Lou Reed (2009/AP Photo)
Singer and performance artist Laurie Anderson has revealed why her husband, music icon Lou Reed, had to cancel tour dates in April, including the twin editions of the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Anderson told The Times of London that Reed had a life-saving liver transplant. (You have to have a subscription for The Times, but The Telegraph has more information from the interview.)
Reed, who has been public about his previous drug abuse of heroin, deteriorated rapidly, Anderson said. The couple has been recovering in Cleveland, where Reed received the operation at the Mayo Clinic. She said her husband has been up and practicing t’ai chi.
Don’t get your hopes up that Reed will be at Coachella 2014, though. Anderson apparently warned that “he’ll never totally recover from this,” according to The Telegraph.
Here’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” one of the greatest songs ever written.