Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, and their fusion of hard rock with psychedelia and use of fantastical and tongue-in-cheek lyrics has had a major influence on heavy metal music. The band's most commercially successful lineup included Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals), Eric Bloom (lead vocals, "stun guitar", keyboards, synthesizer), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, vocals, miscellaneous instruments). The band's current lineup still includes Bloom and Roeser. The band continued making studio albums throughout the 1980s but were dropped by their longtime label CBS/Columbia Records, following poor sales of their 11th studio album Imaginos in 1988. Their next new studio album Heaven Forbid was released some 10 years later in 1998, with it's follow-up Curse of the Hidden Mirror in 2001. Two more studio albums have been released, The Symbol Remains (2020) and Ghost Stories (2024). The band have continued touring throughout.