It is with terrible anguish that I announce the passing of rock and roll legend Lou Reed, founder of the Velvet Underground and experimental rock music pioneer.

I was deeply inspired as a young teenager by Lou Reed’s music. I fondly remember kicking back in my desk chair listening to Transformer while staring out my parents’ apartment window. It was Lou Reed’s music which first kicked off my passion for rock and roll, and had it not been for his records, I am not sure I would have had the opportunity to do half the things that I got to do in my years as a musician. Lou Reed’s music gave me the courage to sing, even if I did not have the words to say. Many of us were touched by his art, his flamboyance and his creative freedom. The world is a little darker today with his passing.

May the One who makes peace in Heaven
Make peace for us on Earth
And let us say, Amen.

If you close the door, the night could last forever… 

Article written by Rabbi Patrick Aleph