Legendary Rocker Lou Reed Dies at 71

According to Rolling Stone, the cause of death has not been released

Update: Lou Reed's literary agent, Andrew Wylie, said in a statement, "I regret to confirm that Lou Reed has died from complications following a liver transplant."

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Legendary rock musician Lou Reed died on Sunday, Oct. 27, according to Rolling Stone. He was 71.

The cause of Reed's death has not been released, but he underwent a liver transplant in May, according to the magazine.

The New York native, who helped pioneer rock music, is best known for being a founding member of The Velvet Underground in the late 1960's and his illustrious solo career that spanned nearly three decades.

The band made four albums together, and even caught the attention of Andy Warhol. Reed sang and wrote many iconic songs with the group, including "Heroin," "Sister Ray," "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll."

Reed split from the group in 1970 and began his solo career. His second solo album, Transformer, which was produced by David Bowie, thrust him into the rock spotlight.

Subsequent albums that followed include Coney Island Baby in 1976, Street Hassle in 1978, The Blue Mask in 1982, New York in 1989 and The Raven in 2003, which was inspired from his fascination with poet Edgar Allan Poe.

His final mainstream rock album was 2011's Lulu, a collaboration with Metallica.

He is survived by his wife, musician-performance artist Laurie Anderson.

"All through this, I've always thought that if you thought of all of it as a book then you have the Great American Novel, every record as a chapter," he told Rolling Stone in 1987. "They're all in chronological order. You take the whole thing, stack it and listen to it in order, there's my Great American Novel." 

(Originally published on Oct. 27, 2013 at 11:49 a.m. PDT)