(Lou Reed photograph by Man Alive! and used via Creative Commons licensing.)

By: Matt McGee

Bono has written an essay in remembrance of Lou Reed, who died on October 27th of liver disease at the age of 71. In the essay, Bono calls Reed “a still figure in the eye of a metallic hurricane” and “pop’s truly great poker face.” He also talks about times when U2’s path crossed with The Velvet Underground:

Lou was born out of two influences that can’t be underestimated. One: the talents of his bandmates in the Velvet Underground, who then influenced pretty much every group that had a foot in the Seventies. (Witness our own “Running to Stand Still” for red-handed proof.) U2 were beyond ourselves with delight when the Velvets re-formed to play some select dates in the early Nineties, including some with us.

The full essay is available on RollingStone.com and will appear in the new issue of the print magazine, dated November 21, 2013.

“Turning pain into beauty is the mark of a great artist”

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