The Spire

Catherine Cox ’29

Staff Writer

The late 1960s rock group The Velvet Underground is most certainly one of the most influential bands throughout the course of music history, with their influence reaching countless artists, genres, and subculture movements throughout the years. Many recognize The Velvet Underground’s iconic banana album cover, designed by artist Andy Warhol, whom the band worked closely with throughout their career. As they served as the bridge between the 1960s folk scene and the 1970s punk scene in New York City, The Velvet Underground became one of the most experimental and polarizing groups of the era, with their exclusive live performances bringing many to the city. 

Despite many artists citing The Velvet Underground as an influence in modern music today, there is one artist in particular who interests me the most for citing their influence. British pop singer and songwriter Charli xcx has famously credited The Velvet Underground, and their individual members John Cale and Lou Reed, as having been a strong influential force on her musical career, as well as her personal life.

I first became aware of Charli’s fan status of Lou Reed and The Underground in 2024, when I saw Troye Sivan’s TikTok from Madison Square Garden, ahead of his and Charli’s performance there on their Sweat Tour. I was looking forward to seeing this tour in Boston a few days after their MSG show, and was simply looking for clips or indications as to how the show would be, in an attempt to get even more excited for it. But I found another gem instead. In this TikTok, Charli was wearing a Lou Reed T-shirt, which featured a headline from The New Yorker magazine. I had already been a long-time fan of The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Charli, and Troye Sivan, so the world collision of these four music pillars took me by immense surprise and interest. 

I took this new information with serious interest, as I wanted to explore more about the liking that Charli had of The Velvet Underground, Reed, and Cale, as their two completely different musical styles took me by surprise that she would listen to, or even enjoy, their music. When the Spotify Wrapped of 2025 dropped, I recall Charli posting hers to her Instagram story, with The Velvet Underground being at #1, and John Cale being at #4. I could not believe that we shared a top artist that year (The Velvet Underground), and that she even listened to them that much for them to secure the top spot in her artist listening stats for the year. How could someone who makes music for the modern club scene be this invested in The Underground’s avant-garde work?

On October 12, 2025’s SNL episode featuring pop singer Role Model as the musical guest, I was anticipating who his “Sally” would be for that night. To my surprise, it was Charli, who was wearing a shirt that I absolutely loved, and I knew right away what it was. Charli was wearing a T-shirt that had the logo of Max’s Kansas City on it, the famous restaurant that Andy Warhol and his Factory crowd took over, and where The Velvet Underground got their start, performing in the back room. However, to my strong dislike, people thought Charli wearing this T-shirt was a stab at Taylor Swift, whose husband, Travis Kelce, plays for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team, instead of the homage to her musical influences that it really was.

Now, in 2026, Charli has even more connected herself to The Underground, as she has had two notable artistic collaborations with member John Cale. Upon the release of her soundtrack to the 2026 film Wuthering Heights, Charli released the track “House,” which featured John Cale. Furthermore, the album cover for her latest LP, Music, Fashion, Film, featured Cale as the “Music,” alongside designer Marc Jacobs as the “Fashion,” and film director Martin Scorsese as the “Film.” When I saw the album cover artwork when it was first released, I was amazed by the features of these three cultural icons, and thought “of course” when I saw who Charli had picked to represent the “Music.” Though I wondered how many of the individuals listening to this album know why she chose Cale, or even Jacobs and Scorsese, for that matter. 

In my senior year of high school, I conducted a year-long Capstone project about the punk scene of New York City in the 1970s, and created a course curriculum to teach the modern youth about this era’s cultural significance, as well as to bring back the punk agenda of authenticity and art for art’s sake. As I think more about Charli’s deep-rooted influence and connections to The Velvet Underground and its members, I have realized how much she embodies the punk agenda within her life, work, and artistry. Charli has dedicated her career to being her true, authentic self and promoting art for art’s sake in the creative process in which she makes her work. The strong audiovisual ties within her work, with her detailed and well-thought-out branding and marketing for each era, remind me of The Velvet Underground, with both artists having iconic imagery that people associate with their music. Nonetheless, Charli’s influence from The Velvet Underground and its members is one of the most noteworthy of the modern era in music, as their two differing music styles do not create a gap in the message that they both share.

Image courtesy of Billboard.