John Cale, founding member of the experimental 1960s rock group the Velvet Underground, was born on March 9, 1942. Cale was born in the Amman Valley section of Wales. His parents were a school teacher and a coal miner. After receiving his formal music training at Goldsmith’s College in London, Cale traveled to the U.S. to continue his music education. He worked closely with famed minimalist composer John Cage after initially arriving in New York City. He connected with Lou Reed, a struggling songwriter from Long Island, to form the Velvet Underground in 1965. The band quickly fell into the orbit of artist Andy Warhol, who helped give the group early direction. While they never sold many records, the Velvet Underground became one of the most influential bands in rock history, with such songs as "Heroin" and "White Light/White Heat." Cale and Reed routinely butted heads over the band’s creative direction and Reed eventually kicked Cale out of the group in 1968. The pair remained estranged until 1986 when they were reconnected by painter Julian Schnabel at the funeral of Andy Warhol. In honor of Warhol’s passing, they collaborated on the song cycles “Songs for Drella,” which debuted at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 29, 1989.