Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American
rock band formed on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, New York, in the hamlet of
Stony Brook, in 1967.
They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. Their fusion of
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
with
psychedelia
Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...
and penchant for
occult
The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
,
fantastical and
tongue-in-cheek lyrics had a major influence on
heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...
.
They developed a
cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
and enjoyed mainstream success with "
(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (1976), "
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
" (1977), and "
Burnin' for You" (1981), which remain
classic rock radio staples. They were early adopters of the
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
format, and their videos were in heavy rotation on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
in its early period.
Blue Öyster Cult continued making studio albums and touring throughout the 1980s, although their popularity had declined such that they were dropped from their longtime label
CBS/Columbia Records, following the commercial failure of their 11th studio album ''
Imaginos'' (1988). Other than contributing to the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
of the 1992 film ''
Bad Channels'' and an album of re-recorded material, ''
Cult Classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
'', in 1994, the band continued as a live act until releasing its first studio album of original material in 10 years, ''
Heaven Forbid'' (1998). The lackluster sales of its follow-up ''
Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' (2001) led to another hiatus from studio recording, but they continued performing live. Two more studio albums were released in the 2020s, ''
The Symbol Remains'' (2020) and ''Ghost Stories'' (2024), the latter of which is said to be the band's last.
Blue Öyster Cult's longest-lasting and the most commercially successful lineup included
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals),
Eric Bloom (lead vocals, "
stun guitar", keyboards, synthesizer),
Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, keyboards), and
Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, vocals, miscellaneous instruments). The band's current lineup still includes Bloom and Roeser, in addition to Danny Miranda (bass, backing vocals),
Richie Castellano (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), and Jules Radino (drums, percussion). The duo of the band's manager
Sandy Pearlman and rock critic
Richard Meltzer, who also met at
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
, played a key role in writing many of the band's lyrics.
History
Early years as Soft White Underbelly (1967–1971)
Blue Öyster Cult was formed in 1967 as Soft White Underbelly (a name the group would occasionally use in the 1970s and 1980s to play small club gigs around the United States and UK) in a communal house at Stony Brook University on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
when rock critic Sandy Pearlman overheard a jam session consisting of fellow Stony Brook classmate Donald Roeser and his friends.
Pearlman offered to become the band's manager and creative partner, to which the band agreed.
The band's original lineup consisted of guitarist Roeser, drummer Albert Bouchard - following the departure of original drummer Joe Dick, keyboardist Allen Lanier, Les Braunstein and bassist Andrew Winters.
In October 1967, the band made its debut performance as Steve Noonan's backing band at the
Stony Brook University Gymnasium, a gig booked by Pearlman.
The band's name came from
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
's description of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
as "the soft underbelly of the
Axis
An axis (: axes) may refer to:
Mathematics
*A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular:
** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system
*** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
."
Pearlman was important to the band – he was able to get them
gigs and recording contracts with
Elektra and
Columbia, and he provided them with his poetry for use as lyrics for many of their songs, including "Astronomy." Writer Richard Meltzer, also a Stony Brook University student, provided the band with lyrics from their early days up through their most recent studio album. In 1968, the band moved in together at their first house in the
Thomaston area of
Great Neck, New York
Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among th ...
. The band recorded an album's worth of material for Elektra Records in 1968.
Braunstein played his final show as Soft White Underbelly's lead singer in the spring of 1969.
His departure led Elektra to shelve the album recorded with him on vocals.
Eric Bloom was hired by the band as their
acoustic engineer. He eventually replaced Braunstein as lead singer through a series of unlikely coincidences, one being Lanier deciding to join Bloom on a drive to an
upstate gig, where he spent the night with Bloom's old college bandmates and got to hear old tapes of Bloom's talent as lead vocalist. Because of this, Bloom was offered the job of lead singer for Soft White Underbelly.
However, a bad review of a 1969 Fillmore East show caused Pearlman to change the name of the band – first to Oaxaca, then to the Stalk-Forrest Group. Pearlman also gave stage names to each of the band members (Jesse Python for Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma for Donald Roeser, Andy Panda for Andy Winters, Prince Omega for Albert Bouchard, La Verne for Allen Lanier) but only Buck Dharma kept his. The band recorded yet another album's worth of material for Elektra, but only one single ("What Is Quicksand?"
b/w "Arthur Comics") was released (and only in a promo edition of 300 copies) on Elektra Records (this album was eventually released, with additional outtakes, by Rhino Handmade Records as ''
St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings'' in 2001). The album featured Bloom as their main lead singer, but Roeser also sang lead on a few songs, a pattern of sharing lead vocals that has continued throughout the band's career. With Bloom, Soft White Underbelly/Stalk-Forrest Group became one of Stony Brook University's "house bands," popular on campus.
After a few more temporary band names, including the Santos Sisters, the band settled on Blue Öyster Cult in 1971 (see
below for its origin).
New York City producer/composer and jingle writer
David Lucas saw the band perform and took them into his Warehouse Recording Studio and produced four demos, with which Pearlman was able to get the renamed band another audition with Columbia Records.
Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
liked what he heard, and signed the band to the label. The first album was subsequently produced and recorded by Lucas on eight-track at Lucas' studio. Winters would leave the band and be replaced by Bouchard's brother, Joe Bouchard.
Black-and-white years (1971–1975)
Their debut album ''
Blue Öyster Cult'' was released in January 1972, with a black-and-white cover designed by artist Bill Gawlik. The album featured the songs "
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll", "Stairway to the Stars", and "Then Came the Last Days of May". By this time, the band's sound had become more oriented toward hard rock, but songs like "She's As Beautiful As a Foot" and "Redeemed" also showed a strong element of the band's psychedelic roots. Pearlman wanted the group to be the American answer to
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
. All of the band members except for Allen Lanier sang lead, a pattern that would continue on many subsequent albums, although lead singer Eric Bloom sang the majority of the songs. The album sold well, and Blue Öyster Cult toured with artists such as
the Byrds
The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...
,
Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...
and
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
. As the band toured, its sound became heavier and more direct.
Their second album ''
Tyranny and Mutation'', released in 1973, was written while the band was on tour for their first album. It contained songs such as "The Red and the Black" (an ode to the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
and a rewrite of "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their debut album, and also a reference to
the novel of the same name by Stendhal), "Hot Rails to Hell" and "Baby Ice Dog", the first of the band's many collaborations with
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
. It featured a harder-rocking approach than before, although the band's songs were also growing more complex. The album outsold its predecessor, a trend that would continue with their next few albums.
The band's third album, ''
Secret Treaties'' (1974), received positive reviews, featuring songs such as "Career of Evil" (co-written by Patti Smith), "Dominance and Submission" and "
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
". As a result of constant touring, the band was now capable of headlining shows. The album continued their upward sales trend, and would eventually go gold.
As the three albums during this formative period all had black-and-white covers, the period of their career has been dubbed the "black and white years" by fans and critics.
Commercial success (1975–1981)
The band's first live album ''
On Your Feet or on Your Knees'' (1975) achieved greater success and went gold. Its success gave the band more time to work on a follow-up. The band members were able to purchase home recording equipment to record demos for their next album.
Their next studio album, ''
Agents of Fortune'' (1976), was their first to go platinum and was again produced by David Lucas. It contained the hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts and has become a classic of the hard rock genre. Other major songs on the album were "(This Ain't) The Summer of Love", "E.T.I. (Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)" and "The Revenge of Vera Gemini". Having recorded demos of the songs at home before recording the album, the band's songwriting process had become more individual, with none of the songs featuring the collaborative writing between the band members that had been common on their earlier albums. Although the album still featured their trademark hard rock with sinister lyrics, the songs had become more conventional in structure, and the production was more polished. For the first and only time, the album featured lead vocals from all five band members, with Allen Lanier singing lead on the song "True Confessions." With Albert Bouchard singing lead on three songs and Joe Bouchard and Donald Roeser singing lead on one each, Eric Bloom ended up taking the lead on only four of the album's ten songs.
For the tour, the band added lasers to their light show, for which they became known. They were among the first acts to use lasers in performance.
Their next album, ''
Spectres'' (1977), had the FM radio hit "Godzilla," and would become one of the band's better-selling albums, with other well-known songs like "I Love the Night" and "Goin' Through the Motions". However, its sales were not as strong as those for the previous album, going gold but not platinum, becoming their first album to sell less than its predecessor. It featured even more polished production, and continued the trend of the lead vocals extensively shared between members, although Allen Lanier did not sing lead. As with the previous album, Eric Bloom sang lead on fewer than half the songs.
The band then released another live album, ''
Some Enchanted Evening'' (1978). Although it was intended as another double-live album in the vein of ''On Your Feet or on Your Knees'', Columbia insisted that it be edited down to single-album length. It was a resounding commercial success, becoming Blue Öyster Cult's most popular album and eventually selling over two million copies. It also revealed that while the band's studio work was becoming increasingly well-produced, they were still very much a hard rock band on stage.

It was followed by the studio album ''
Mirrors
A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
'' (1979). For ''Mirrors'', instead of working with previous producers Sandy Pearlman (who instead went on to manage Black Sabbath) and Murray Krugman, Blue Öyster Cult chose
Tom Werman, who had worked with acts such as
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...
and
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...
. It featured the band's glossiest production to date. It also gave Roeser, the lead vocalist on the band's biggest hits, bigger prominence as a vocalist, singing lead on four of the nine songs. However, the resulting album sales were disappointing.
Pearlman's association with Black Sabbath led to Sabbath's ''
Heaven and Hell'' producer
Martin Birch being hired for the next Blue Öyster Cult record. The album found the band returning to their hard rock roots, and although both of the Bouchard brothers and guitarist Roeser all got lead vocal turns, Bloom would sing the majority of the tracks. The result was positive, with ''
Cultösaurus Erectus'' (1980) receiving good reviews. The album went to number 12 in the United Kingdom, but did not do as well in the United States. The song "
Black Blade", which was written by Bloom with lyrics by science fiction and fantasy author
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...
, is a kind of retelling of Moorcock's epic
Elric of Melniboné saga. The band also did a co-headlining tour with Black Sabbath in support of the album, calling the tour "
Black and Blue".
Birch produced the band's next album as well, ''
Fire of Unknown Origin'' (1981), which peaked at number 24 on the
''Billboard'' 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album. The biggest hit on this album was the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You," a song Roeser had written with a Richard Meltzer lyric. He had intended to use it on his solo album, ''
Flat Out'' (1982), but he was convinced to use it on the Blue Öyster Cult album instead. The revival of the band's heavier sound continued, albeit with fairly heavy use of synthesizers and some noticeable
New Wave influence on a few tracks. It contained other fan favorites such as "
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
" (inspired by the book and film ''
Mommie Dearest'') and "
Veteran of the Psychic Wars", another song co-written by Moorcock. Several of the songs had been written for the animated film ''
Heavy Metal'', but only "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (which had not been written for ''Heavy Metal'') was actually used in the movie. The album marked a strong commercial resurgence for the band and achieved gold status, their first studio album since ''Spectres'' to do so.
During the tour for ''Fire of Unknown Origin'', Albert Bouchard had a falling out with the others and left the band, and Rick Downey (formerly the band's lighting designer) replaced him on drums. This marked the end of the band's original and best-known lineup.
Declining popularity (1982–1989)
After leaving the band, Albert Bouchard spent five years working on a solo album based on Sandy Pearlman's poem "Imaginos". Blue Öyster Cult also released their third live album, ''
Extraterrestrial Live'', in 1982.
The band then went to the studio for the next album, ''
The Revölution by Night'' (1983), with
Bruce Fairbairn as producer. After two albums of a return to a harder rocking sound, the band adopted a more radio-friendly,
AOR-oriented sound with Fairbairn providing a 1980s-style production. This approach met with some success, especially on its highest-charting single, Roeser's "
Shooting Shark", co-written by Patti Smith and featuring
Randy Jackson
Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013.
Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...
on bass, which reached number 83 on the charts. Bloom's "
Take Me Away" achieved some FM radio play. However, the album didn't match sales of its predecessor, failed to achieve gold status, and marked the beginning of the band's second commercial decline. After touring for ''Revölution'', Rick Downey left, leaving Blue Öyster Cult without a drummer.
Blue Öyster Cult re-united with Albert Bouchard for a California tour in February 1985, infamously known as the 'Albert Returns' Tour. This arrangement was only temporary and caused more tensions between the band and Bouchard, since he had thought he would be staying on permanently, which was not the case. The band had intended to use him only as a fill-in until another drummer could come on board, which resulted in Bouchard's leaving after the tour. Allen Lanier also quit the band shortly thereafter, leaving them without a keyboardist and with only three remaining original members. This incarnation of the band would sometimes be referred to as '3ÖC' by fans, which is a pun on the number of original members left.
Blue Öyster Cult hired drummer Jimmy Wilcox and keyboardist Tommy Zvoncheck to finish the album ''
Club Ninja'', which was poorly received, with only "
Dancin' in the Ruins," one of several songs on the record written entirely by outside songwriters, enjoying minimal success on radio and
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
. The best-known original on the album is "Perfect Water" written by Dharma and
Jim Carroll (noted author of ''
The Basketball Diaries''). While the band members have generally been disparaging about the album in retrospect, Joe Bouchard has stated that "Perfect Water" is "perfect genius".
The band toured in Germany, after which bassist Bouchard left, leaving only two members of the classic lineup: Eric Bloom and Donald Roeser. Some people referred to the band as "Two Öyster Cult" during this period. Jon Rogers was hired to replace Joe and this version of the band finished out the 1986 tour. After it wound up that year, the band took a temporary break from recording and touring. When Blue Öyster Cult received an offer to tour in Greece in the early summer of 1987, the band reformed. Wilcox quit while Zvoncheck was fired for making excessive financial demands. Allen Lanier then was offered to rejoin and agreed, so the new line-up now featured three founding members, along with Jon Rogers returning on bass and Ron Riddle as their newest drummer.
Columbia Records was not interested in releasing the ''
Imaginos'' project as an Albert Bouchard solo album so it was arranged for the record to be released in 1988 by Columbia as a Blue Öyster Cult album, with some new lead vocal overdubs from Bloom and Roeser and lead guitar overdubs from Roeser. These replaced most of Albert Bouchard's lead vocals, as well as many lead guitar parts that had been recorded by session musicians. Joe Bouchard and Allen Lanier had earlier contributed some minor keyboard and backing vocal parts to the album, allowing all five original members to be credited. The album did not sell well (despite a positive review in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine) and although the then-current Blue Öyster Cult lineup (minus both Bouchard brothers) toured to promote ''Imaginos'', promotion by the label was virtually non-existent. Most songs from the album have not been performed live by the band since at least 1989. When Columbia Records' parent company CBS Records was purchased by
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
and became
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
, Blue Öyster Cult were dropped from the label.
First studio hiatus, ''Heaven Forbid'' and ''Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' (1990–2003)

The band spent most of the 1990s touring without releasing an album of new material, although they did contribute two new songs to the ''
Bad Channels'' movie soundtrack, released in 1992, and also released an album of re-recorded songs from the band's original lineup, called ''
Cult Classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
'', in 1994. During these years, while the three original members remained constant, there were several changes in the band's rhythm section. Ron Riddle quit in 1991 and was followed by a series of other drummers including
Chuck Burgi (1991–1992, 1992–1995, 1996–1997),
John Miceli (1992, 1995), John O'Reilly (1995–1996) and
Bobby Rondinelli (1997–2004). As for the bass position, Rogers left in 1995, and was replaced by Danny Miranda.
In the late 1990s, Blue Öyster Cult secured a recording contract with CMC Records (later purchased by
Sanctuary Records), and continued to tour frequently. Two studio albums were released, ''
Heaven Forbid'' (1998) and ''
Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' (2001). Both albums featured songs co-written by cyberpunk/horror novelist
John Shirley
John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...
. The first mostly featured Miranda on bass and Burgi on drums, although a few tracks feature earlier bassist Jon Rogers and one track features Rondinelli on drums, who had joined the band near the end of the recording. ''Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' features Miranda and Rondinelli as the rhythm section, and the pair contributed to the songwriting as well. Neither album sold well.
In 2001, Sony/Columbia's reissue arm,
Legacy Records issued expanded versions of the first four Blue Öyster Cult studio albums, including some previously unreleased demos and outtakes from album sessions, live recordings (from the ''Live 72'' EP), and post-''St. Cecilia'' tunes from the Stalk-Forrest Group era.
Another live record and DVD ''
A Long Day's Night'' followed in 2002, both drawn from one concert in Chicago. This album also featured the Bloom, Roeser, Lanier, Miranda, Rondinelli lineup.
Live-only activities (2004–2016)
Although the band's lineup had remained stable from 1997 to 2004, they began to experience personnel changes again in 2004. Rondinelli left in 2004, and was replaced by Jules Radino. Miranda left during the same year to become the bassist for
Queen + Paul Rodgers
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* ...
in place of the retired
John Deacon. He was replaced by Richie Castellano, who would also take occasional turns as a lead vocalist onstage.
Allen Lanier retired from live performances in 2007 after not appearing with the band since late 2006. Castellano switched to rhythm guitar and keyboards (Castellano also filled in on lead guitar and vocals for an ailing Buck Dharma in two shows in 2005), and the position of bassist was taken up by
Rudy Sarzo
Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...
(previously a member of
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, and vocalist Kevin DuBrow.
The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin Du ...
,
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...
,
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
and
Dio), with the band employing Danny Miranda and Jon Rogers as guest bassists to fill in when Sarzo was unavailable. Sarzo then joined as an official member of the band, although Rogers continued to occasionally fill in when Sarzo was busy.
In February 2007, the Sony Legacy remaster series continued, releasing expanded versions of studio album ''Spectres'' and live album ''Some Enchanted Evening''.
In June 2012, the band announced that bassist Rudy Sarzo was leaving the band and was being replaced by former
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
bassist
Kasim Sulton.
In August of the same year, it was announced that Sony Legacy would be releasing a 17-disc boxed set entitled ''The Complete Columbia Albums Collection'' on October 30, 2012. The set includes the first round of the remastered series plus the long-awaited remastered versions of ''On Your Feet or on Your Knees'', ''Mirrors'', ''Cultösaurus Erectus'', ''Fire Of Unknown Origin'', ''Extraterrestrial Live'', ''The Revölution by Night'', ''Club Ninja'' and ''Imaginos''. Also exclusive to this set are two discs of rare and unreleased B-sides, demos and radio broadcasts.
Also in 2012, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Blue Öyster Cult, the then-current incarnation of the band reunited for the first time in 25 years with other original members Joe and Albert Bouchard and Allen Lanier as guests for a special event in New York.
Founding keyboardist/guitarist Allen Lanier died of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...
on August 14, 2013.
In 2016, Albert Bouchard played again as guest with the then-current line-up of the band, playing at shows in New York, Los Angeles, Dublin and London, where Blue Öyster Cult played the album ''Agents of Fortune'' in its entirety. The shows featured songs from ''Agents of Fortune'' that had either not been played live before ("True Confessions", "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", "Sinful Love", "Tenderloin", "Debbie Denise"), songs that had not been played since the album's debut tour ("Morning Final"), and songs that were no longer/never played frequently ("This Ain't the Summer of Love", "Tattoo Vampire"), as well as the fan favorite "Five Guitars", which had not been played since Albert initially left the band in 1981. Albert played in the following songs at the show: "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" (vocals, guitar), "Sinful Love" (vocals, guitar), "Tattoo Vampire" (guitar), "Morning Final" (guitar), "Tenderloin" (cymbals), "Debbie Denise" (vocals, acoustic guitar), "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" (vocals, drums), and "Five Guitars" (guitar).
''The Symbol Remains'' and ''Ghost Stories'' (2017–present)
In a May 2017 appearance on Castellano's "Band Geek" podcast, Bloom confirmed that there were tentative plans to release a new album in 2018 and that the band was currently considering offers from multiple record labels. He also stated that former bassist Danny Miranda would be playing with the band for the remainder of the year due to Sulton's prior touring commitments with
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...
. During the same year, the band's official website started to list Miranda as an official member, stating that Miranda had "returned to BÖC" in early 2017.
Buck Dharma stated in February 2019 that the band would be recording a new album to be released by fall. On July 10, 2019, it was announced that the band had signed to Frontiers Music, and would in fact be releasing the new album in 2020. "It's been a long time since BÖC's last studio album. Recording with Danny, Richie and Jules should be a great experience as we've been touring together for years, and Buck and I look forward to including them in the creative and recording process," said Bloom. "The current band is GREAT and has never been recorded other than live, so we feel now's the time for new songs to be written and recorded. About half of the songs for the new record exist and the rest will be finished during the process," added Buck Dharma. In February 2020, Richie Castellano posted a short video to Facebook featuring himself and Eric Bloom, stating that the band were working on the new Blue Öyster Cult record remotely by using ConnectionOpen online audio collaboration tool.
In August 2020, the band announced on their website that their fifteenth studio album ''
The Symbol Remains'' would be released on October 9, 2020. The span of nineteen years between ''Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' and ''The Symbol Remains'' marks the longest gap between studio albums in Blue Öyster Cult's career. The album was released to a positive critical reception, with tracks such as "Box In My Head" and "The Alchemist" receiving high praise.
In October 2022, during their European headlining tour, Blue Öyster Cult supported
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...
at five arena shows in the United Kingdom.
On April 12, 2024, Blue Öyster Cult released their sixteenth and final studio album ''Ghost Stories'', which includes both reimagined tracks and "lost gems" from between 1978 and 2016, as well as studio versions of their covers of
MC5
MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...
's "
Kick Out the Jams
''Kick Out the Jams'' is the debut album by American rock band MC5. A live album, it was recorded at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit over two nights, October 30 and 31, 1968, and released in February 1969, by Elektra Records.
The album peaked at ...
" and
The Animals
The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...
' "
We Gotta Get Out of This Place.".
On May 24th, 2025, Blue Öyster Cult performed under their former name Soft White Underbelly at Islington Assembly Hall in London
Musical style
Blue Öyster Cult is usually described as a
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band, albeit one with their own tongue-in-cheek style.
Their music has also been described as
heavy metal,
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
occult rock,
acid rock
Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...
, and
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
.
They have also been recognized for helping pioneer genres such as
stoner metal
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Slee ...
. The band has also experimented with additional genres on specific albums, such as on ''Mirrors''.
They have acknowledged the influence of artists such as
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
,
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
,
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...
,
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...
,
MC5
MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...
,
The Blues Project,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
.
Lyrics
The band have frequently collaborated with outside lyricists, although all of the original members wrote lyrics at some point, most notably Donald Roeser. The principal lyricists in the early days were manager
Sandy Pearlman and fellow rock critic
Richard Meltzer. Key members of the New York punk scene
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
,
Helen "Wheels" Robbins and
Jim Carroll - all friends of the band - contributed from the mid-1970s. Later in the decade frontman Eric Bloom, a science fiction fan, recruited English author
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...
to write for the band, and later did the same with
Eric Van Lustbader
Eric Van Lustbader (born December 24, 1946) is an American author of thriller and fantasy novels. He has published as Eric Lustbader, Eric V. Lustbader, and Eric Van Lustbader.
He is a graduate of New York's Stuyvesant High School and Columb ...
and
John Shirley
John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...
.
In order to add to their mystique the band would often use out-of-context fragments of Pearlman's unpublished sci-fi poetry cycle ''The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos'' as lyrics, rendering their meaning obscure.
Additionally, they kept a folder of Pearlman's and Meltzer's word associations to insert into their songs.
Band name and logo

The name "Blue Öyster Cult" also came from Pearlman's ''Imaginos'' cycle, explored most extensively on the 1988
album of the same name. Pearlman had also come up with the band's earlier name, "Soft White Underbelly", from a phrase used by Winston Churchill in describing Italy during World War II. In Pearlman's poetry, the "Blue Oyster Cult" is a group of aliens who had assembled secretly to guide Earth's history. "Initially, the band was not happy with the name, but settled for it, and went to work preparing to record their first release..."
In a 1976 interview published in the U.K. music magazine ''
ZigZag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
'', Pearlman claimed the origin of the band's name was as an anagram of "Cully Stout Beer".
The addition of an
umlaut was suggested by Allen Lanier, but Richard Meltzer claims to have suggested it just after Pearlman came up with the name, reportedly "because of the
Wagnerian aspect of Metal". Other bands later copied
the practice of using umlauts or diacritic marks in their own band names, such as
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...
,
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...
,
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche () is an American progressive metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one Extended play, EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record ...
and parodied by
Spın̈al Tap.
The hook-and-cross logo was designed by fellow Stony Brook student Bill Gawlik for his master's thesis
in January 1972,
and appears on all of the band's albums.
[ In Greek mythology, "... the hook-and-cross symbol is that of Kronos (Cronus), the king of the Titans and father of Zeus ... and is the ]alchemical symbol
Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemy, alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy ...
for lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
(a heavy metal), one of the heaviest of metals." Sandy Pearlman considered this, along with the "heavy" distorted guitar sound of the band, meant that the description " heavy metal" would be apt for the band's sound. The hook-and-cross symbol also resembled the astrological symbol
Historically, astrological and astronomical symbols have overlapped. Frequently used symbols include signs of the zodiac and classical planets. These originate from medieval Byzantine codices. Their current form is a product of the European Rena ...
for Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
, the Roman god of agriculture, and the sickle
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...
, which is associated with both Kronos (Cronus) and Saturn (both the planet and the Roman god). The symbol also closely resembles the astrological symbol for Ceres, which is also a sickle. The logo's "... metaphysical, alchemical and mythological connotations, combined with its similarity to some religious symbols gave it a flair of decadence and mystery ..."
The band was billed, for the only time, as "''The'' Blue Öyster Cult" on the cover and label of their second album, ''Tyranny and Mutation''.
Legacy and influence
Blue Öyster Cult have been influential to the realm of hard rock and heavy metal, leading them to being referred to as "the thinking man's heavy metal band" due to their often cryptic lyrics, literate songwriting, and links to famous authors. They have influenced many acts including Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
, Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, Fates Warning, Iced Earth
Iced Earth is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band currently composed of only Jon Schaffer, formed in Tampa, Florida, and based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist, ma ...
, Cirith Ungol, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...
, Twisted Sister, Ratt
Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...
, Steel Panther, Green River (and later Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...
), Body Count, Possessed, Candlemass, Saint Vitus
Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical ...
, Trouble, Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...
, White Zombie, Kvelertak, HIM, Turbonegro, Radio Birdman, The Cult
The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...
, The Minutemen, Firehose, Hoodoo Gurus, Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...
, Queens of the Stone Age, Umphrey's McGee
Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American rock band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and ...
, Stabbing Westward, Royal Trux, and Moe.
The band's influence has extended beyond the musical sphere. The lyrics of "Astronomy" have been named by author Shawn St. Jean as inspirational to the later chapters of his fantasy novel ''Clotho's Loom'', wherein Sandy Pearlman's "Four Winds Bar" provides the setting for a portion of the action. Titles and lines from the band's songs provided structure and narrative for the third book in Robert Galbraith's (a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling), series of Cormoran Strike novels, '' Career of Evil''.[Christobel Kent]
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith review – a daft but enjoyable hunt for a serial killer
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', October 21, 2015.
Their hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was featured in the famous ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch " More Cowbell". The original recording was produced at The Record Plant in New York by David Lucas, who sang background vocals with Roeser, and introduced the now-famous cowbell part, which may have been played by himself, Albert Bouchard, or Eric Bloom.
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used in writer/director John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...
's horror film classic, ''Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' (1978). The opening sequence of the miniseries adaptation of '' The Stand'' (1994) by Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
, and covered by The Mutton Birds for Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's horror-comedy film '' The Frighteners'' (1996). "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used throughout the comedy film '' The Stoned Age'' (1994) and plays a role in its storyline. In the film '' Gone Girl'' (2014), the song plays on the radio during a car driving scene with actor Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
. The song was also used as the opening theme and main story element in the 1996 FMV computer game '' Ripper'', by Take Two Interactive, and was also featured in the 2006 game ''Prey
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...
'' and the 2021 game '' Returnal''. The lyrics for "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" are featured in the introduction of Stephen King's book ''The Stand''. The song was also used in Orange Is the New Black's season 2 finale.
Members
Current members
* Buck Dharma – lead guitar, lead and backing vocals (1967–1986, 1987–present)
* Eric Bloom – lead and backing vocals, "stun guitar", keyboards, synthesizers (1969–1986, 1987–present)
* Danny Miranda – bass, backing vocals (1995–2004, 2017–present)
* Richie Castellano – keyboards, rhythm guitar, additional lead guitar, backing and additional lead vocals (2007–present), bass (2004–2007)
* Jules Radino – drums, percussion (2004–present)
Discography
;Studio albums
* '' Blue Öyster Cult'' (1972)
* '' Tyranny and Mutation'' (1973)
* '' Secret Treaties'' (1974)
* '' Agents of Fortune'' (1976)
* '' Spectres'' (1977)
* ''Mirrors
A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
'' (1979)
* '' Cultösaurus Erectus'' (1980)
* '' Fire of Unknown Origin'' (1981)
* '' The Revölution by Night'' (1983)
* '' Club Ninja'' (1985)
* '' Imaginos'' (1988)
* ''Cult Classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
'' (1994) – re-recordings
* '' Heaven Forbid'' (1998)
* '' Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' (2001)
* '' The Symbol Remains'' (2020)
* ''Ghost Stories'' (2024)
Bibliography
* ''Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed!'', by Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...
, Metal Blade Records, 207 pages (US, 2004)
* ''Blue Öyster Cult: La Carrière du Mal'', by Mathieu Bollon and Aurélien Lemant, Camion Blanc, 722 pages (France, 2013)
* ''Agents of Fortune: The Blue Öyster Cult Story'', by Martin Popoff, Wymer Publishing, 245 pages (UK, 2016)
* ''Blue Öyster Cult: Every Album, Every Song'', by Jacob Holm-Lupo, Sonicbond Publishing, 158 pages (UK, 2019)
* ''Flaming Telepaths: Imaginos Expanded and Specified'', by Martin Popoff, Power Chord Press, 200 pages (Canada, 2021)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Oyster Cult
1967 establishments in New York (state)
Arena rock musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Columbia Records artists
Frontiers Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from New York (state)
Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state)
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Musical groups reestablished in 1987
Musical groups from Long Island
Musical quintets from New York (state)
Occult rock musical groups
Psychedelic rock music groups from New York (state)