Meat Loaf

Members: Marvin Lee Aday

Active: 1968 - Present

HISTORY

Meat Loaf is the stage name of Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947), an American actor (stage and screen) and rock singer. He is particularly noted for his smash hit album Bat out of Hell and several famous songs from movies. Meat Loaf is also the name of the band he fronts, as its lead singer. In 2001, he legally changed his first name to Michael.

Aday was born in Dallas, Texas. Despite setbacks (including bankruptcy, on more than one occasion), Meat Loaf is notable for the ultimate success of his music career, spawning some of the largest-selling albums of all time, and breaking several records for chart duration. Bat out of Hell, the debut album which had been four years in the making, sold over 34 million copies, becoming more profitable than Michael Jackson's blockbuster Thriller. After almost 30 years, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and stayed on the charts for over 9 years. Each of the seven tracks on the album, eventually, also charted as a single hit.

Although he enjoyed success with Bat out of Hell and Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell, Meat Loaf experienced some initial difficulty establishing a steady career within his native United States; however, he has retained iconic status and popularity in Europe, especially the UK, where he has ranked 23rd for a number of weeks overall spent in the charts, and is one of only two artists with an album never to have left the music charts. In Germany, Meat Loaf became notably popular following the release of Bat out of Hell II but has enjoyed most success among pop/rock fans. He ranked at 96th on VH1's '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'.

Meat Loaf has also appeared in over 50 movies or television shows sometimes even as himself, or as characters resembling his onstage personality, such as his memorable role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He starred (unrecognizably out-of-character) in the acclaimed feature film Fight Club, as a cancer-survivor support-group member whose former steroid abuse caused him to grow large breasts, and led to castration to prevent the spead of the cancer.

EARLY LIFE

Meat Loaf was the first child of Orvis Wesley Aday, a policeman, and Wilma Artie Hukel, a school teacher and a member of the Vo-di-o-do Girls gospel quartet. Orvis was an alcoholic who would go on drinking binges for days at a time. Meat Loaf and his mother would drive around to all the bars in Dallas, looking for Orvis to take him home. Because of this, Meat Loaf often stayed with his grandmother, Charlsee Norrod.

Although there have been various explanations for his stage name, according to his official website, his name started when his father called him "Meat" as a two-year-old. His schoolmates would later turn it into Meat Loaf as it has the same initials as his real name. While attending Thomas Jefferson High School[5], he was on the football team until his senior year when his coach made him decide between being in the school play, Plain and Fancy, and being on the team. Meat Loaf chose the school play.

Meat Loaf relates a story in his autobiography, To Hell and Back, about how he, a friend and his friend's father, drove out to Love Field to watch John F. Kennedy land. After watching him leave the airport, they decided to head to Market Hall which was on Kennedy's parade route. On the way they heard that he had been shot so they headed to Parkland Hospital where they saw Jackie Kennedy get out of the car and Governor John Connally get pulled out, though they never saw Kennedy taken out.

After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, Meat Loaf transferred to North Texas State University. While there he was called in for an Army physical which he tried to fail by gaining sixty-eight pounds in four and a half weeks. They determined that he was fit despite being color blind, having a trick shoulder and being very concussion prone (he's had seventeen of them). When his draft notice arrived two years later, he ignored it. In 1967, after seeing his mother hospitalized and her health deteriorating, Meat Loaf left Texas and moved to Los Angeles, where he became a bouncer at a teenage nightclub.

In his autobiography, Meat Loaf claims that shortly after his mother died, his father, in a drunken rage, tried to kill him with a knife, and that he barely managed to escape after they had a bad fight. After Meat Loaf got his inheritance from his mother's death, he rented an apartment in Dallas and isolated himself for three and a half months. Finally, a friend found him and got him out. Eventually he bought a car with his inheritance and drove to California.

EARLY MUSICAL CAREER

In Los Angeles, he formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul. During the recording of their first song, Meat Loaf hit a big note and blew the board dash; he was immediately offered three recording contracts. However, he turned them all down. Meat Loaf Soul's first gig was in Huntington Beach at the Cave, opening up for Them, Van Morrison's band. While performing their cover of the Yardbirds' "Smokestack Lightning", the smoke machine they used made too much smoke and the club had to be cleared out. Later, the band was the opening act at Cal State Northridge for Renaissance, Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin. The band then underwent several changes at lead guitar, changing the name of the band each time - including Popcorn Blizard, 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".

HAIR

After the break up of Floating Circus, Meat Loaf had several odd jobs, including being a body guard for Question Mark. Having no steady work, Meat Loaf decided to get a job as a parking lot attendant with a friend of his. A man pulled up in the parking lot that Meat Loaf thought might be the guy that was going to hire him. The man asked Meat Loaf what he did beside park cars and Meat Loaf told him that he was a singer. The guy said that he should come in and audition for Hair. Not being prepared, Meat Loaf told the piano player to play the sixteen-bar blues in C. After singing the first sixteen-bars of "The World Is Alright, It's the People that Make It Bad", they asked to sing "Aquarius", play General Ulysses S. Grant and the Young Recruit. When he went to the show that night, the sprinklers came on half way through and ended the show. Meat Loaf went on to do the show in Los Angeles and then for a six month run in Detroit, Michigan.

STONEY AND MEATLOAF

With the publicity generated from Hair, Meat Loaf was invited to record with Motown. They suggested that he do a duet with Stoney Murphy, to which he agreed. They were given songs written by Motown's production team in charge of the album and only came in to lay down their vocals. The album, titled Stoney & Meatloaf (Meatloaf being shown as one word), was completed in the summer of 1971 and released in September of that year. A single was released in advance of the album titled What You See Is What You Get reached number thirty six on the R&B charts and seventy-one on Billboard Hot 100 chart. To support their album, Meat Loaf and Stoney toured with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers, opening up for Richie Havens, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and Rare Earth. He left soon after Motown cut his and Stoney's vocals from the only one of three songs he liked (the others being "I'd Love To Be As Heavy As Jesus" and "What You See Is What You Get"}, "Who is the Leader of the People", which the vocals were replaced by Edwin Starr. The album has been re-released after his success, cutting Stoney's vocals from all songs cut from the original Stoney and Meatloaf album. "Who is the Leader of the People?" was released with Meat Loaf's vocals intact, only Stoney was missing and the album failed. Stoney, in Meat Loaf's absence, brought out a solo single which flopped and quit Motown shortly after.

MORE THAN YOU DESERVE

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". Also in the show were Ron Silver and Fred Gwynne. After it closed he appeared in "As You Like It" with Raul Julia and Mary Beth Hurt.

He recorded a single of More Than You Deserve and had a cover of In the Presence of the Lord as its b-side. Sadly, He was only able to save three copies of it, for the record company wouldn't allow its press release. With those three copies he released many rare cds featuring the two songs, but they can rarely be spotted at cd outlets. He later recorded it again in 1981.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

During the winter of 1973, after returning from a short production of Rainbow in New York in Washington, D.C., Meat Loaf received a call asking him to be in The Rocky Horror Show where he played both the parts of Eddie and Dr. Scott. The success of the play led to the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show where Meat Loaf just played Eddie. 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. Meat Loaf's final show in New York was Gower Champion's Rock-a-bye Hamlet, a Hamlet musical. It closed two weeks into its initial run. Meat would later return occasionally to perform Hot Patootie for a special Rocky Horror reunion or convention, one of which was recorded for his Live Around the World cd set in 1996.

During his recording of the soundtrack for Rocky Horror, Meat Loaf recorded 3 more songs as well. Take a Number , Stand By Me (a cover) , and Clap Your Hands. They weren't released until his 80's singles were released for an unknown reason.

BAT OUT OF HELL

Meat Loaf and friend/songwriter Jim Steinman started Bat out of Hell in 1972, but did not get serious about it until the end of 1974. Meat Loaf decided to leave theater, and concentrate exclusively on his music career. Then, the National Lampoon Show opened on Broadway, and it needed an understudy for John Belushi, a close friend of Meat Loaf since 1972. It was at the Lampoon Show that Meat Loaf met Ellen Foley, the co-star who ended up singing "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" with him on the album Bat out of Hell.

After the Lampoon show ended, Meat Loaf and Steinman spent time seeking a record deal. Their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Finally, they performed the songs for Todd Rundgren, who decided to produce the album, as well as playing lead guitar on it. They then shopped the record around, but still had no takers until Cleveland International Records decided to take a chance. On October 21, 1977, Bat out of Hell was released.

Meat Loaf's first gig in support of the record was opening for Cheap Trick in Chicago; the audience started out hostile, but by the end of the show, they had been won over. Their next stop came a couple of days after the release of the album in New Jersey. The show was a complete sell-out, and people lined up to see it hours before it started. Things really started to take off after Meat Loaf appeared on Saturday Night Live, as the Musical Guest, on March 25, 1978. The huge success of the album caused a rift to open up between Meat Loaf and Steinman: the group, named after Meat Loaf for ease of labeling, seemed to Steinman to sideline his work as creator, and Steinman started to resent the attention that his partner was getting.[citation needed]

During a show in Ottawa, Meat Loaf fell off the stage and broke his leg. The injury caused him to cancel the rest of the tour. Unable to handle the pressure, Meat Loaf resorted to cocaine, ultimately culminating in a nervous breakdown where he threatened to commit suicide by jumping off the ledge of a building in New York. Then, in December 1978, he went to Woodstock to work with Steinman. It was at the Bearsville studio that Meat Loaf met his future wife, Leslie G. Edmonds; they were married within a month. Leslie had a daughter from a previous marriage, Pearl, who has followed in her stepfather's footsteps and become a singer. In the middle of recording his second album, Bad for Good, Meat Loaf lost the ability to sing; it is unclear as to the exact cause - the tour was a punishing one, and the vocals and energy intense. However, his doctors said that physically he was fine and that his problem was psychological. Nevertheless, Steinman decided to keep recording Bad for Good without Meat Loaf.

Just as his singing career looked as if it was reaching a dead end, he was given the role of Travis Redfish in Roadie. The movie had cameos by Debbie Harry, Roy Orbison and Hank Williams, Jr., but still was a box office flop.

Over time Meat Loaf got his singing voice back and got off drugs. The struggles that Meat Loaf faced during the making of Bat out of Hell paid off. It now has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest-sellers of all time (just in the UK its 2.1 million sales put it in 38th place). Despite peaking at #9 and spending only two weeks in the top ten in 1981, it has now clocked up 474 weeks on the UK album chart, a figure bettered by only one other album - Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with 478 . In Australia, it knocked the Bee Gees off the number #1 spot and went on to become the biggest-selling Australian album of all time. Bat out of Hell is also one of only two albums that have never exited the Top 200 in the UK charts; this makes it the longest stay in any music chart in the world, although the published chart contains just 75 positions.

LIFE AFTER BAT OUT OF HELL

In 1980, Meat Loaf started working on Dead Ringer. Steinman wrote all of the songs, but had little else to do with the album. At the time, his manager, David Sonnenberg, stepped out, and Todd Dellentash stepped in to manage Meat Loaf's career. The tour they planned, to support the album, was canceled after one show, because they ran out of the money that the studio advanced them. Sonnenberg and Dellentash also convinced Sony Records and CBS to advance more money for the making of the movie Dead Ringer, which was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and won some favorable reviews, but was poorly considered after Dellentash and Sonenberg re-edited the movie.

In 1981, Leslie gave birth to Amanda Aday, now a television actress. That same year, Meat Loaf changed managers, after finding out that Dellentash and Sonenberg were stealing his money. They had all of Meat Loaf's assets frozen, and sued him for breach of contract. They also started spreading rumors about how Meat Loaf was violent, and had threatened people with guns. Meat Loaf ended up declaring bankruptcy. In 1983, he released the self written Midnight at the Lost and Found. Meat Loaf himself, a poor songwriter by his own admission, did not care for the songs he had written for the album.

In 1984, Meat Loaf went to England, to record the album Bad Attitude, which included a duet with Roger Daltrey and two songs written by Jim Steinman; the recording of the album was rushed. During the tour to support the album, Leslie had a nervous breakdown and had to check into Silver Hill rehab facility in Connecticut. Things finally looked like they were going to turn around in 1986, when Meat Loaf found a new writer, John Parr, and started recording a new album, Blind Before I Stop. Unfortunately, the producer put a dance beat underneath every song, which resulted in critical failure, and Meat Loaf going bankrupt, eventually losing everything. His relationships with lifelong friend Jim Steinman and Leslie also deteriorated.

To try to get his career back off the ground, Meat Loaf started touring small venues, anywhere that would have him, such as pubs and clubs. Slowly, he developed a faithful following which grew to the point where they were unable to fit into the venues that Meat Loaf was playing, and then they too began to grow. This carried on until the late '80s, where he began to sell out arenas and stadiums again, including over 10,000 tickets at Ohio State University. Leslie studied to be a travel agent, so they could save on travel expenses, and they toured all over the United States, Germany, England, Scandinavia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Bahrain. Due to the success of the touring, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman began to work on Bat out of Hell II which was released in 1993, seven years after Blind Before I Stop. The album was a huge success and is considered one of the greatest comebacks in music history.

Meat Loaf and Leslie divorced in 2001. He is now engaged to be married again. Deborah Gillespie, his fiancie, hails from Edmonton.

1980'S ALBUMS

DEAD RINGER

Songwriter Jim Steinman started to work on Bad for Good, the album that was supposed to be the follow-up to 1977's Bat out of Hell, in 1979. During that time, a combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion had caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. Without a singer, and pressured by the record company, Steinman decided that he should sing on Bad For Good himself, and write a new album for Meat Loaf; the result was Dead Ringer, which was later released in 1981, after the release of Steinman's Bad For Good.

After playing the role of Travis Redfish in the movie Roadie, Meat Loaf's singing voice returned, and he started to work on his new album in 1980. Steinman had written five new songs which, in addition to the track "More Than You Deserve" (sung by Meat Loaf in the stage musical of the same name) and a reworked monologue, formed the album Dead Ringer, which was produced by Meat Loaf and Stephan Galfas, with backing tracks produced by Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Iovine, and Jim Steinman. (In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared on the track "Keeper Keep Us", from the Intergalactic Touring Band's self-titled album, produced by Galfas.) The song "Dead Ringer For Love" was the pinnacle of the album, and launched Meat Loaf to even greater success after it reached #5 in the UK and stayed in the charts for a surprising 19 weeks. Cher provided the lead female vocals in the song, which arguably contributed to the success of the single.

The album reached #1 in the UK, and three singles were released from the album: "Dead Ringer For Love" (featuring Cher), "I'm Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us," and "Read 'Em And Weep".

MIDNIGHT AT THE LOST AND FOUND

Following a dispute with his former songwriter Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf was contractually obliged to release a new album. Struggling for time, and with no resolution to his arguments with Steinman seemingly on the horizon (eventually, Steinman would sue Meat Loaf, who subsequently sued Steinman as well), he was forced to find songwriters wherever he could.

Meat Loaf is credited with being involved in the writing of numerous tracks on the album, including the title track, "Midnight at the Lost and Found". However, when the album was released in 1983, it was regarded by many as being poor. Fans were disappointed to see that the iconic pictures on the covers of Bat out of Hell and Dead Ringer were replaced by a black-and-white photograph of Meat Loaf (on some later re-releases, a color image of a screaming Meat Loaf was used as the cover image).

The title track still regularly forms part of Meat Loaf concerts, and was one of very few 1980s songs to feature on the 1998 hit album The Very Best of Meat Loaf. This was the last album that Meat Loaf did with the record label Epic until the 'best of' album.

BAD ATTITUDE

Bad Attitude, released 1984, features two songs by Jim Steinman, both previously recorded, and was mainly an attempt to keep Meat Loaf from going bankrupt during this period of lawsuits. It concentrated more on the hard rock side of Meat Loaf, was a minor success around the globe and released a few hit singles, the most successful being "Modern Girl." It also be-holds some of Meat Loaf's favorite songs that include "Jump'n the Gun" and "Piece of the Action". It was recorded in England.

BLIND BEFORE I STOP

Blind Before I Stop was released in 1986. It features production, mixing, and general influence by Frank Farian. Meat Loaf gave songwriting another shot with this album and wrote three of the songs on the album. However, the only song released as a single (in the UK) was "Rock 'N' Roll Mercenaries," which was a duet with rock singer John Parr. Meat Loaf never managed to sing the song live with John Parr because of an incident just after the release of the single. During a sold out show in London, Meat Loaf was going to perform the song, and as Meat Loaf did not introduce John onto the stage, he stormed off. Meat Loaf never saw Parr again, even after leaving dozens of phone messages begging him for forgiveness. But, in Meat's own words, "I never introduce people in the middle of a show - it breaks the continuity. You don't stop in the middle of a play and say 'And now ladies and gentlemen, entering the stage is Robert De Niro'".

According to Meat Loaf's 1998 autobiography, the album sold poorly due to the production of the album. Meat Loaf would have preferred to cancel the project and wait to work with more Steinman material, but this was impossible due to the lawsuit against Steinman. The album, however, has gained a cult following over the years, citing the songs "Execution Day" and "Standing On The Outside" as standout tracks on the record. The video for "Getting Away With Murder" (along with "Modern Girl"), another single released from the album before its release, is one of the available videos to be viewed on Meat's artist's page on MTV.com, the artist page at one point citing that Blind Before I Stop should have been a hit. And some fans were unhappy that the record was completely ignored on The Very Best Of album.

1990'S SUCCESS

BAT OUT OF HELL II BACK IN TO HELL

Due to the success of Meat Loaf's touring after his big downfall, he and Steinman began work during the Christmas of 1990 on the sequel to Bat out of Hell. After almost two years, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell was finished and became a huge success. It sold over 15 million copies, and the single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" reached number one in 28 countries. Meat Loaf won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo in 1994 for "I'd Do Anything for Love". This song also stayed at #1 in the UK charts for seven consecutive weeks. The single features a female vocalist who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud." Mrs. Loud was later identified as Lorraine Crosby, a performer from North East England who regularly performs at holiday camps and social clubs.

Some have found the lyrics of the song cryptic and claim that the singer never identifies what the "that" is that he is unwilling to do. Although some people assume that "that" is an exophoric reference to a sex act, it is actually an anaphoric reference to the varying activities specified as antecedents in the lyric that the singer says that he will not do.

"In addition, the female vocalist identifies two other things that the lead singer denies that he will do: "You'll see that it's time to move on" and "You'll be screwing around." To both of these, the lead singer responds, "I won't do that! No, I won't do that!"

The phrase does appear as an exophoric reference in a song on the Steinman-produced album Faster Than the Speed of Night, where it is a piece of overheard conversation in a bar. The video, based on Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera, is directed by Michael Bay, who also directed "Objects in the Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" and "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" from the same album. It is the abridged seven minute single version, rather than the twelve minute (11:58) album version. The actress in the video is Dana Patrick, who is also featured in the video for "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" from the Welcome to the Neighborhood album. The cinematographer is Daniel Pearl, who filmed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1973. The video took four days to shoot, and it took up to two hours to apply Meat Loaf's make-up.

Also in 1994, he was honored by singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game (something he says was one of the two biggest highlights of his career). Meat Loaf made a valiant attempt to follow the success of "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by releasing "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" as a follow-up.

Arista Records, Meat Loaf's previous label, was not willing to take a financial chance and decided against distributing Bat Out Of Hell II. The album was then recorded and distributed by Virgin Records, a decision that Arista later regretted. Meat Loaf used the proceeds from the album Live at Wembley to cover the initial costs of producing the album.

SUCCESS AFTER BAT OUT OF HELL II

In 1995, Meat Loaf released his 7th studio album titled Welcome to the Neighbourhood. The album was a huge success and went platinum in the United States and the UK. It released three singles which all hit the top 40, including "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" and "Not a Dry Eye in the House" which reached #2 and #7 in the UK charts. "I'd Lie for You" was a duet with Patti Russo (who had been touring with Meat Loaf and singing on his albums since 1993). The video, which had a bigger budget than any of his previous videos, helped the single in its success. Two of the twelve songs on the album were written by Jim Steinman, whereas the big hits, namely "I'd Lie for You" and "Not a Dry Eye in the House", were written by Diane Warren (who has more recently written for Meat Loaf on his newest album Couldn't Have Said it Better).

In 1998, Meat Loaf released The Very Best of Meat Loaf. Although not reaching the top ten in the UK, it recently went platinum, and was already platinum around the rest of the world just after its release. The album featured all of Meat Loaf's best-known songs as well as a few from his more unknown albums from the 1980s. The album featured no songs from the album Blind Before I Stop. The album also featured three new songs. The music on the two Steinman songs was written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The single from the album was "Is Nothing Sacred", written by Jim Steinman with lyrics by Don Black. The single version of this song is a duet with Patti Russo, whereas the album version is a solo song by Meat Loaf.

In 2003, Meat Loaf released his album Couldn't Have Said It Better. The album was a minor success worldwide and reached #4 in the UK charts, accompanied by a sellout world tour which was used to promote the album and some of Meat Loaf's biggest hits. One such performance on his world tour was at the Australian NRL Grand Final in the same year. There were many writers for the album including Diana Warren and James Michael. Meat Loaf liked James Michael so much that he asked him to write a few songs on his 2006 album Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.

HAIR OF THE DOG

Meat Loaf sold out over 160 concerts during his 2005 tour, "Hair of the Dog". On November 17, 2003, during a performance at London's Wembley Arena, on his Couldn't Have Said it Better tour, he collapsed of what was later diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The following week, he underwent a surgical procedure intended to correct the problem. As a result, Meat Loaf's insurance agency did not allow him to perform for any longer than one hour and 45 minutes.

As well as singing all the classics, he sang a cover version of the hit single "Black Betty". During this tour Meat Loaf also sings "Only When I Feel", one of the songs from his upcoming album Bat Out Of Hell III. He mentions that this is not one of the most critical songs on the album. Meat Loaf says that this could be his last 'world' tour and that he will be doing less than a fifth of the concerts he did on his most recent tour.

BAT OUT OF HELL III

During concerts in his last tour, entitled "Hair Of The Dog That Bit You", Meat Loaf stated that his new album, Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose would be written, performed, and composed by himself and Jim Steinman.

In a radio interview on BBC Radio 2 (aired in April 2006), Meat Loaf stated that Bat Out Of Hell III would not be worked on by Steinman; however, the trademark to the phrase "Bat Out Of Hell", for CDs and music, is currently owned by him. Meat Loaf is now hoping to record and market Bat Out Of Hell III without Steinman's involvement. Meat Loaf applied for the trademark to the title, but was rejected because of Steinman's trademark. According to reports in News Wire in June 2006, Meat Loaf is suing Steinman for attempting to enforce these trademark rights against Loaf's record distributors.

The announcement that Steinman would not be working on the album caused an uproar among fans who had come to expect, from previous albums in the series, that Steinman would be the sole composer. The album was released on October 31, 2006, with the first single, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", released in September.

In May 2006, what appears to be a song from Bat Out Of Hell III was leaked via the Internet. The song was co-written by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, John '5' Lowery (former guitarist of Marilyn Manson and current guitarist for Rob Zombie) and Bat out of Hell III producer, Desmond Child. The title of this track, "The Monster Is Loose", is the subtitle of the album, as can be seen on the record cover. The entire album was leaked in September 2006.

Artists who have contributed to the album include James Michael (songwriter - "Blind As A Bat"), Marion Raven (vocals on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"), Brian May (guitar on "Bad For Good"), and Steve Vai (guitar on "Land Of The Pigs (The Butcher Is King)"), among others.

However, a BBC news article "Meat Loaf ready to resurrect the Bat", dated August 2006, stated that '{Jim} Steinman, the main creative force behind albums I and II, has contributed seven songs this time, despite falling out with the singer over who owns the phrase "Bat out of Hell".' Meat Loaf was previously cited as saying that Steinman was blocking the future release of Bat out of Hell III through 'blackmail and a hold-up'. Meat Loaf was later purported to have retracted that saying, claiming 'That was a dispute, that's all that was; a minor argument.' He goes on to say that the argument ended in weeks, and in an amicable nature.[7]

The first single from the album, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" (featuring Marion Raven) was released on 16th October 2006. It entered the UK singles chart at No. 6, giving Meat Loaf his highest UK chart position since "I'd Lie For You (And That's The Truth)", a duet with Patti Russo that reached No. 2 in November 1995.

ALBUMS

1971 - Stoney & Meatloaf

1977 - Bat Out Of Hell

1981 - Dead Ringer

1983 - Midnight at the Lost and Found

1984 - Bad Attitude

1986 - Blind Before I Stop

1993 - Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell

1995 - Welcome to the Neighborhood

1998 - The very best of Meat Loaf

2003 - Couldn't Have Said It Better

2006 - Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose

LIVE ALBUMS

1977 - Live at the Bottom Line

1978 - Live in Cleveland - Really Live in London

1985 - Live at the Bottom Line 1985

1987 - Live at Wembley

1992 - Hot as Hell

1996 - Live Around the World

1999 - VH1: Storytellers

2004 - Bat Out Of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

VHS AND DVD'S

1981 - Meat Loaf - Live

1984 - Hits out of Hell

1985 - Bad Attitude - Live!

1999 - VH1: Storytellers

2004 - Meat Loaf - Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra