Meat Loaf, the celebrated American singer and actor, has died at the age of 74, less than a year after the loss of his artistic foil, Jim Steinman. Meat Loaf had endured a sustained period of ill health, but at press time the cause of death had yet to be announced. Across six decades he was one of music’s most larger-than-life, enduring and fascinating figures. The tempestuous synergy between the vocalist, whose talent for delivery sold the extraordinary, chart-busting album Bat Out Of Hell, and Steinman, the composer of its shamelessly excessive, uncompromisingly individual songs, was never less than riveting.
They loved one another, but hated each other too. They were brothers, but they could also be the worst of enemies. There were break-ups and reunions. Ultimately they needed one another. It just took them a while to realise and come to terms with the fact.
In recent times Steinman had suffered longterm health issues, including two strokes. After he succumbed to aspiration pneumonia in April last year, in an interview with Rolling Stone Meat Loaf said: “Jim and I belonged heart and soul to each other. “We didn’t know each other. We were each other.”
The news of Meat Loaf’s death was delivered by his agent in a statement that said: “Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight surrounded by his wife Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends.
“In an amazing career he sold over 100 million albums worldwide and starred in more than 65 movies, including Fight Club, Focus, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne’s World. Bat Out Of Hell remains among the Top 10 selling albums of all time.
“We truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man.”
Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas on September 27, 1947. His father and mother were a former police officer-turned-salesman and a school teacher. As a new-born baby his dad claimed that he resembled “nine pounds of ground chuck” and told nurses to write ‘meat loaf’ on his crib. The joke stuck, and after gaining weight as a child, reaching more than 17 stones in seventh grade, his classmates kept it going.
“Even as a kid I was so big my mother started me in first grade rather than, “and I was bigger than anyone in the class.”
