Their debut album, 1967’s ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico,’ includes songs about drug addicts, transvestites and hookers; its 1968 follow-up, ‘White Light / White Heat,’ is even darker.

Lou Reed is the face of the Velvet Underground. The band would not have had the impact that it did without the contributions ...

Founding member Lou Reed, alongside John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker, revealed the name’s origins in ...