Meat Loaf: A Memorable Bat Out of Hell

Michael Lee Aday, known to all as Meat Loaf, has passed away on January 20, 2022, at the age of 74.

When he was born, Meat Loaf stated, he was “bright red for days and stayed that way.” His father said that he looked like a piece of meat and convinced the hospital staff to put the word “Meat” on his crib; hence Meat Loaf earned his famous name. Meat Loaf also stated that he actually met President John F. Kennedy in Meat Loaf’s hometown of Dallas that fateful day of November 22, 1963. It was a meet and greet thing for Meat Loaf and both went their ways. Hours later while driving the streets of Dallas, he heard the news about the Kennedy assassination and quickly went to Parkland Hospital where Kennedy was located. He had to wait for a government official to return to the parking lot after he commandeered his car!

In his early career Meat Loaf formed Meat Loaf Soul, his first band. In the late 60s, his band opened for the likes of Janis Joplin, Them, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Taj Mahal. He had to change the band many many times due to the changing of lead guitarists; one of his band’s names was Floating Circus. Because he wasn’t taken seriously in the music industry, Meatloaf decided to join the Los Angeles production of the Broadway musical Hair. He would later say that he was treated like a circus clown before his career change.

But Hair gave Meat Loaf a new chance at trying again because he was invited to Motown to record. With singer Stoney, Meat Loaf made his first album called Stoney & Meatloaf in 1971. They toured together to promote the album until Meat Loaf left Motown; he heard that Motown replaced his and Stoney’s vocals with Edwin Starr’s on the song “Who is the Leader of the People?”

After returning to theatre, Meat Loaf got a new chance in 1973 when he was cast in the original L.A. Roxy cast version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. When The Rocky Horror Picture Show film was made and then released in 1975, Meat Loaf was cast as Eddie alone.
He sang the classic “Hot Patootie ̶ Bless My Soul.”

During his stint of theatre in 1972, Meat Loaf auditioned for a part in the Public Theater’s production of More Than You Deserve. It was here where Meat Loaf met his future collaborator Jim Steinman. They worked together on what would be Meat Loaf’s greatest effort: Bat Out of Hell released in 1977. Originally made for a musical called Neverland with a Peter Pan from a futuristic rock taste, Bat Out of Hell became one of the most successful albums of all time. It spawned two sequel albums: Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and Bat Out of Hell III The Monster Is Loose. His best-known songs from this trilogy include “Bat Out of Hell,” “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” the timeless classic “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,” and “Cry Over Me.”

Even though Meat Loaf wasn’t that successful in the US, he was more popular in Europe and maintained his fame there. He will be missed.