Lou Reed recovering after liver transplant

LONDON (AP) — Lou Reed’s wife says the rock icon is recovering after a life-saving liver transplant, according to an interview published Saturday in a British newspaper.

Laurie Anderson told the Times of London that Reed “was dying” before the operation in April at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic.

She says 71-year-old Reed is not back to full strength but “he’s already working and doing t’ai chi. … It’s a new life for him.”

Anderson, a musician and performance artist, praised the Cleveland facility, and said hospitals in the couple’s hometown of New York were “dysfunctional.”

Reed, who has spoken of his past alcohol and drug use, co-founded influential 1960s group The Velvet Underground, whose songs included “Heroin” and “I’m Waiting for the Man.”

Solo works include “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.