Lou Reed Recovering After Liver Transplant

The former Velvet Underground frontman underwent the procedure in April.

Lou Reed received a life-saving liver transplant last month, his wife Laurie Anderson said in a recent interview.

“I don’t think he’ll ever totally recover from this, but he’ll certainly be back to doing [things] in a few months,” Anderson told the U.K’s The Times. “He’s already working and doing t’ai chi. I’m very happy. It’s a new life for him.”

He canceled several shows in April — including two sets at the Coachella Music Festival — to accommodate the surgery. Anderson said the former Velvet Underground frontman underwent the procedure in Cleveland, rather than in his native New York because of what she described as “dysfunctional” hospitals there.

Anderson, who married Reed in 2008, said she was “awestruck” by the technology and coordination used to save her husband’s life.

“You send out two planes – one for the donor, one for the recipient – at the same time. You bring the donor in live, you take him off life support. It’s a technological feat,” she said. “I was completely awestruck. I find certain things about technology truly, deeply inspiring.”

In addition to fronting Velvet Underground, Reed, 71, has enjoyed a celebrated solo career. In March he surprised fans in New York when he showed up at an event celebrating his classic 1972 album Transformer.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter