Meat Loaf 1/2022

Meat Loaf (74) was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, on September 27, 1947, the son of Wilma Artie, a schoolteacher and Orvis Wesley Aday, a former police officer who went into business selling a homemade cough remedy with his wife and a friend under the name of the Griffin Grocery Company. Marvin, who later changed his name to Michael, stated in an interview that when he was born, he was “bright red and stayed that way for days” and that his father said he looked like “nine pounds of ground chuck”, and convinced hospital staff to put the name “Meat” on his crib. He was later called “M.L.” in reference to his initials, but when his weight increased, his seventh-grade classmates referred to him as “Meat Loaf”, referring to his 5-foot-2-inch (157 cm), 240-pound stature. He also attributed the nickname to an incident where, after he stepped on a football coach’s foot, the coach yelled “Get off my foot, you hunk of meatloaf!”

Meat Loaf’s father would binge-drink alcohol for days at a time, a habit he started when he was medically discharged from the U.S. Army during World War II after being wounded by fragments from a mortar shell. Meat Loaf often accompanied his mother in driving to the bars in Dallas to look for his father, also quite often staying with his grandmother. He attended church and Bible study every Sunday.

He was 16 years old on November 22, 1963, the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That morning, Meat Loaf had seen the President when he arrived at Dallas Love Field. Later, after hearing of Kennedy’s death, he and a friend drove to Parkland Hospital where he witnessed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, covered in her husband’s blood, getting out of the car that brought her to the hospital.

In 1965, Meat Loaf graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, having appeared in school stage productions such as Where’s Charley? and The Music Man. He played high school football as a defensive tackle. After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, he transferred to North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas).

In 1967, when Meat Loaf was 19 years old, his mother died of cancer, and his father lunged at him with a knife after falsely accusing the teen of having girls in his bedroom. Meat Loaf used the money his mother left him to rent an apartment in Dallas, where he isolated for three and a half months, at which time a friend found him. Soon after, he went to the airport and caught the next flight to Los Angeles.

Meat Loaf intentionally gained 60 pounds to fail his physical examination for the Vietnam War draft. Despite this strategy, he still received his notice to appear before his local draft board, but chose to ignore it.

Meat Loaf rise to music stardom was not a straight shot, primarily because his musical talents were distracted by his performing arts abilities. In Los Angeles however, Meat Loaf formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul. His voice and being at the right time in the right spot, resulted in the band receiving several recording contracts. Meat Loaf Soul’s first gig was in Huntington Beach, California in 1968 at the Cave, opening for Van Morrison’s band Them and Question Mark and the Mysterians. Meat Loaf later described his early days in the music industry as being treated like a “circus clown.” The band underwent several changes of lead guitarists, changing the name of the band each time, to names including Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. As Floating Circus, they opened for the Who, the Fugs, the Stooges, MC5, the Grateful Dead, and the Grease Band. Their regional success led them to release a single, “Once Upon a Time”, backed with “Hello”. His voice attracted attention and he was invited to join the Los Angeles production of Hippie era classic the musical Hair.

With the publicity generated from Hair, Meat Loaf accepted an invitation by Motown, in Detroit. In addition to appearing as “Mother” and “Ulysses S. Grant” at Detroit’s Vest Pocket Theatre, he recorded the vocals with fellow Hair performer Shaun “Stoney” Murphy on an album of songs written and selected by the Motown production team. The album, titled Stoney & Meatloaf (with Meatloaf spelled as one word), was released in September 1971 and included the single “What You See Is What You Get”; it reached number 36 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Meat Loaf and Stoney toured with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers, opening for Richie Havens, the Who, the Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, and Rare Earth. Meat Loaf left Motown soon after the label replaced his and Stoney’s vocals from the one song he liked, “Who Is the Leader of the People?” with new vocals by Edwin Starr. He moved to Freeland, Michigan for a year and was the opening act at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom 80 times.

In December 1972, Meat Loaf was in the original off-Broadway production of Rainbow at the Orpheum Theatre in New York. After the tour, Meat Loaf rejoined the cast of Hair, this time at a Broadway theater. After he hired an agent, he auditioned for the Public Theater’s production of More Than You Deserve. During the audition, Meat Loaf met Jim Steinman. He sang a Stoney and Meat Loaf favorite of his, “(I’d Love to Be) As Heavy as Jesus”, and subsequently got the part of Rabbit, a maniac that blows up his fellow soldiers so they can “go home.” Ron Silver and Fred Gwynne were also in the show. In the summer between the show’s workshop production (April 1973) and full production (November 1973 – January 1974), Meat Loaf appeared in a Shakespeare in the Park production of As You Like It with Raul Julia and Mary Beth Hurt.

In late 1973, Meat Loaf was cast in the original L.A. Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show, playing the parts of both Eddie and Dr. Scott. The success of the musical led to the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in which Meat Loaf played only Eddie while Jonathan Adams was cast as Dr. Scott, a decision Meat Loaf said made the movie not as good as the musical.

About the same time, Meat Loaf and Steinman started work on Bat Out of Hell. Meat Loaf convinced Epic Records to shoot music videos for four songs, “Bat Out of Hell”, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth”, and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and convinced Lou Adler, the producer of Rocky Horror, to run the “Paradise” video as a trailer to the movie. During his recording of the soundtrack for Rocky Horror, Meat Loaf recorded two more songs: “Stand by Me” (a Ben E. King cover), and “Clap Your Hands.” They remained unreleased for a decade, until 1984, when they appeared as B-sides to the “Nowhere Fast” single.

In 1976, Meat Loaf recorded lead vocals for Ted Nugent’s album Free-for-All when regular Nugent lead vocalist Derek St. Holmes temporarily quit the band. Meat Loaf sang lead on five of the album’s nine tracks. That same year, Meat Loaf appeared in his final theatrical show in New York City, the short-lived Broadway production of Gower Champion’s rock musical Rockabye Hamlet. It closed two weeks into its initial run.

Even though Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on Bat Out of Hell earlier in the 70s, they did not get serious about it until the end of 1974. Meat Loaf then decided for the time being at least, to leave theater and concentrate exclusively on music. Meat Loaf was cast as an understudy for John Belushi in The National Lampoon Show. It was at the Lampoon show that Meat Loaf met Ellen Foley, the co-star who sang “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “Bat Out of Hell” with him on the album Bat Out of Hell.

Meat Loaf and Steinman spent time seeking a record deal; however, their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Todd Rundgren, under the impression that they already had a record deal, agreed to produce the album as well as play lead guitar along with other members of Rundgren’s band Utopia and Max Weinberg. They then shopped the record around, but they still had no takers until Steve Popovich’s Cleveland International Records took a chance, releasing Bat Out of Hell in October 1977.

Meat Loaf and Steinman formed the band Neverland Express to tour in support of Bat Out of Hell. Their first gig was opening for Cheap Trick in Chicago. Meat Loaf gained national exposure as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 25, 1978. Host Christopher Lee introduced him with a groan worthy joke. Later that year in his enthusiasm, Meat Loaf jumped off a stage in Ottawa, Ontario, breaking his leg. He finished the tour performing in a wheelchair.

Bat Out of Hell sold an estimated 43 million copies globally, including 15 million in the United States, making it one of the 5 best-selling albums of all time, notwithstanding that Rolling Stone Mag placed it only 301 on their list of 500 Best Rock Albums.

In 1979, Steinman started to work on Bad for Good, the intended follow-up to 1977’s Bat Out of Hell. During that time, a combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion had caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. Without a singer, and pressured by the record company, Steinman decided that he should sing on Bad for Good himself. While Steinman worked on Bad for Good, Meat played the role of Travis Redfish in the movie Roadie until his singing voice returned. Steinman then wrote a new album for Meat Loaf, Dead Ringer, which was released in September 1981. Steinman had written five new songs which, in addition to the track “More Than You Deserve” (sung by Meat Loaf in the stage musical of the same name) and a reworked monolog, formed the album Dead Ringer, which was produced by Meat Loaf and Stephan Galfas, with backing tracks produced by Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Iovine, and Steinman. In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared on the track “Keeper Keep Us”, from the Intergalactic Touring Band’s self-titled album. The song “Dead Ringer for Love” was the pinnacle of the album, and launched him to even greater success. While it failed to chart in the US, it reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom and stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 19 weeks. Cher provided the lead female vocals in the song.

On December 5, 1981, Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express were the musical guests for Saturday Night Live where he and former fellow Rocky Horror Picture Show actor Tim Curry performed a skit depicting a One-Stop Rocky Horror Shop. Also on the show, Curry performed “The Zucchini Song” and Meat Loaf & the Neverland Express performed “Bat Out of Hell” and “Promised Land.”

Following a dispute with his former songwriter Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf was contractually obliged to release a new album, resulting in Midnight at the Lost and Found, released in May 1983.

Steinman had wanted equal billing on the album’s title; he wanted it to be called “Jim Steinman presents…” or “Jim and Meat”, or vice versa. For marketing reasons, the record company wished to make ‘Meat Loaf’ the recognizable name. As a compromise, the words “Songs by Jim Steinman” appear relatively prominently on the cover. The singer believes that this was probably the beginning of their “ambivalent relationship”.

According to Meat Loaf, Steinman had given the songs “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” to Meat Loaf for this album. However, Meat Loaf’s record company did not want him to sing Steinman’s songs, saying that nobody wanted to hear them. (hiss record company just refused to pay for Steinman). The joke was on them as Bonnie Tyler’s version of “Eclipse” and Air Supply’s version of “Making Love” topped the charts together, holding No. 1 and No. 2 for a period during 1983. Meat Loaf is credited with having been involved in the writing of some of the tracks on the album, including the title track, “Midnight at the Lost and Found” but Meat would later admit, he was not much of a songwriter and did not like the songs he had written for the album.

Poor money management as well as some 45 lawsuits totaling US$80 million in disputed claims, including some from Steinman, resulted in Meat Loaf filing for personal bankruptcy in 1983. The bankruptcy resulted in Meat Loaf losing the rights to his songs, although he received royalties for Bat Out of Hell in 1997. For the next several years Meat Loaf continued to churn out music, including albums like Bad Attitude (1985) and Blind Before I Stop (1986) to mixed results. But the hardworking singer continued to tour, (annual World Tours throughout the 80s), which kept him afloat..

In 1984, Meat Loaf went to England, where he felt increasingly at home, to record the album Bad Attitude; it was released that year. It features two songs by Steinman, both previously recorded, “Nowhere Fast” and “Surf’s Up.” The American release on RCA Records was in April 1985 and features a slightly different track list, as well as alternate mixes for some songs. The title track features a duet with the Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey. It was a minor success with a few commercially successful singles, the most successful being “Modern Girl”. In 1985, Meat Loaf took part in some comedy sketches in the UK with Hugh Laurie. He also tried stand-up comedy, appearing several times in Connecticut.

Blind Before I Stop was released in 1986 by Arista Records. It features production, mixing, and general influence by German pop producer Frank Farian. Meat Loaf was involved in the composition of three of the songs on the album and performed “Thrashin” for the soundtrack of the 1986 skateboarding film Thrashin’ , starring Josh Brolin.

Following the success of Meat Loaf’s touring in the 1980s, he and Steinman began work during December 1990 on Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell; the album was released in September 1993. The immediate success of Bat Out of Hell II resulted in the sale of over 15 million copies, and the single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” reached number one in 28 countries. In March 1994, at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, Meat Loaf won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo for “I’d Do Anything for Love.” This song stayed at No. 1 in the UK chart for seven consecutive weeks. The single featured a female vocalist who was credited only as “Mrs. Loud.” Mrs. Loud was later identified as Lorraine Crosby, a performer from England. Meat Loaf promoted the song with American vocalist Patti Russo, who performed lead female vocals on tour with him. 

In 1995, Meat Loaf released his seventh studio album, Welcome to the Neighborhood. The album went platinum in the United States and the United Kingdom. It included three singles that hit the top 40, including “I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth)” (which reached No. 13 in the United States and No. 2 in the UK) and “Not a Dry Eye in the House” (which reached No. 7 in the UK chart). I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth) was a duet with Patti Russo, who by then had been touring with Meat Loaf and singing on his albums since 1993. Of the twelve songs on the album, two are written by Steinman. Both are cover versions, the “Original Sin” from Pandora’s Box’s Original Sin album and “Left in the Dark” first appeared on Steinman’s own Bad for Good as well as the 1984 album Emotion by Barbra Streisand. His other singles, “I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth)” and “Not a Dry Eye in the House”, were written by Diane Warren.

In 1998, Meat Loaf released The Very Best of Meat Loaf. The album featured three new songs co-written by Steinman – two with Andrew Lloyd Webber and one with Don Black, “Is Nothing Sacred”, released as a single. The single version of this song is a duet with Patti Russo, whereas the album version is a solo song by Meat Loaf.

In 2003, Meat Loaf released his album Couldn’t Have Said It Better. For only the third time in his career, he released an album without any songs written by Steinman. The album was in comparison a minor commercial success worldwide and reached No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, but the accompanied sellout world tour to promote the album and some of Meat Loaf’s best selling singles, was a financial juggernaut.

Steinman had registered the phrase “Bat Out of Hell” as a trademark in 1995. In May 2006, he sued Steinman and his manager in federal District Court in Los Angeles, seeking $50 million and an injunction against Steinman’s use of the phrase. Steinman and his representatives attempted to block the album’s release. An agreement was reached in July 2006. Denying reports in the press over the years of a rift between Meat Loaf and Steinman, in an interview with Dan Rather, he stated that he and Steinman never stopped talking, and that the lawsuits reported in the press were between lawyers and managers, and not between Meat Loaf and Steinman.

“I consider him to be one of my best friends, ” Meat Loaf said, of Steinman. “But the real thing is about managers. So, really, I didn’t sue Jim Steinman. I sued his manager.”