Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "True Confessions", "Tenderloin", "Searchin\' for Celine", "In Thee", and "Lonely Teardrops". In addition to his work with Blue Öyster Cult, he also contributed to music by Patti Smith, John Cale, Jim Carroll, The Dictators and The Clash, among others. He lived with Patti Smith in Mahattan for several years during the 1970s.\n', '

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.\n', '

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:\n', '"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 ever appearance with the band.\n', '

Return to Allen Lanier Autograph Profile