The Velvet Underground

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Rock 'n' roll group from New York. Known for Andy Warhol's artwork, often cited as one of the more important and influential groups of their era.

Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 (Performer)

Original members:

Lou Reed (b. 2 March 1942 - d. 27 October 2013): Vocals, Guitar, Piano

John Cale (b. 9 March 1942): Vocals, Electric Viola, Organ, Bass Guitar

Sterling Morrison (b. 29 August 1942 - d. 30 August 1995): Vocals, Guitar and Bass Guitar

Maureen Tucker (b. 26 August 1944): Percussion

Angus MacLise was the original drummer, but did not officially record with the band.

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The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965, who played on most of the band's recordings. Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music.The group performed under several names before settling on the Velvet Underground in 1965, inspired by the book of the same name. In 1966, pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager, and they served as the house band at Warhol's studio, the Factory, and his traveling multimedia show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (with German singer and model Nico), was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but has since drawn wide acclaim. They released three more albums, White Light/White Heat (1968), The Velvet Underground (1969), and Loaded (1970), with Doug Yule replacing Cale for the final two, and with none performing up to the expectations of record labels or of Reed, the band's leader. The group functionally disbanded in the early 1970s as everyone except Yule left the band. An abortive UK tour with Yule as the band leader and with new musicians followed in 1973, and a final album released in the band's name, Squeeze (1973), consisting mostly of Yule with a few session musicians, marked the end of the band for some time. All of the members continued to collaborate on each other's solo work throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a retrospective "rarities" album, VU, was released in 1985. A full reunion of the band came in the early 1990s, with the Reed–Cale–Tucker–Morrison lineup playing a series of well-received shows in 1993, and releasing a live album from the tour, Live MCMXCIII. After Morrison's death in 1995, the remaining three members played together for a single performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1996, the last time the band performed together musically. In 2004, the Velvet Underground were ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The New York Times wrote that the Velvet Underground was "arguably the most influential American rock band of our time".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground