(Don't Fear) The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult song)

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(Don't Fear) The Reaper

Single by Blue Oyster Cult

Album

Agents of Fortune

Released

July 1976

Recorded

1975

Genre(s)

Hard rock, psychedelic rock, soft rock

Length

5:08
3:45 (single edit)

Label(s)

Columbia

Producer(s)

David Lucas, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman

Blue Oyster 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)

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song recorded by Blue Oyster Cult from the band's fourth studio album, Agents of Fortune. The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. Dharma wrote the song while picturing an early death for himself.

Released as an edited single (omitting the slow building interlude in the original), this song is the band's highest chart success, reaching #7 in Cash Box and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1976.

Track listing[]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"	3:45
2.	"Tattoo Vampire"	2:40

Other versions[]

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" had came in different live versions and was released under different live albums, including:

Some Enchanted Evening (1978)
Extraterrestial Live (1982)
Live 1976 (1991)
A Long Day's Night (2002)

Chart performance[]

Year	Chart	Peak position
1976	Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[1]	7
1976	U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart^[2]	12
1978	Ireland (IRMA)^[3]	17
1978	UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)^[4]	16
2017	U.S. Billboard Hot Rock Songs^[5]	11