Meat Loaf - singer and actor

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Michael Lee Adey, better known as Meat Loaf, became famous for his powerful voice of a wide range and theatrical performances. The famous Bat out of hell trilogy of albums has sold over fifty million copies worldwide.

Meat Loaf is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time. He has also acted in several films, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club, Formula 51 and others.

Childhood

The hero of the publication was born in Texas in 1947. He was the only child in the family. His father served as a police officer and later set up his own business to make and sell cough drops. The mother of the future artist was a school teacher who in her spare time sang in a gospel quartet.

The boy fell in love with music thanks to his mother. As a child, he listened mostly to arias from musicals. In an interview, he said that at that time he had no idea about rock and roll. "I didn't even know who Chuck Berry was," he admitted.

One of the brightest episodes of his childhood Meat Loaf described in his autobiographical book To hell and back.

One day he went with a friend and his father to Love Field Airport to see President John F. Kennedy. After looking at their idol, they went to the store, which was located nearby. On the way, they learned that an assassination attempt had been made on President Kennedy. Friends hurried to the hospital, where they sent the president. Outside the hospital, they saw Jackie Kennedy, the politician's wife, getting out of a car.

During school, the boy took part in amateur theatrical performances. Most of all, he was successful in roles in musical performances.

Stage name

After high school, Meat Loaf went to college. When the young man was 17 years old, his mother died. After receiving an inheritance, he closed himself for three and a half months in a hotel room. After experiencing this tragedy, the young man took a plane ticket to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, Edey formed his first band called Meat Loaf soul. He began to call himself Meat Loaf (meatloaf). This nickname was given to the singer by his coach when he played in the school football team, because of the impressive physique of the young man.

On the same stage with idols

During his first studio recording, Meat Loaf hit a note so high that the speakers broke down. The company's management soon offered him a contract for the release of three records, from whichthe young man refused.

The first concert of the beginning group was held on the same stage with Van Morrison's team. However, Meat Loaf failed to sing all the planned songs. During the performance of a cover version of Howlin' Wolfe, the generator produced so much smoke that the club had to be evacuated.

Later, the musicians performed as the opening act for Renaissance, Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin. There were frequent line-up changes in the team. After each of them, the group changed its name. Under the name Floating circus, they opened for The Who, The Stooges and the Grateful Dead. Numerous concerts in Los Angeles contributed to the great popularity of the single Once upon a time.

The young promising singer was noticed by major producers, as a result of which he was invited to participate in the local production of the musical "Hair". In one of the interviews of that time, Meat Loaf said that he had to constantly fight with himself: he wanted to learn not to take his show business seriously.

Duet

Thanks to the great success of the musical "Hair", Meat Loaf was noticed by the Motown studios. They advised him to create a duet with the American blues singer Stoney Murphy, who also appeared with him in this production. The young performer accepted this offer. The duo became known as "Stoney and Meatloaf" (the latter's name was written in one word). This group recorded two albums and broke up after a conflict with the producers.

Acting career

After recording the album, Meat Loaf again became a member of the musical "Hair" this time on Broadway. One fine day, the singer came to the audition, where the actors were selected to participate in the play “More than you can earn.”

During this casting, Meat Loaf met producer and composer Jim Steinman, with whom he collaborated for many years.

He sang a song from his latest album. As a result, the artist was cast as the Rabbit.

Cooperation

Meat Loaf also played two roles in the musical Rocky Horror Picture Show: Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. The success of this production led to the creation of a film of the same name. In the film, the hero of this article played only one role. According to him, because of this decision of the director, the film did not turn out as good as the theatrical production of the musical. Around the same time, Meat Loaf and Steinman began work on the Bat out of hell album.

All songs for the project were written by Jim Steinman. Clips were filmed for four compositions from this disc. Meat Loaf took the recording of the album extremely seriously. At the time of work on the disc, he left the theater and completely concentrated on music. In these songs you can clearly hear the influence of the German composer Richard Wagner, of whom Jim Steinman has always been a big fan. Also, the creator of the music admitted that while writing it, he often listened to the English band The Who and Bruce Springsteen.

This album went multi-platinum, placing Meat Loaf among the biggest stars.

Thanks to this disc, a new direction of music has appeared - Wagnerian Rock. With an interval of several years, the second and third parts of Bat out of hell were recorded. Meat Loaf has released more than ten albums in total.

Jim Steinman wrote the songs for most of them. The accompanying band of Meat Loaf has included Steve Vai, Brian May and other famous musicians over the years.