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.
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.
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.