Musical greats hail Lou Reed at Hall of Fame

Musical greats hail Lou Reed at Hall of Fame

Music greats paid tribute to singer-songwriter Lou Reed as a singular cultural voice, as the late Velvet Underground frontman entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony Saturday night in Cleveland also featured a reunion of the surviving Beatles as Paul McCartney introduced Ringo Starr, the last of the Fab Four to be honored as a solo artist at the Hall of Fame. Reed, whose countercultural sensibilities with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist have carried a major influence for decades, was honored by alternative rock figures of a younger era. Beck, the inventive Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist, performed "Satellite of Love" and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sang "Vicious." Punk legend Patti Smith, breaking down at times with emotion, described Reed as "a humanist" who identified with the downtrodden.