Bisexual musician Lou Reed left $500,000 to mother who used electroshock therapy to ‘cure’ him
Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed has left a quarter of his estate in his will to the care of his elderly mother, who at an early age subjected him to electroshock therapy in an attempt to “discourage” his bisexuality.
According to NewNowNext, the 71-year-old left $500,000 (£312,000) to his sister, asking her to “use a portion of this cash bequest to help care for our mother, Toby Reed, for the balance of her life.”
His lawyer James Purdy told the New York Post: “It all stays in the family.”
In his book ‘Please Kill Me: An Oral History Of Punk,’ Reed described how he received electroshock therapy from his parents to “discourage” his same-sex desires.
He wrote: “They put the thing down your throat so you don’t swallow your tongue, and they put electrodes on your head. That’s what was recommended in Rockland State Hospital to discourage homosexual feelings.
“The effect is that you lose your memory and become a vegetable. You can’t read a book because you get to page 17 and have to go right back to page one again.”
Lou Reed died on October 27 of liver disease at his home in Southampton, New York.
