On November 9, 1975, the Ohio Players released “Love Rollercoaster,” which would eventually become the biggest hit of their careers. The song, which was later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack, was the second single off of their seventh studio album, Honey.
Shortly after the track came out, rumors began to circulate that the model featured on Honey’s iconic front cover (Ester Cordet) had been murdered. But that’s not all: Some even claimed that Cordet’s dying scream was recorded and actually found its way into the final version of “Love Rollercoaster.”
According to the most common version of the story, Cordet burned herself with the honey she’s seen dripping into her mouth in the cover photo. She then supposedly returned to the studio and threatened to sue over the incident, at which point she was either stabbed by a member of the band or one of their associates as they were recording the song.
In other variations, it was a girlfriend of one of the Ohio Players or a cleaning lady who was killed. Whatever the case may be, you can hear the portion of the track said to contain the woman’s scream below (it only lasts a few seconds).
People Thought a Woman Was Murdered During ‘Love Rollercoaster.’ Here’s What Really Happened.
As Ohio Players drummer James “Diamond” Williams tells it, the rumor can be traced back to a DJ from Berkeley, California, who apparently felt like messing with his listeners one day. “He had a little jive thing he was saying on the radio where you call in if you know where someone was getting stabbed in the song,” Williams explained. The legend received national exposure when Casey Kasem mentioned it on his syndicated countdown show, American Top 40, and the group decided to just enjoy the free publicity.
“It got people talking about the song who might not have paid attention to us otherwise,” Williams remembered.
In actuality, the shriek in question wasn’t a woman’s, but that of Ohio Players keyboardist Billy Beck. From Williams’s recollection, Beck was simply “trying to do one of those big diva-type screams, like Minnie Riperton or Mariah Carey did.” However, the murder myth helped push “Love Rollercoaster” to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and Honey to No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
And it continues to be repeated to this day, despite the fact that Ester Cordet is still alive and well.
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