing with his wife, avant-garde pop musician Laurie > Anderson. Paramedics responding to a 911 call attempted to resucitate Mr. > Reed. Reed was declared dead at the 13th Precint morgue at 3:45 AM. > > He formed the group The Velvet Underground with John Cale, Sterling Morrison > and Maureen “Moe” Tucker in New York, 1965. The group soon became a part of > Andy Warhol’s Factory, which housed a great number of the most outsider and > experimenting artists at the time. In 1970 > > Lou Reed began his solo-career. His first two albums, “Lou Reed” (1971) and > “Transformer” (1972) were produced by long-time admirer of the Velvets, > David Bowie. That year he had his only hitsingle, “Walk on the Wildside”. > Through the 1970’s he made a large number of albums with “Berlin” (1973), > “Rock’n Roll Animal” (1974) and “Street Hassle” (1978) being the artistic > highlights of this period. The following album “The Blue Mask” (1982) stands > as one of his best. In 1989 he made “New York” - a loveletter to his city, > with a heavy critisism of American thinking. In the 1990’s he has continued > to be one of the most sharp-tongued rock’n’roll poets in the USA. In 1993 > The Velvet Underground was re-formed with its original line-up, and toured > around the world. In 1997 Lou Reed, along with former Velvet bandmates John > Cale, Maureen Tucker, and the late Sterling Morrison were inducted into the > Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lou Reed stands today as one of the most > important songwriters in our time, and has served as inspiration to artists like > David Bowie, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Nine Inch > Nails, U2, David Byrne and Patti Smith. > > Later in his life Reed became close friends with Czech president Vaclav > Havel and former Secretary of State Madelaine Albright, who was frequently > seen at Reed’s NYC appearances. When notified of Reed’s death, Albright > issued this statement: “Lou Reed was a close personal friend of mine, and an > inspiration for the true freedoms allowed in this country. His recent > secretive abuse of painkillers and untimely death is tragic and should be > used as an example for all about the dangers of narcotics. Lou Reed, I will > miss you.” > > David Bowie made this comment to a [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) correspondant via phone call: “In > the last several years, Lou and I had the opportunity to rekindle a > friendship that has seen many ups, downs, and corners. > Lou’s art is a testiment to the genius and eccentricity he possessed. I > would have never believed he was using again if not for this tragedy. He was > in great health and great spirits, and the new material he was recording was > some of the best of his career.” > > The record Lou Reed was working on, the prophetically titled “Angels Fly Far > From Heaven Here,” is said to be a thematic work about love lost and regret. > Sources close to the recording process have said it to be a return to his > “Berlin” style of storytelling. Almost all of Reed’s vocals and guitar parts > were completed before his death. > > Laurie Anderson and Reed’s friend Phillip Glass issued a statement today > commiting to finishing the record which will be released posthumously by > Warner Brothers on August 14th. > > Mr. Reed is survived by his wife Laurie Anderson. A private funeral ceremony > is scheduled for tomorrow, at an undisclosed NYC synagogue. The part about “Czech president Vaclav Havel and former Secretary of State Madelaine Albright, who was frequently seen at Reed’s NYC appearances.” Sounds fishy to me, although I don’t know. Anyone know if this happened or not? (Nothing on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com), Yahoo News, but nothing on snopes either…) ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/2 "2001-05-08T17:44:42Z")
This seems awful fishy. There’s nothing about it on Reuters (despite the byline). And why would Laurie Anderson and Phillip Glass claim they’d finish his final album (complete with release date no less) while the corpse is still warm and twitching ? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/3 "2001-05-08T17:47:26Z")
WXRT in Chicago made the announcement yesterday afternoon, then retracted it twenty minutes later, saying Lou wasn’t dead in New York but was alive in Europe. Havel IS a massive fan. When he visited the White House Clinton brought Lou in to play after dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/4 "2001-05-08T17:48:53Z")
Well… I checked the official site which has a [news section](http://www.loureed.org/news/index.html). The last update was April 25th, where he seemed fine. On the other hand, [this site](http://www.nyrock.com/lou_reed.htm) does talk about his friendship with Vaclav Havel and his relations with Amnesty International (is Madeline Albright that far a stretch?). _shrugs_ I suppose if he really did die it’ll get press coverage soon. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/5 "2001-05-08T17:52:33Z")
I checked Yahoo, Reuters, ABC News, MTV, Rolling Stone, as well as [loureed.com](http://loureed.com). No mention of his death on any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/6 "2001-05-08T17:57:34Z")
I just checked [nytimes.com](http://nytimes.com) and nothing’s coming up there, either. This reminds me of when I was in junior high and the rumor went around that Ozzy Osborne had died. What’s interesting to me about this one is that they used a Reuters dateline rather than something invented… it makes it relatively easy to debunk (I checked Reuters too, **Inky-** , but you beat me too it while I was previewing!). ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/7 "2001-05-08T18:00:09Z")
[BBC News](http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/KSEnglish.exe?method=mainQuery&QuerySummaryCB=&query=Lou+Reed&hitsoffset=0&batchhits=25&numresults=1000&totalhits=39&querythreshold=80&searchtype=&suggestquery=&daterange=&selectlastdays=&ATNMYFIELD_DREREFERENCE=&db0=English&xoptions=sortdate&Sort+by+Date.x=12&Sort+by+Date.y=9) doesn’t have it and I say if BBC News doesn’t have it, it didn’t happen. Hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/8 "2001-05-08T20:28:45Z")
Lou Reed might still be alive, but did you hear that Willie Nelson was killed? He was playing on the road again. Ok, ok, tasteless, but still funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lou-reed-die-last-night-i-hope-this-is-a-hoax/64782/9 "2001-05-08T22:34:54Z")
According to the Dead People Server, he’s still alive. [http://www.dpsinfo.com/dps/rnames.html](http://www.dpsinfo.com/dps/rnames.html)