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Meat Loaf, 'Bat Out of Hell' singer, has died at 74


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Meat Loaf, the larger-than-life singer whose bombastic rock opera "Bat Out of Hell" is one of the best-selling albums of all time, has died at age 74, according to a statement on his verified Facebook page.

 

"Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight with his wife Deborah by his side," the statement read. "Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours."

 

Meat Loaf's agent confirmed his death to CNN. No cause of death was shared.

 

‐--‐---------☆


Well before the platinum records and packed arenas, Meat Loaf was a striving singer with a stint in Detroit and an obscure Motown release under his belt.


Meat Loaf, who died Thursday at 74, would go on to describe his brief time in Detroit as a happy accident. But it was also a crucial chapter in the saga of the singer-actor raised in Texas as Michael Aday, years before he blossomed into a household name with 1977’s “Bat Out of Hell” and a slew of hit singles.


“In a dramatic sense, it was almost like destiny kept bringing him back to Motown,” said Paul Barker, director of development with the Motown Museum.

 

Barker met with Meat Loaf in October at the Motor City Comic Con, getting a firsthand account of the star’s Detroit days and the road to “Stoney and Meatloaf,” the 1971 Motown release that paired the singer with his “Hair” castmate Shaun Murphy.

 

In 1969, making a gambit for the lucrative rock market, Motown had launched the label Rare Earth Records, signing a flurry of white acts under the direction of veteran music executive Harry Balk.

 

A year later, Meat Loaf, in his early 20s, was performing in the Detroit production of the counterculture musical “Hair” when he caught the eye of brothers Ralph and Russ Terrana, then working with Balk at Motown.

 

The rotund singer certainly stood out onstage, as a Free Press story noted in November 1970: “Meat Loaf weighs only slightly less than 300 pounds and has the incredible voice that booms out ‘This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius’ to open the play.”

 

For the Terrana brothers, there was intriguing potential in Meat Loaf and fellow cast member Shaun "Stoney" Murphy.

 

“He had radiators for lungs. He had so much power, and so did Stoney,” Ralph Terrana recalled Friday. “That’s why we liked them together.”

 

See article continuation 

https://amp.freep.com/amp/6605970001#aoh=16428734573214&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s

 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/01/21/entertainment/meat-loaf-obit/index.html#aoh=16428746106980&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s

 

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So apparently he was anti-vaccine, which that was his choice.  They're not really talking about that part though.

Sucks.  I remember listening to a documentary on the radio about him back camping in the 80's.  I had/have Bat out of Hell on both CD and Vinyl (not sure if I lost the vinyl in the great flood of 2014 as it's been a while since I've been through my collection) and I know I have it downloaded.  Fight Club is still one of my favorite movies partly because of Robert Paulson.

It's funny how people whom you've never known or had any meaningful impact on their lives can have such an impact on yours.  From everything I've heard about him he was a kind, nice man.  The industry needs more like him, not less.  Now they have less, and we have one more statistic for this stupid pandemic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updated report:

Meat Loaf dies aged 74 after falling ‘seriously ill’ with Covid

 

He had suffered from a range of health issues including asthma and a medical condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White, which causes an irregular heartbeat. He underwent surgery for the condition in 2003 in London.  

 

Sources have reportedly told TMZ the singer cancelled a business dinner for a new TV show he was due to be part of earlier this week after becoming seriously ill with Covid.

 

In an interview last year Meat Loaf said he would rather die than be controlled when discussing the virus.

 

He also described face masks as a “nuisance” and said he was happy to hug people “in the middle of Covid”.

 

More at:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/meat-loaf-us-singer-dies-facebook-statement-b977966.html

 

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