Meat Loaf

Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947), better known by his stage name ***Meat Loaf***, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor.

Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell trilogy of albums (consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose) has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Almost 40 years after its release, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best selling albums in history. He is also known for his powerful wide-ranging operatic voice and theatrical live performances.

After he enjoyed success with Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and earned a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love", Meat Loaf experienced some initial difficulty establishing a steady career within the United States. However, he has retained iconic status and popularity in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, where he received the 1994 Brit Award for Best selling album and single, appeared in the 1997 film Spice World, and ranks 23rd for the number of weeks spent on the UK charts as of 2006. He ranked 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records.[4] He has also appeared in over 50 movies and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His most notable roles include Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Robert "Bob" Paulson in Fight Club (1999). He has also appeared as a guest actor in television shows such as Monk, Glee, South Park, House, and Tales from the Crypt.

In Los Angeles, Aday formed his first band, "Meat Loaf Soul", after a nickname coined by his football coach due to his weight. During the recording of their first song, he hit a note so high that he managed to blow a fuse on the recording monitor. He was immediately offered three recording contracts, which he turned down. Meat Loaf Soul's first gig was in Huntington Beach at the Cave, opening for Van Morrison's band, Them. Later, the band was the opening act at Cal State Northridge for Renaissance, Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin. The band then underwent several changes of lead guitar, changing the name of the band each time. The new names included Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. As Floating Circus, they opened for the Who, the Fugs, the Stooges, MC5, Grateful Dead and the Grease Band. Their regional success led them to release a single, "Once Upon a Time", backed with "Hello". Then Meat Loaf joined the Los Angeles production of Hair.

With the publicity generated from Hair, Meat Loaf was invited to record with Motown. They suggested he do a duet with Shaun "Stoney" Murphy, who had performed with him in Hair, to which he agreed. The Motown production team in charge of the album wrote and selected the songs while Meat Loaf and Stoney came in only to lay down their vocals. The album, titled Stoney & Meatloaf, was completed in the summer of 1971 and released in September of that year. A single released in advance of the album, "What You See Is What You Get", reached number thirty-six on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart (the same chart is now titled Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs). To support their album, Meat Loaf and Stoney toured with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers, opening up for Richie Havens, the Who, the Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and Rare Earth. Meat Loaf left soon after Motown 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. The album has been re-released after Meat Loaf's success, with Stoney's vocals removed. Meat Loaf's version of "Who Is the Leader of the People?" was released, but the album failed.

After the tour, Meat Loaf rejoined the cast of Hair, this time on Broadway. After he hired an agent, he auditioned for the Public Theater's production of More Than You Deserve. It was during the audition that Meat Loaf first met his future collaborator Jim Steinman. He sang a former Stoney and Meatloaf favorite of his, "(I'd Love to Be) As Heavy as Jesus", and with that, 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. After it closed, he appeared in As You Like It with Raúl Juliá and Mary Beth Hurt.

During the winter of 1973, after returning from a short production of Rainbow in New York in Washington, D.C., Meat Loaf was asked to be in The Rocky Horror Show, playing the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. The success of the musical led to the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in which Meat Loaf played only Eddie, a decision he said made the movie not as good as the musical. About the same time, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman started work on Bat Out of Hell. Meat Loaf convinced Epic Records to shoot 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". He then convinced Lou Adler, the producer of Rocky Horror, to run the "Paradise" video as a trailer to the movie.

### Selected discography

* 1977: Bat Out of Hell
	+ "Bat Out of Hell"
* 1981: Dead Ringer
	+ "Dead Ringer for Love" (with Cher)
* 1983: Midnight at the Lost and Found
* 1984: Bad Attitude
* 1984: Hits Out of Hell
* 1989: Heaven & Hell
* 1993: Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell
	+ "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"
* 1995: Welcome to the Neighbourhood
	+ "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (with Patti Russo)
	+ "Not a Dry Eye in the House"

### Selected filmography

* 1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
* 1979: Scavenger Hunt
* 1980: Roadie
* 1992: Wayne's World
* 1997: Spiceworld: The Movie
* 1998: Black Dog
* 1999: Fight Club