Eric Bloom

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American singer, songwriter and musician (born 1944)

title: "Eric Bloom" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1944-births", "living-people", "american-rock-guitarists", "american-male-guitarists", "american-heavy-metal-singers", "jewish-american-singers", "jewish-american-rock-musicians", "jewish-heavy-metal-musicians", "blue-öyster-cult-members", "songwriters-from-new-york-(state)", "musicians-from-brooklyn", "musicians-from-queens,-new-york", "hobart-and-william-smith-colleges-alumni", "people-from-plainview,-new-york", "guitarists-from-new-york-(state)", "lawrence-woodmere-academy-alumni", "20th-century-american-guitarists", "cheshire-academy-alumni", "psychedelic-rock-musicians", "american-rhythm-guitarists", "american-rock-singers"] description: "American singer, songwriter and musician (born 1944)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Bloom" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American singer, songwriter and musician (born 1944) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Eric Bloom
image	Blue Öyster Cult - Wacken Open Air 2016 02.jpg
caption	Bloom in 2016
background	solo_singer
birth_name	Eric Jay Bloom
birth_date
birth_place	Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, psychedelic rock
occupation	Musician, singer, songwriter
years_active	1959–present
label	Columbia, CMC
associated_acts	Blue Öyster Cult
website
::

Eric Jay Bloom (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on more than 20 albums. Much of his lyrical content relates to his lifelong interest in science fiction.

Early life and education

A native New Yorker, Bloom was born in Brooklyn, the youngest of three children, and grew up in Queens. His mother was a housewife, active in local charities and family life. His father ran a picture frame and print company in Manhattan. Bloom is Jewish. Bloom attended JHS 216 (George J. Ryan Junior High School), and then moved on to Woodmere Academy and Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. It was there that he purchased his first guitar, a $52 Harmony full-bodied electric.

Bloom, known as "Manny" Bloom in college, attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York, studying modern languages. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/The_Lost_and_Found.jpg" caption="The group "Lost and Found", 1966. From left: Peter Haviland, Jeff Hayes, [[John Trivers]], Bloom, and George Faust photographed at [[Hobart and William Smith Colleges]]."] ::

Career

Soft White Underbelly: 1968–1971

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/SWU1968.jpg" caption="issn=0362-4331}}"] ::

Blue Öyster Cult: 1972–present

In April 1969, when lead singer Braunstein dropped out of the group, Bloom became the band's vocalist. The band went through several name changes, but in 1971 settled on Blue Öyster Cult. Their first album was released by Columbia Records in 1972.

In 1976, their platinum album Agents of Fortune with its hit "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" launched the band into international fame, though that particular song was sung and written by lead guitarist Buck Dharma. Both Creem readers and Rolling Stone critics** voted "Don't Fear the Reaper" as the top single of the year.

Bloom bought his own house in Great Neck in 1976. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Eric_Bloom_1.jpg" caption="Bloom performing with Blue Öyster Cult"] ::

Bloom has been one of the longtime members of the band throughout the decades, along with original member Buck Dharma. Bloom is credited as playing "stun guitar" on some Blue Öyster Cult works, a term the band uses for the distortion sound of his rhythm guitar.

Outside work

Bloom is known for being an avid reader, especially science fiction and fantasy novels. He once sent a fan letter to English science-fiction author Michael Moorcock, and then collaborated with him on three songs. "Black Blade" was written from the point of view of Moorcock's Elric character, and the other two were "The Great Sun Jester" and "Veteran of the Psychic Wars", the latter of which was used in the original Heavy Metal movie.

Bloom also collaborated with author Eric Van Lustbader on the song "Shadow Warrior", and in 1998, 2001 and 2020 with cyberpunk author John Shirley on the Heaven Forbid, Curse of the Hidden Mirror and The Symbol Remains albums.

In 2006, Bloom began a partnership with artist Philippe Renaudin, to create and sell six elaborately painted custom-made guitars, each one of which interprets a different Blue Öyster Cult song, and each of which was played during BÖC performances.

References

(April 17, 2013). "Blue Öyster Cult Explains the Umlaut".
http://www.cheshireacademy.org/uploaded/admissions/56876_lo_res.pdf {{webarchive. link. (February 21, 2006)
Knopper, Steve. (October 26, 2012). "Blue Oyster Cult's 40th anniversary CD".
Konig, Susan. (March 12, 2000). "Blue Oyster Cult Hoping for a Resurgence". The New York Times.
"Creem Magazine Reader Polls (1973–77, 79–80)".
(December 11, 2003). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Sleazegrinder. (August 1, 2014). "Blue Öyster Cult: 'They wanted us to be the American Black Sabbath'". [[Louder Sound]].
Moseley, Willie G.. (August 1998). "Buck Dharma, Regarding the Reaper and Other Recollections". [[Vintage Guitar (magazine).
"Art Guitars: Series 1". Ericbloomguitars.com.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::