Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf started his music career in the 60s as the lead singer for a Californian band named Meat Loaf Soul. This band changed its name twice and opened for many famous acts at the time including Janis Joplin, The Kinks and The Who.
The band was relatively unsuccessful so Meat Loaf, whose voice covered four octaves, joined the cast of the musical, Hair.
On the coattails of his theatrical success, Meat Loaf teamed up with singer, Stoney Murphy to release an album in 1971. Together, they toured but Meat Loaf split after the record label decided to replace the vocals with that of another singer.
In 1973, Meat Loaf went back to theatre acting and joined the stage version of Rocky Horror Picture Show. During this time, he met Jim Steinman and began working on the album, Bat Out of Hell. The partnership between Steinman and Meat Loaf on this project produced some of the greatest classic rock masterpieces in the form of title track 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. The album has sold over 40 million copies globally.
Steinman and Meat Loaf went searching for a record deal but the rock opera musical style was difficult to sell. Finally, Cleveland International Records took a chance and released Bat Out of Hell in 1977. The songs were greeted by the public with enthusiasm. Meat Loaf performed on Saturday Night Live and supported the album with a tour.
Before and during recording of his second album, Bad for Good, Meat Loaf struggled with cocaine addiction, suicidal feelings and a loss of voice. Steinman had to resort to finishing the album without the portly singer.
In the 80s, Meat Loaf released Dead Ringer which hit #1 in the UK. But it wasn’t to last. The subsequent releases in the form of Midnight at the Lost and Found and Bad Attitude left Meat Loaf bankrupt and caused a break up with Steinman.
So he went back to basics, touring in small venues and re-building his fan base which proved to be the right move. In 1989, Steinman and Meat Loaf reunited to work on Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell which was finally released in 1993, sixteen years after the original. The album was a huge success and is considered one of the greatest comebacks in music history. He was awarded with a Grammy for Best Rock Solo Vocal Performance and single I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) held the UK #1 spot for seven weeks.
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By now, there was no doubting Meat Loaf’s popularity. He continued to release successful albums in the 90s and sold out over 160 concerts during a 2005 tour.
A trademark dispute between Steinman and Meat Loaf failed to stop the release of the last instalment in the Bat Out of Hell Trilogy called The Monster is Loose. The album produced a UK top ten hit in the form of It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, but didn’t sell well stateside. In 2007, rumours circulated that Meat Loaf was going to hang up his singing career after bouts of cancelled gigs but it was unfounded. Meat Loaf promised his fans he would be back and he delivered on it. In 2008, he completed a tour with Patti Russo and continues to work on new material, acting and charity work.
Juanita Appleby
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