(Don't Fear) The Reaper

This article is about the song by Blue Öyster Cult. For other works by the same name, see Don't Fear the Reaper (disambiguation).

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
Single by Blue Öyster Cult
from the album Agents of Fortune
B-side"Tattoo Vampire"
Released1976
Recorded1975
Genre
Length
  • 5:08 (album version)
  • 3:45 (single edit)
LabelColumbia
SongwriterDonald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
Producers
Blue Öyster Cult singles chronology
"Then Came the Last Days of May"
(1975) 		"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
(1976) 		"This Ain't the Summer of Love"
(1976)
Official audio
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on YouTube

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by the American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the 1976 album Agents of Fortune. Written and sung by the lead guitarist, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, it deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. Dharma wrote it while picturing an early death for himself.

Released as an edited single (omitting the slow building interlude in the original), the song is Blue Öyster Cult's highest chart success, reaching #7 in Cash Box and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1976. Critical reception was positive and in December 2003 "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was listed at number 405 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 songs of all time.

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