Blue Öyster Cult is a renowned hard rock/heavy metal band which formed in 1967 in Long Island, New York, United States. The band is led by founding members Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar) and Buck Dharma (guitar, vocals). They are best known for their hit singles "
(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "
Burnin' for You". The members of the band began to come together in the late 1960s, as a band called
Soft White Underbelly, in the vicinity of Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York, at the prompting of critic Sandy Pearlman.