Blue Öyster Cult is a psychedelic/heavy metal band probably best known for their 1976 single "Don't Fear The Reaper" from Agents Of Fortune. The members of the band began to come together in the mid 1960s on Long Island, New York as a band called "Soft White Underbelly", at the prompting of critic Sandy Pearlman. The band changed its name to the Stalk Forrest Group in 1968, then to the Blue Oyster Cult in 1970 (the umlaut was added later). They became a successful heavy metal band during the 1970s. They are still playing in the 21st century.
The members of the band are:
Eric Bloom
Buck Dharma (stage name of Donald Roeser)
Allen Lanier
Danny Miranda
Bobby Rondinelli
During a sketch on the April 8, 2000 episode of Saturday Night Live, host Christopher Walken played Bruce Dickinson, a famous music producer who repeatedly requested "more cowbell" during the recording of Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper."
The umlaut on the "O" in their name started the trend for using the "heavy metal umlaut" in band names. It was suggested to Pearlman by rock critic Richard Meltzer. [1]
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, a list of 150 songs circulated on the Internet, purported to be from radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications to its subsidiaries, with the recommendation that these songs be pulled from airplay (it was later revealed that the list was originally the work of a few specific station program directors, was not an official Clear Channel missive, and changed over time as it was distributed). The band's "Burnin' For You" was on the list.
