Meat Loaf Succumbs to COVID

I awoke to learn that singer and actor Marvin Lee Aday, better known to the world as Meat Loaf, passed away yesterday of COVID-19. He was 74.

What makes his passing all the more sadder is that Meat Loaf opposed COVID safety measures. While it is unknown if Meat Loaf was vaccinated he did make a point of saying, "If I die, I die." If he came to regret those words we'll never know.

What we do know is that Meat Loaf was an extraordinary singer. His early career was spent in musical theater in shows like Hair and The Rocky Horror Show and would also appear in the feature film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meat Loaf also briefly recorded with Motown's Rare Earth label as part of Stoney and Meatloaf, a collaboration with singer Shaun Murphy whom he had befriended while performing in Hair. 

During this period, Meat Loaf would meet Jim Steinman and they would spend the better part of five years collaborating Bat Out of Hell along with producer Todd Rundgren. When Bat Out of Hell was released in 1977, it put Meat Loaf into the superstar stratosphere spawning two hits with "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" with Ellen Foley and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad".

But as quickly as Meat Loaf rose to the top he crashed to the bottom with a myriad of health problems while being unable to match the success of Bat Out of Hell. Then in 1993, Meat Loaf would release Bat Out of Hell II and to the shock of many his elusive comeback had finally been realized. The centerpiece of Bat Out of Hell II was the 12-minute opus "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" which would prove to be Meat Loaf's only number one hit and is the longest number one hit in recorded history. The song would also earn Meat Loaf his only Grammy.

Regaining his musical reputation, Meat Loaf would record six more albums over the next 20 years including Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose in 2006. He also had a notable role in the 1999 film Fight Club starring Brad Pitt.

As recently as November 2021, Meat Loaf had announced on Facebook that he was going to record a new album starting in January 2022, but sadly this did not come to pass. Had the album come to fruition Meat Loaf would have recorded the album without Jim Steinman who passed away last year. Perhaps this collaboration can resume beyond the stars. R.I.P.