Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell album trilogy—Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)—has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years and is one of the best-selling albums in history, still selling an estimated 200,000 copies annually as of 2016.
Despite the commercial success of Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, and earning a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love", Meat Loaf experienced some difficulty establishing a steady career within the United States. However, his career still saw success due to his popularity in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He received the 1994 Brit Award in the United Kingdom for best-selling album and single, and was ranked 23rd for the number of weeks spent on the UK charts in 2006. He ranks 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".
Meat Loaf also acted in over 50 films and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His notable film roles include Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Dennis the bus driver in Spice World (1997), and Robert "Bob" Paulsen, a cancer patient, in Fight Club (1999). His early stage work included dual roles in the original Broadway cast of The Rocky Horror Show; he also appeared in the musical Hair, both on and Off-Broadway.
