Buck Dharma was born on November 12, 1947. He became a founding guitarist and vocalist in Blue Öyster Cult, writing and singing “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and co-writing and singing “Burnin’ for You.” Those recordings brought his songwriting, voice and guitar playing together.
His first place in a rock band was behind the drums. In a 1998 interview with Vintage Guitar, Dharma recalled breaking his wrist playing basketball in high school and picking up his brother’s Stella acoustic while he wore a cast. By the time he could return to the drums, he wanted to play guitar instead. He taught himself from records, beginning with lead lines on the high E string and working out the instrument by ear.
College brought the connection that helped turn that interest into a career. At Clarkson College, Dharma and drummer Albert Bouchard were engineering students who also played music together. They left their studies and moved to Long Island, where their association with manager and producer Sandy Pearlman helped establish Soft White Underbelly, the group from which Blue Öyster Cult developed. The band’s self-titled debut arrived in 1972. Looking back in a 2025 Guitar World interview, Dharma credited Pearlman with recognizing his ability and encouraging him to pursue music professionally.
Writing for the band changed as its members gained access to home recording equipment. Instead of relying entirely on rehearsal tapes and group arrangements, they could bring in songs with more of the parts already worked out. Dharma used a TEAC four-track recorder to make the demo of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” in his spare room. The opening guitar figure came first, followed by lyrics that developed into a meditation on mortality and the possibility of love surviving death. He told Guitar Player in 2024 that he spent roughly six weeks completing the words, arrangement and middle section. By the time he presented it to the group, the demo closely resembled the song they would record for 1976’s Agents of Fortune.
The studio recording added another distinct ingredient: a borrowed guitar. In Mix’s account of the sessions, Dharma recalled playing the main riff on producer Murray Krugman’s Gibson ES-175, then using his own Gibson SG for the overdubbed solo. He also sang the lead vocal, making “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” a record on which his voice mattered as much as his guitar.
“Burnin’ for You” followed a different path into the band’s catalog. Dharma set Richard Meltzer’s lyrics to music and initially intended the song for his own solo album. Working with his multitrack recorder, he built up the guitar parts and their harmonies. Pearlman persuaded him to let Blue Öyster Cult record it instead, and it appeared on 1981’s Fire of Unknown Origin, with Dharma on lead vocals. In his 2024 Guitar Player interview, he reflected that the song probably reached more listeners with the band than it would have under his name.
The solo project still had a purpose. “I’m a pop guy at heart,” he told Guitar World in 2025, explaining that he had written material that didn’t fit the band’s records. His solo album Flat Out arrived in 1982. He described its songs to Vintage Guitar as more personal and more concerned with romance. Alongside his own compositions, the album included his version of “Come Softly to Me,” which closed the record.
