Allen Lanier

Allen Glover Lanier (/ləˈnɪər/; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult.

Lanier was born in Birmingham, Alabama and later relocated to Long Island, New York. Lanier attended film school.

Lanier formed what would become Blue Öyster Cult in 1967. Lanier first performed with the band (then known as Soft White Underbelly) in 1967. He left the group in 1985, and was replaced by Tommy Zvoncheck (of Clarence Clemons and Public Image Ltd fame). Lanier returned to the band in 1987, touring constantly until the fall of 2006.

Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "True Confessions", "Tenderloin", "Searchin' for Celine", "In Thee", and "Lonely Teardrops".

Without any official announcement from Blue Öyster Cult, the band's line-up photograph was updated to remove Lanier, and a brief mention on the page for Richie Castellano has the following to say: "Since the retirement of Allen Lanier, Richie has switched over to the guitars/keyboards position, both of which he's quite the master!". That would seem to indicate that Allen Lanier retired from both Blue Öyster Cult and music in 2007, having played his last concert with them in late 2006. He would rejoin them for their 40th anniversary concert in New York in November 2012, which proved to be his last appearance with the band.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.