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Lou Reed

Tuesday

Never Back Down: Fresh Air Remembers Lou Reed

"[Lou Reed] really saw the beauty of life, and wanted to be a person who could live in that beauty as often as possible," longtime publicist Bill Bentley says. Karl Walter/Getty Images hide caption

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Karl Walter/Getty Images

Music Interviews

Never Back Down: Fresh Air Remembers Lou Reed

Fresh Air

"In Lou Reed's world, when you were Lou's friend you knew it," his longtime publicist Bill Bentley tells Terry Gross. Fresh Air dedicates an entire hour to the transgressive and transcendent Velvet Underground co-founder, with music and commentary by original Velvets John Cale and Maureen Tucker.

Never Back Down: Fresh Air Remembers Lou Reed

Listen · 44:21
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Sunday

Lou Reed, Beloved Contrarian, Dies

Lou Reed onstage in London in 1975 playing a transparent, Plexiglass guitar. Reed died Sunday. He was 71. Denis O'Regan/Getty Images hide caption

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Denis O'Regan/Getty Images

The Record

Lou Reed, Beloved Contrarian, Dies

An American rock musician born in Freeport on Long Island, N.Y., Lou Reed epitomized New York City's artistic underbelly in the 1970s, with his songs about hookers and junkies. Reed was 71.

Lou Reed, Beloved Contrarian, Dies

Listen · 7:05
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Wednesday

Tuesday

Lou Reed In Concert

Lou Reed, from a live performance at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club in 2008. Joel Didriksen/kingpinphoto flickr hide caption

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Joel Didriksen/kingpinphoto flickr

Live in Concert

Lou Reed In Concert

Hear the legendary rock artist recorded live in concert from Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre in 2008, featuring classics from The Velvet Underground as well as more recent work.

Lou Reed in Concert

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Thursday

Thursday

All Songs Considered

Paste Magazine 100 Greatest Living Songwriters

The editors of Paste magazine wondered: who are the best living songwriters around. They gathered a team of 50 musicians and writers and put together a list of the top 100.

Paste Magazine 100 Greatest Living Songwriters

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Sunday

Sunday

Music Interviews

Lou Reed and 'The Raven'

Over the past few decades, iconic musician Lou Reed has worked with a gallery of talented visual and performing artists — Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground, his girlfriend Laurie Anderson, just to name a few. Now he's tackled what he says is his toughest challenge yet: dramatizing the works of Edgar Allan Poe in music, sound and spoken voice. Hear samples from Reed's latest CD, The Raven.

Lou Reed and 'The Raven'

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Monday