ROCK STAR DEATHS

Meat Loaf rock opera icon

by Mich

Larger than life superstar dies at 74

Meat Loaf hit the big time in 1977 with his debut album, Bat Out Of Hell.

The 14-time platinum album has sold more than 44 million copies worldwide and stayed on the charts for over nine years. It still sells 200,000 copies annually, making it one of the best-selling albums of history.

Meat Loaf followed it with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, and Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, with the trilogy selling more than 65 million copies.

Meat Loaf’s longtime collaborator and songwriter Jim Steinman wrote all the songs on Bat Out of Hell. Jim Steinman died in April 2021. He was 73.

Meat Loaf rock opera icon
Meatloaf and Jim Steinman

The album included many of Meat Loaf’s most famous songs, including You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth and Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.

His single I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) reached number one in 28 countries and won him a Grammy.

The Dallas-born superstar, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and starred in 65 movies, including the role of Eddie in the 1975 musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

ROCK OPERA ICON
Meat Loaf with his wife Deborah

His wife Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends were at his bedside during his last 24 hours.

BIO SNAPSHOT from The Daily Mail

Meat Loaf initially made his name in theatre productions, including a Broadway run of Hair, and then found his feet in the stage and film versions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, playing Eddie, the ex-delivery man and partial brain donor to Rocky.

At the same time, he began Bat Out Of Hell — which featured the eponymous classic Paradise By The Dashboard Light and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad — with composer Jim Steinman.

Although rejected by every major label, it was released in 1977 to huge international success.

His follow-ups failed to set fans alight until he made a blazing comeback with Bat Out Of Hell‘s sequel 16 years later in 1993.

Lead single I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) reached number one in 28 countries and earned him a Grammy award.

He followed up with 1995’s Welcome To The Neighbourhood, which went platinum in the UK and US, and his third Bat Out Of Hell album, The Monster Is Loose, in 2006.

The Bat Out Of Hell trilogy was also adapted in to a stage musical, which was written by Steinman and featured some of the musician’s best-loved hits.

Meat Loaf was plagued by health issues, including asthma, which caused him to collapse on stage during a concert in Pittsburgh in 2011.

He suffered from a medical condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White, which causes an irregular heartbeat, and underwent surgery in 2003 in London.

Meat Loaf reunited with Steinman for the fourth time for his last studio album Braver Than We Are, which was released in 2016 and reached fourth place in the UK album charts.

Around his music career, he continued to act, most notably as Robert ‘Bob’ Paulson in David Fincher’s Fight Club in 1999 and with a cameo in the Spice Girls’ Spice World film.

Meat Loaf had two daughters, TV actress Amanda Aday and adopted daughter Pearl, from his marriage to ex-wife Leslie.

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Garcia, righteous revolutionary

by Mich

GREAT ADVICE FROM THE DEAD

“If we had any nerve at all, if we had any real character, we would make an effort to address the wrongs in this society, righteously.” — Jerry Garcia

ART BY NICOLAS ROSENFELD
Art by Nicolás Rosenfeld

Counterculture icon of the 1960s

Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist of the legendary rock band The Grateful Dead, died of a heart attack on this day, August 9, 1995, at the age of 53.

“I think The Grateful Dead represents the spirit of being able to go out and have an adventure in America at large,” said Jerry Garcia. “We didn’t invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented the Grateful Dead. We were just in line to see what was going to happen.”

GETTING HIGH

“You need music, I don’t know why. It’s probably one of those Joe Campbell questions — why we need ritual. We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration, and religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it.” — Jerry Garcia

RIPPLE

WHARF RAT

RAMBLE ON ROSE

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Demarcation

The final salute to Jerry by thousands of friends and fans at his memorial service was to stand as one and roar and applaud just like at a Grateful Dead concert.


“What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

Demarcation

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Bobby Fuller fought the mob, and the mob won

by Mich

SUICIDE RULING WAS A COVER-UP

‘I Fought the Law’ singer Bobby Fuller was murdered and the cause of death covered up in 55-year-old cold case.

On July 18, 1966, rock and roll singer Bobby Fuller’s body was found beat-up and soaked in gasoline in the front seat of his mother’s car outside his Hollywood apartment. He was 23.

The coroner ruled the cause of death a suicide.

Who the hell is going to kill themself by pouring gasoline over their body? A crazed Tibetan monk maybe, but not Bobby Fuller who was riding a wave and on his way to Hall of Fame stardom.

Here’s the kicker: The half-empty gas can that was found in the car — obviously a key piece of evidence — was tossed in a dumpster by the cop at the death scene so it couldn’t be tested for fingerprints and analyzed.

COP DUMPS KEY EVIDENCE

Bobby Fuller death mystery
There goes Exhibit A.

Later, the coroner changed the cause of death to an accident due to asphyxiation of gasoline fumes. That doesn’t explain why Bobby was beaten up and his body covered with scratches and bruises as though he had been dragged across gravel or asphalt.

There are several theories for the death of the still unsolved mystery, but the truth is that Bobby was being tailed by the mob — for several reasons, ranging from payola to drugs to his relationship with a prostitute who “belonged” to a ruthless gangster. So Bobby got whacked, and the cops covered it up for the mob.

CONTRACT KILLING

Bobby had been murdered some time earlier, decomposition of the body showed. But his mother’s car was not outside his apartment earlier, so he had to have been bumped off in another location and his body driven back to the apartment, where it was soaked in gasoline from the confiscated gas can. The killers intended to torch the vehicle, but something stopped them and they fled. Bobby was dead anyway, so they had done the contract,

“Bobby Fuller was vulnerable by virtue of his honestly and naivety,” said musician Rod Crosby. “He lived on a high plane of idealism and fantasy. He was swept into the maelstrom of rock decadence and was a victim of a ruthless business. Back then, the music business was extremely corrupt, and you either played along or suffered the consequences.”

Tap bottom right to enlarge

After all these years, we’ll never know the truth, but our gut feeling is that Bobby fought the mob and the mob won.

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