Lou Reed/Associated Press

Rolling Stone writer Will Hermes, a former music critic at City Pages in the 1990s, has signed to write a biography of Lou Reed for Farrar, Straus and Giroux, the New York Times reports.

The working title is "Lou: A New York Life." Reed, the Rock Hall of Famer considered the godfather of indie rock, died in October at age 71.

Hermes, a native New Yorker, has also written for Spin, Entertainment Weekly, the Village Voice and the New York Times, among other places. He is the author of the 2011 book, "Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever," which looked at the music of Talking Heads, the Ramones and others in the 1970s.

Watch Reed doing "Sweet Jane" on David Letterman in 1994: