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Born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947, in Dallas, Texas, rock vocalist and actor Meat Loaf got his nickname because of his imposing physique. His childhood was difficult, and he soon turned to music and became a singer with a powerful and remarkable voice. During the early part of his career, his various bands served as the opening act for high-profile artists such as Van Morrison, The Who, The Stooges, Grateful Dead and The Grease Band. However, his last band, Floating Circus, ended up breaking up and he was forced to do odd jobs to survive. His career changed when he decided to audition for the musical Hair. He was hired for the show in Los Angeles and followed it up with a six-month tour in Detroit, Michigan. Motown spotted him and offered him a collaboration album with Shaun Murphy in 1971, which was released as Stoney & Meatloaf. Despite the album’s success, it was not until 1975 that his career accelerated with his participation in the live show - and film - The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He then connected with songwriter Jim Steinman, who wrote all the songs for Meat Loaf’s debut solo album Bat Out of Hell (1977). The album was an international success and became one of the best-selling albums of all time with over 43 million copies sold. It remained on the British albums chart for 474 weeks – nearly 10 years – a feat that he would never be able to duplicate. After numerous setbacks, his next album, Dead Ringer, wasn’t released until 1981. As for many of his future releases, the album was a bigger success internationally than it was at home in the US. The albums Midnight at the Lost and Found (1983), Bad Attitude (1984), and Blind Before I Stop (1986) followed with various levels of success. Meat Loaf’s on-again-off-again relationship with writer Jim Steinman was on-again for 1993’s Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, another massively successful album. However, Meat Loaf was unable to maintain that success with his subsequent albums. While 2006’s Bat out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose was another success, it didn’t have the same impact as the previous two Bat out of Hell albums. By the time 2016’s Braver Than We Are was released, Meat Loaf had lost the magnificent power of his voice. During the course of his career, he continued to dabble in acting projects including Americathon (1979), Roadie (1980), Wayne’s World (1992), Spice World (1997), Fight Club (1999), Urban Decay (2007), and Stage Fright (2014). Meat Loaf – who had legally changed his real name to Michael Lee Aday – died on January 20, 2022, at the age of 74.
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