Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942, at Beth-El Hospital (later Brookdale) in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Reed was the son of Toby (née Futterman) (1920-2013) and Sidney Joseph Reed (1913-2005), an accountant.

His family was Jewish, and his grandparents were Russian Jews who had fled antisemitism; his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed. Reed stated that, despite being Jewish, his “true god” was rock ‘n’ roll.

Reed attended Atkinson Elementary School in Freeport before moving on to Freeport Junior High School. Merrill, born Margaret Reed, said that as an adolescent, he suffered panic attacks, became socially awkward, and “possessed a fragile temperament,” but he was intensely focused on things he liked primarily music.

He learned to play the guitar from the radio and developed an early interest in rock and roll and rhythm and blues, and he played in several bands during high school.

Reed’s first recording was as a member of the Jades, a three-piece doo-wop group, with Reed providing guitar accompaniment and singing backing vocals. After performing at a talent show at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958 and receiving a positive response from the audience, the group was given the opportunity to record an original single “So Blue” with the B-side “Leave Her for Me” later that year.

What were Lou Reed’s last words?

Mr. Reed’s final words, according to Ms. Anderson, were “Take me out into the light.” It’s a beautiful line, and it reminded me why Lou Reed was such an incredible poet.