Blue Oyster Cult

After playing together for more than 40 years, ironically, Blue Oyster Cult have reached the point where they do need to fear the reaper. They don’t, however, need to worry about their legacy, which is well cemented. They were one of the bands that lent a literary edge to heavy-metal songwritingthey were also the first to flaunt an umlaut for no good, grammatical reason, a move that would later be appropriated by bands from Queensryche to Motley Crue. Of course, to a younger “Saturday Night Live”-watching generation, Blue Oyster Cult’s legacy is the cowbell, which was featured on their signature song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” albeit not to the extent the popular “SNL” Gene Frenkle sketch surmised.