American singer and actor Meat Loaf has died at the age of 74. That was verified on his Facebook site communicated. Celebrated world successes and dramatic crashes shaped his career. Meat Loaf has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and starred in 65 films over the six decades of his career. His credits include the Bat Out of Hell album, the song I’d Do Anything for Love, and his role as Eddie on the Rocky Horror Picture Show. His agent confirmed the death to the trade journal deadline citing family.
The singer, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday, was born in Dallas, Texas in 1947. His father was an alcoholic and was often violent towards his son. His mother died of cancer when Meat Loaf was 19 years old. The overweight teenager is said to have gotten his nickname in high school. When he accidentally stepped on a football coach’s toes, he was called a meat loaf.
In the late 1960s he began working nights as a parking lot attendant in Los Angeles, auditioning for roles in musicals and films by day. After an engagement in the musical “Hair” he got the role of Eddie in the “Rocky Horror Show” in 1973. The musical was filmed two years later under the title “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” – Meat Loaf was there and is therefore immortal, at least in the arthouses of this world.
With the success of “Bat out of Hell” came the crisis
At the same time, Meat Loaf was working with producer Jim Steinman on the musical Neverland, which would lead to the album Bat out of Hell. The duo didn’t find a record company for a long time. But on October 27, 1977, “Bat Out of Hell” was released after the marginal Cleveland International Records label decided to give Meat Loaf’s powerful voice and Steinman’s arrangements a chance.
The album was in the charts for more than 500 weeks, but the success plunged Meat Loaf into a personal crisis. After a world tour, he lost his four-octave voice and was sued by his managers for allegedly threatening colleagues and friends with a gun. He fell out with Steinman, who flopped records released with other producers. In 1982 Meat Loaf went bankrupt, became depressed and addicted to alcohol.
The artistic and economic success did not return until the 1990s. He reconciled with Steinman and with him produced the second album “Bat Out of Hell”, which today stands for one of the greatest comebacks in music history. In 1993 he released his most successful song “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”. In 1994 he sang the American national anthem at the Baseball All-Star Game, in 1995 in Modena together with Luciano Pavarotti “Come Back To Sorrento”. He played supporting roles in films such as Wayne’s World, Fight Club and The Mighty. At his concerts, especially in Europe, Meat Loaf managed to fill stadiums.
Meat Loaf was one of the greats of rock ‘n’ roll history. His songs are often about the victorious battle of good over evil. “The rule with each of my records, actually the rule of my whole life has always been the same,” Meat Loaf once said in an interview. “One day we will look back – and laugh.”