Laura Phillips “Laurie” Anderson (born June 5, 1947)^[2] is an American avant-garde artist,^[3][4] composer, musician and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects.^[4]Initially trained in violin and sculpting,^[5] Anderson pursued a variety of performance art projects in New Yorkduring the 1970s, making particular use of language, technology, and visual imagery.^[3] She became widely more known outside the art world in 1981 when her single “O Superman” reached number two on the UK pop charts. She also starred in and directed the 1986 concert film Home of the Brave.^[6]

Anderson is a pioneer in electronic music and has invented several devices that she has used in her recordings and performance art shows.^[7] In 1977, she created a tape-bow violin that uses recorded magnetic tape on the bow instead of horsehair and a magnetic tape head in the bridge. In the late 1990s, she developed a talking stick, a six-foot (1.8 m) long baton-like MIDI controller that can access and replicate sounds.^[8]

Anderson started dating Lou Reed in 1992, and was married to him from 2008 until his death in 2013 (Source: Wikipedia)