When the members of Blue Öyster Cult recorded the song that would go on to become their highest-charting tune of all time, they had no idea it was going to be a hit single...let alone that the track would remain one of the most-played rock tunes of the '70s for decades to come. But that's exactly what happened with "(Don't Fear) the Reaper"...and the classic's creepy vibes are part of the reason why.
Released on Blue Öyster Cult's 1976 album Agents of Fortune, "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" found both critical and commercial success, spending 20 weeks on the U.S. Hot 100 and peaking at #12. In the years since, it's been a mainstay on classic rock radio, not to mention a cultural touchstone. (Case in point: The iconic "more cowbell" skit on SNL.) Plus, the song's spooky lyrics — it's about the Grim Reaper, after all — have earned it a permanent place on the Halloween playlists of countless music lovers.
In 2022, Play Like Mum analyzed Spotify's playlists containing words such as "Halloween" to find out which tunes were showing up the most as part of those collections. "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" claimed the #10 spot, according to Mental Floss (coming in at #1, unsurprisingly, was "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett, with "Thriller" by Michael Jackson nabbing second place).
'Don't Fear the Reaper' was written and sung by Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser
Years after "Don't Fear the Reaper" first hit the charts, Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser reflected on the track's enduring legacy.
“I think the song resonates with people and it doesn’t seem to matter how old they are or what generation they come from,” Dharma told writer Matt Frost in 2008, per MusicRadar. “And for that I am grateful…it’s almost had a life of its own. I don’t even think it’s mine sometimes — it’s just out there! It’s unlike the rest of our music and it’s unlike the rest of the songs I’ve written, too, which is funny.”
“We knew we had something,” he continued. "When we were mixing the record and listening to the playback, we knew we had something good, but we had no idea what it was going to do! We were thinking that it was going to be a strong FM radio track, and in those days hit radio was AM and album radio was FM, so we thought we’d have a good album track for FM radio. But beyond that — that it would actually take off and be a hit single? We had no idea!”
It might be a song about the Grim Reaper, but clearly this is one chart-topper that's bound to live forever.
Related: How This '70s Classic Accidentally Became One of the Only Rock Instrumentals to Hit #1
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