Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf is the stage name of Michael Lee Aday, an American singer and actor from Dallas, Texas. Born in 1947 and died in 2022, he is known for a powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live performances. His work sits across rock, classic rock, hard rock, rock opera and aor.

Career beginnings

He takes the nickname Meat Loaf from childhood, after a remark by a football coach about his size. He grows up in Dallas, witnesses the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and graduates from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1965, where he performs in stage productions and plays football. He then attends Lubbock Christian College and North Texas State University before moving to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, he forms his first band, Meat Loaf Soul, in 1968. The group changes line-up and is later known as Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. It performs with acts including the Who, the Stooges and the Grateful Dead.

Stage work and acting

Meat Loaf begins his stage career in productions of Hair and Rainbow, and he is part of the original cast of The Rocky Horror Show. He meets songwriter Jim Steinman during the Public Theater production of More Than You Deserve, a meeting that leads to one of his most important creative partnerships.

He also has an extensive screen career, appearing in more than 50 films and television shows. His credits include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Spice World and Fight Club.

Bat Out of Hell and commercial peak

His breakthrough comes with Bat Out of Hell, released in 1977 on Cleveland International Records and written with Jim Steinman. The album becomes a major international success and gives him singles including “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”, “Bat Out of Hell”, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”. It remains on the charts for more than nine years and continues to sell at a high level for decades.

The success of the album leads to the formation of Neverland Express for touring, and he performs widely in the United States and internationally.

Later albums and collaboration with Jim Steinman

In the 1980s he releases Dead Ringer, Midnight at the Lost and Found, Bad Attitude and Blind Before I Stop. This period brings mixed commercial results, alongside legal disputes, financial difficulties and vocal problems.

He and Steinman reunite in the 1990s for Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, which sells more than 15 million copies. Its single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” reaches number one in 28 countries. He follows this with Welcome to the Neighbourhood and compilation releases, while continuing to work with Steinman and other songwriters.

During the 2000s he releases Couldn’t Have Said It Better and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, and continues to perform with Neverland Express. His later albums include Hang Cool Teddy Bear, Hell in a Handbasket and Braver Than We Are, the last of which is another Steinman collaboration.

Touring, health and later years

Meat Loaf undertakes multiple world tours, often with Patti Russo and other collaborators. Health problems, including Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, affect his touring. He also experiences onstage collapses in 2016. A planned Christmas album called Hot Holidays is not completed.

In 2020 and 2021 he announces plans to record new material, including previously unreleased Steinman songs, but he dies on 20 January 2022 before those sessions begin.