Meat Loaf, the larger-than-life symbol of theatrical rock, has died at age 74.
His family posted the news on his Facebook page just before 3 a.m. ET on Friday. It said that his wife, Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends “have been with him throughout the last 24 hours.” No cause of death has been released by his family as of yet.
He fused rock and roll with his experience in musicals such as Hair and The Rocky Horror Show.
- His breakthrough album, Bat Out of Hell, sold 15-million copies domestically, and nearly triple that globally.
- Won a Best Rock Solo Vocal Performance Grammy for “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” which went to number-one in 28 countries.
- A big baseball fan, he sang the national anthem at the 1994 All-Star Game.
- Collapsed on stage several times and began suffering serious health problems in his 60s.
Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas September 27th, 1947, he first found professional success in the L.A. company of Hair. That led to an offer from a Motown subsidiary to to record with co-star Shaun “Stoney” Murphy. Stoney and Meat Loaf‘s “What You See Is What You Get” received extensive airplay, but fell short of the Top 40. It did land the duo the chance to open for Rare Earth, Bob Seger and Alice Cooper.
He later moved east to join the New York production of Hair. His Broadway work helped land him an offer for another — and even more outrageous — musical. He played Eddie in The Rocky Horror Show and then in its 1975 movie adaptation.
During his days in New York, Meat Loaf became friends with songwriter Jim Steinman. Teaming with producer Todd Rundgren, they created the album Bat Out of Hell, which a Columbia-affiliated label picked up in 1977. After a slow start, momentum picked up after Meat Loaf’s March 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Over the next year, it spun off several iconic songs, including “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” and went on to sell an estimated 40-million copies worldwide (and 15-million here in the U.S.).
Meat Loaf’s fame endured through health and substance issues. The follow-up album, Dead Ringer — including the European hit duet with Cher, “Dead Ringer for Love” — came out in 1981.
There could have been more hits. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” were first offered Meat Loaf — but his label refused to pay Steinman’s fee. Instead, they wound up as smashes for Bonnie Tyler and Air Supply, respectively,
After treatment for substance abuse, he returned, reuniting with Steinman for the 1994 album Bat Out of Hell Two and the Grammy-winning single “I’ll Do Anything for Love.” That summer, the lifelong baseball fan sang the national anthem at the All-Star Game. He was also known for coaching his daughters’ softball teams while living in the Connecticut suburbs of New York.
Touring and recording occasionally, Meat Loaf was known for his dramatic on-stage performances — and occasional collapses due to exhaustion or ill health. All together, he recorded a dozen albums — seven in the 20th century and five in the 21st. His final release was Braver Than We Are in 2016, which was also the year of his last tour.
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