Michael Lee Aday, known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on the list of best-selling music artists. His Bat Out of Hell 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. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years, still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and is on the list of best-selling albums.
VH1 is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and the original owner of MTV, and launched on January 1, 1985, in the former space of Turner Broadcasting System's short-lived Cable Music Channel.
Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (1984–1996). He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 1997–2002 and Blackjack from 1979–1980.
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. An uncommonly long song for a single, it has become a staple of classic rock radio and has been described as the "greatest rock duet".
Scott Ian is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death for which he is also the lyricist. He has hosted The Rock Show on VH1 and has appeared on VH1's I Love the... series, Heavy: The Story of Metal, and SuperGroup. Ian is also the rhythm guitarist for the metal band the Damned Things, and played with experimental band Mr. Bungle for seven reunion shows in 2020.
"Lawyers, Guns and Money" is a song by Warren Zevon, and the closing track on his 1978 album Excitable Boy.
"I'd Do Anything for Love " is a song written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Meat Loaf with Lorraine Crosby. The song was released in August 1993 as the first single from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. The last six verses feature Crosby, who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud" in the album notes. She does not appear in the video, in which her vocals are lip-synched by Dana Patrick. Meat Loaf promoted the single with American singer Patti Russo.
Patricia Russo is an American singer and songwriter. She is perhaps best known as Meat Loaf's former female lead vocalist, as she toured the world with his band Neverland Express between 1993 and 2013. Since then, she has embarked on a solo career.
Pearl Aday is an American singer. She is the adopted daughter of vocalist Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, and was a member of his touring band Neverland Express for nine years starting in the mid-1990s. She has appeared on numerous albums and in various tours and television performances with her father, both as backing singer and in duets. She has also been a backing singer for Mötley Crüe. She is currently the lead singer of her own band "Pearl" and has released her debut album on Megaforce/RED/Sony Music on January 19, 2010. Aday also co-organized the hard rock group Motor Sister with her husband Scott Ian, singing backing vocals.
Couldn't Have Said It Better is the eighth studio album by Meat Loaf, released on September 23, 2003. For only the third time in his career, he released an album without any songs written by Jim Steinman. Meat Loaf claimed that Couldn't Have Said It Better was "the most perfect album [he] did since Bat Out of Hell".
The Very Best of Meat Loaf is a 1998 album spanning the first 21 years of Meat Loaf's recording career. Although not reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, it was certified double platinum there in 2013. The album features many of Meat Loaf's best-known songs as well as a few from his lesser known albums of the 1980s.
Tom Brislin is an American keyboardist, songwriter, singer, producer, and author. On December 19th, 2018, American progressive rock band Kansas announced Brislin as the group’s current keyboardist; his playing, vocals, and prominent songwriting contributions are featured on the band’s most recently released studio album, The Absence of Presence (2020).
Paul Crook is an American guitarist known for his work recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx.
Kasim Sulton is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton hit the Canadian top 40 in 1982 with "Don't Break My Heart".
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they were his children". Meat Loaf had wanted to record the song for years, but Steinman saw it as a "woman's song". Steinman won a court movement preventing Meat Loaf from recording it. Girl group Pandora's Box went on to record it, and it was subsequently made famous through a cover by Celine Dion, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for a planned album with the working title Bat Out of Hell III. Alternately, Meat Loaf has said the song was intended for Bat Out of Hell II and given to the singer in 1986, but that they both decided to use "I'd Do Anything for Love " for Bat II, and save this song for Bat III.
John Miceli is the drummer for Meat Loaf's backing band, the Neverland Express.
VH1: Storytellers is a live album by Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf told humorous stories of his career as a singer and how he unfolded into rock stardom. The DVD version has two additional songs. Some songs on the CD are taken from Meat Loaf's Hard Rock Live performance. Others were taken from the pre-show soundcheck. The album peaked at No. 129 on the Billboard 200, making it his lowest charting album in the United States.
Stoney & Meatloaf was a duet of singer Meat Loaf and Stoney. They released one self-titled album in 1971. Meat Loaf and Murphy had met previously in the Detroit music scene, and then performed with the Detroit cast of Hair. Meat Loaf, whose name was styled "Meatloaf" on the album, had a minor hit "What You See Is What You Get".
"Is Nothing Sacred" is a song written by Jim Steinman and Don Black. Jim Steinman composed the music while Don Black wrote the lyrics to this ballad. The song was originally recorded for the 1995 album Welcome to the Neighbourhood. A longer version was included on the 1998 album The Very Best of Meat Loaf, with lead vocals by Meat Loaf. It was re-recorded as a duet featuring Patti Russo for its single release in 1999. The duet debuted at #15 on the UK charts. The duet is also featured as a bonus track on the VH1: Storytellers album. Meat Loaf and Patti Russo performed this song nightly on The Very Best Of tour.
VH1 Storytellers is a live album by David Bowie. It was released on 6 July 2009 and features a 23 August 1999 performance on Storytellers, a VH1 program.
