Songs For Drella  by Lou Reed & John Cale

On April 1, 1987, during the funeral of Andy Warhol, a historic meeting took place after many years between Lou Reed and John Cale. There, the painter Julian Schnabel suggested they write a song in memory of Warhol. This is how the idea for Songs For Drella was born, an album collaboration between two great artists of avant-garde music. Drella was the nickname Andy Warhol had chosen for himself in the late sixties.

This idea flourished in late 1989 as both Cale and Reed were busy with their own personal projects. The album consists of fifteen songs which they composed together, while for the recording of Songs For Drella, John Cale had to play keyboards and viola and Lou Reed guitar. Five songs were performed by the former and ten by the latter. The production of the album was a joint effort.

Songs For Drella, with its minimalist character, became a symbol of worship by music critics of that era, but it likely did not reach the larger audience as its No. 103 position on the Billboard suggests.