"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by the Blue Öyster Cult from the 1976 album Agents of Fortune. Written and sung by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser , it is Blue Öyster Cult's biggest hit, reaching #12 on the American charts in October, 1976 and remaining in the top 100 for twenty weeks. The song remains a staple tune on classic rock radio playlists. In 1997 Mojo magazine ranked "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" at #80 in the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time". Rolling Stone magazine voted the song "Best Rock Single" of 1976 and in 2004 the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" ranked it at #397.
The song has been criticised for supposedly advocating suicide, such as the line "Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity".
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was performed in a sketch on Saturday Night Live featuring Will Ferrell as the cowbell player. A re-recorded version was used in the opening sequence of the mini-series adaption of Stephen King's The Stand. It has also been used in John Carpenter's Halloween and a cover version by New Zealand band The Mutton Birds appeared in the soundtrack to the Peter Jackson movie The Frighteners. The song has been referenced a number of times on The Simpsons.
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Last updated: 05-27-2005 11:27:40
