In 1975, the Ohio Players—funk pioneers with a flair for provocative album covers and horn-laced grooves—released one of their most electrifying hits: “Love Rollercoaster.” A song that captures the high-speed thrill and chaos of falling in and out of love, it quickly became a chart-topping classic.
But buried within the track, right before a musical breakdown, is a brief but blood-chilling scream—a sharp, eerie shriek that sounds so real, so visceral, that it sparked one of the most enduring and bizarre urban legends in music history.
For nearly half a century, listeners have asked:
Was someone actually murdered during the recording of “Love Rollercoaster”?
And if so, did the band leave the scream in the song as a macabre musical Easter egg?
Let’s dive into the twisted myth—and the even stranger truth behind it.
The Song, the Scream, and the Suspicion
Released on the Ohio Players’ Honey album, “Love Rollercoaster” was a rollicking, infectious anthem with all the hallmarks of 1970s funk: deep bass lines, soulful vocals, wailing horns—and then, a sudden scream.
Around the 2:30 mark of the track, just as the instruments shift into a breakdown, a scream erupts in the background. It’s not melodic. It’s not part of the vocals. It sounds more like panic than performance.
That scream, lasting just over a second, was enough to launch decades of speculation.
The Legend: Murder in the Studio
Soon after the song’s release, rumors began to circulate that the scream was not a musical flourish, but a real death cry. Several versions of the legend emerged:
1. The Album Cover Model Was Killed
The most popular version ties the scream to Ester Cordet, the nude model on the Honey album cover. In the photo, she poses seductively with honey dripping off her body—a visually striking and sensual image.
The legend goes that the honey used during the shoot was too hot, resulting in severe burns. When Cordet complained or threatened to sue the band or label, she was supposedly murdered by a producer or manager in the studio during the recording session.
The scream, legend says, was captured live—and left in the song.
2. A Cleaning Woman Was Stabbed
Another version, popularized in the 1998 horror film Urban Legend, claimed that a cleaning woman accidentally walked in on the recording session and was stabbed to death. Her dying scream, again, was believed to have been picked up by the microphone.
Both stories had the same chilling twist: the band kept the scream in, either out of shock, cynicism, or commercial ambition.
The Reality: Funk, Folklore, and a Scream for Sales
After years of speculation, drummer Jimmy “Diamond” Williams finally laid the rumor to rest.
In an interview, he explained that the scream came from keyboardist Billy Beck, who let it loose intentionally during the recording to add flair and emotion to the track. It was planned, performed, and absolutely not the sound of a murder.
So why let the rumors run wild?
“We didn’t say anything because it helped sell records,” Williams admitted.
“People love a mystery.”
Indeed, the mystique around the scream only boosted curiosity and airplay, turning “Love Rollercoaster” from a hit single into a cultural artifact, whispered about at parties and on late-night radio shows for decades.
Ester Cordet: Alive and Well
As for Ester Cordet, the supposed murder victim?
She was never harmed, never burned, and certainly never killed.
Cordet was a former Playboy Bunny and flight attendant who modeled for the Honey cover and later moved on with her life—far from the sticky conspiracy theories that attached themselves to her image.
The idea that she was murdered over a photo shoot mishap was pure fantasy, fed by the same rumor mill that once blamed rock music for backward satanic messages and demonic possession.
Why the Legend Endures
There’s something irresistible about the idea of a real scream trapped inside a hit song, a dark truth buried beneath the beat. Like “Gloomy Sunday,” the Judas Priest trial, or the 27 Club, the “Love Rollercoaster” legend taps into our cultural craving for the eerie and unexplained in popular art.
It also reflects the public paranoia of the 1970s, a time when fear of cults, hidden messages, and music as a corrupting force was at an all-time high.
Add to that the Ohio Players’ sultry, edgy aesthetic and the visceral power of that single scream—and you’ve got the perfect recipe for urban legend.
Conclusion: A Shriek of Sound, Not Sin
In the end, no one was murdered during the making of “Love Rollercoaster.” The scream that sparked decades of speculation was nothing more than a moment of expressive creativity, twisted by rumor and amplified by silence.
But the legend lives on—not because it’s true, but because it feels like it could be.
Because sometimes, when you hear a scream in the middle of a song that makes your heart race…
you just want to believe there’s more to it than sound.
You want to believe that music can carry secrets, even if it’s just one chilling note in a funk anthem about love gone wild