Lou Reed

Reed met Warhol in December 1965, when Gerard Malanga and Barbara Rubin took Warhol to see the Velvet Underground performing at the Cafe Bizarre. In early 1966 Warhol became the band’s manager, and he, Paul Morrissey, Rubin, and Dan Williams began organizing the elaborate multimedia rock-and-roll show that eventually became the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, or EPI. The Velvet Underground’s first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, was released in 1967.

— Callie Angell