"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the band's 1976 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, 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.

The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 20 weeks, reaching number 12 for the weeks beginning November 6 and November 13 in 1976. In 1976 Rolling Stone named "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" the song of the year and, in 2004, the magazine placed the song at number 397 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". When The Guardian released its unranked list of the "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" in 2009, the song was included. The publication wrote that the song's charm "lies in the disjuncture between its gothic storyline and the sprightly, Byrdsian guitar line that carries it." In his book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, rock critic Dave Marsh ranked the song at number 997.

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER - STEPHEN PURVIS

This Moment

Sublime - What I Got

Tommy

Cousin Kevin

~ Joan Jett is probably best known as the uncompromising female ROCKER responsible for the Hit Single "I Hate MySelf For Loving You" and "I Love Rock N’ Roll", a tune which is considered by Billboard to be the No.28 Song of all Time 
~ Her career began while she was still a teenager, when she co-founded The Runaways in 1975, who capitalised on their jailbait image to sell large quantities of their five albums released between 1976 and 1979 
~ Her next venture was The BlackHearts, but although the band quickly built a sound reputation as live artists, it proved so difficult to find a record deal, that Jett eventually set up her own label, Blackheart Records 
~ The release of “I Love Rock N’ Roll” propelled sales of their third album to platinum selling quantities, a feat they only achieved once more with Up Your Alley (1988) 
~ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have since enjoyed significant success and are far from being the one hit wonder that some suggest 
~ The band continue to perform to delighted fans and are often cited as an influence by riot grrrl bands keen to emulate the success of the girl rocker from a previous generation 


Sublime - What I Got

Paydn Klink