Meat Loaf

An appearance in the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show followed. Soon, Meat Loaf reteamed with Steinman for a tour with the National Lampoon road show, after which Steinman began composing a musical update of the Peter Pan story titled Never Land. Ultimately, much of what Steinman composed for Never Land became absorbed into 1977’s Bat Out of Hell, the album that made Meat Loaf a star. Produced by Todd Rundgren, the record was pure melodrama, a teen rock opera that spawned three Top 40 singles — ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,’ ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light,’ and ‘You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth’ — on its way to becoming one of the best-selling albums of the decade. After several years in relative obscurity, Meat Loaf and Steinman reunited in 1993 for Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, which continued the original’s story line and duplicated its thunderous sound. The follow-up proved almost as successful as the first Bat Out of Hell, selling over five million copies and yielding a massive hit single with ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).’ Finally he recorded Couldn’t Have Said It Better, which was released on Sanctuary in 2003. Three years later, after resolving the disputes surrounding its release, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose came out (sans Steinman, though many of his songs were used), tracks from which were added to the production of Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell play. Meat Loaf’s 11th studio album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear, appeared in 2010.