Lou Reed's wife has hailed him as a "a prince and a fighter".
Laurie Anderson, the late rocker's partner of 18 years, penned a touching obituary for her spouse in a local newspaper, praising him for his courage and strength in his final days.
Lou succumbed to his long battle with liver disease on Sunday (27.10.13) at the age of 71.
She wrote: "Last week I promised Lou to get him out of the hospital and come home to Springs, New York. And we made it!
"Lou was a tai chi master and spent his last days here being happy and dazzled by the beauty and power and softness of nature. He died on Sunday morning looking at the trees and doing the famous 21 form of tai chi with just his musician hands moving through the air."
Laurie, 66, quietly wed the former Velvet Underground frontman in 2008 after a long courtship, and she believes his music legacy will keep his spirit alive.
The obituary, published in The East Hampton Star newspaper, continued: "I know his songs of the pain and beauty in the world will fill many people with the incredible joy he felt for life. Long live the beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us."
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