Blue Öyster Cult is a psychedelic/ heavy metal band probably best known for two songs: their 1976 single " (Don't Fear) The Reaper" from the album Agents of Fortune (also featured in the cult movie Halloween, and in Stephen King's novel The Stand), and their 1981 single "Burnin' for You" from the album Fire of Unknown Origin. Their song "Veteran of the Psychic Wars," with lyrics penned by Michael Moorcock, appeared in the soundtrack of the movie Heavy Metal. Two other well-known songs are "Godzilla" ( 1977) from Spectres, and "Astronomy" ( 1973) from Secret Treaties; the latter was covered by Metallica on 1998's Garage Inc..
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. Pearlman was very influential for the band, getting them gigs, their first record with Columbia, and using his poetry as the basis of many of their songs, including "Astronomy". The band changed its name to the Stalk-Forrest Group in 1968. One single was released on Elektra Records under this name in 1969, though over one album's worth of songs were recorded. The name again changed to the Blue Öyster Cult in 1970. The name comes from the famous Long Island "Blue Point Oysters." (The name was suggested by Sandy; the umlaut was added later.) They became a successful heavy metal band during the 1970s. They are still playing in the 21st century.
The umlaut on the "O" in their name started the trend for using the " heavy metal umlaut" in band names. It was suggested to Pearlman by rock critic Richard Meltzer. Additionally, some have suggested Pearlman created the term " Heavy Metal" via the use of the band's logo - an alchemical symbol for lead, one of the heaviest of metals.