Meat Loaf dies: Grammy-winning "Bat Out Of Hell" singer and actor was 74

Deadline

The iconic performer, born Marvin Lee Aday, died Thursday night with his wife Deborah by his side, his longtime agent Michael Greene told Deadline. A cause of death is not being released. “We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man,” Meat Loaf’s family said in a statement. “From his heart to your souls…don’t ever stop rocking!” Meat Loaf broke out with his 1977 debut album Bat Out of Hell, which became one of the biggest-selling albums in music history. The album came out two years after he played Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In fact, Meat Loaf had a long career as an actor. In recent years he recurred on the 2017-2018 Syfy series Ghost Wars and guest-starred on Elementary. He also made guest-starring appearances on Glee, Monk, House, Masters of Horror, South Park, Nash Bridges and The Outer Limits. Meat Loaf's death comes 10 months after Deadline reported that Meat Loaf was developing a relationship reality competition show called I’d Do Anything For Love… But I Won’t Do That, based on his hit song of the same name. According to Deadline, Meat Loaf "will pull the strings in the show, which will see couples compete in a variety of comedic physical games designed to reveal how well they can work together and how much they really trust and believe in each other – all to a soundtrack of classic hits, performed live in studio by the original artists as well as new stars." It's unclear what will happen to the show following Meat Loaf's death. UPDATE: TMZ reports Meat Loaf died of COVID after falling ill and canceling a meeting for his I'd Do Anything for Love show earlier this week.