Bettye Kronstad wed the rocker in 1973 and he is rumoured to have written his hit track Perfect Day about her, but the marriage fell apart after less than a year as they struggled to cope with Reed's new-found fame and heavy-drinking.

Kronstad admits she was devastated by Reed's death in 2013, and is now dealing with her grief by telling the story of their life together in a new book.

She tells Britain's The Independent newspaper, "When I heard about (Reed's) death in 2013, I was blindsided by grief, and completely caught off guard. I had no idea Lou's passing would affect me so deeply. It had all been so long ago! But it got me thinking about stories from the past. I'm beginning the process of addressing some of these stories about Lou and I in the book I'm writing."

Reed went on to walk down the aisle two more times - he wed Sylvia Morales in 1980 and in 2008, he tied the knot with Laurie Anderson, who was widowed by his death in 2013.