Cowbell Used in Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear The Reaper Sells For $10 Million

The actual cowbell used in the recording of the classic rock masterpiece, “Don’t Fear The Reaper” sold today at auction for a cool $10 Million.

For those that don’t know, “Don’t Fear The Reaper” is a song by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult. The song is from the band’s 1976 album Agents of Fortune. The Reaper, written and sung by lead guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. The song is Blue Oyster Cult’s biggest hit and catapulted the band into International super stardom.

More Cowbell

The song and the cowbell were forever memorialized in the April 2000 Saturday Night Live comedy sketch “More Cowbell”. The six-minute sketch presents a fictionalized version of the recording of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” on an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music. Will Ferrell wrote the sketch and played Gene Frenkle, an overweight cowbell player. “Legendary” producer Bruce Dickinson, played by Christopher Walken, asked Frenkle to “really explore the studio space” and up the ante on his cowbell playing. The rest of the band is visibly annoyed by Frenkle, but Dickinson tells everyone, “I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!”.

Cowbell Used in Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear The Reaper Sells For $10 Million

“Ever since the SNL sketch, the cowbell stock certainly went up” said Blue Oyster Cult drummer, Albert Bouchard. “You can barely hear the cowbell. It was an after thought by producer David Lucas. We thought he was crazy but it did kind of bring the song together. I of course played the cowbell on the track. But ever since the skit, everyone and his mother claims they played it including Jussie Smollett, but it was all me.”

Suck it Bouchard

After the recording session, the cowbell was packed away and stored for many years in the attic of Bouchard’s mother in upstate New York. Eventually the cowbell became the possession of Bouchard’s third ex wife, Jolene. Jolene was awarded the cowbell in lieu of alimony. “I was going through a rough time” said Jolene. “I never imagined that stupid cowbell would ever pay off, but boy did it ever. Suck it Bouchard.”

The cowbell was bought at the Sotheby’s auction by a foreign investment group. The group is headed by Dave Grohl, Bono and Will Ferrell. Or was it that guy from the Red Hot Chili Peppers? We can never be sure.