Rock singer and actor Meat Loaf died on Thursday, January 20, 2022. He was 74 years old.

Meat Loaf’s cause of death was not revealed, however, a Facebook post on his official page stated, “Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight with his wife Deborah by his side. Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours. ... 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.”

As a rock singer, Meat Loaf took a unique approach to his music, putting operatic power and bombastic energy into his songs. This proved successful with rock music fans, sending his 1977 Bat Out of Hell album to 43 million copies sold.

Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Oday on September 27, 1947, in Dallas, Texas. As a child he was teased for being overweight, leading to the nickname Meat Loaf. He left home in 1966, then performed in a bunch of different bands during the latter part of the decade and the early ‘70s. In 1969 he stepped into theater, scoring a role in the traveling production of Hair. A few years later he had his first major film role as Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, singing the up tempo “Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul.”

He began collaborating with Jim Steinman, a theater composer and classically trained pianist, on the songs for Bat Out of Hell. The album, led by the single “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” launched him into stardom.

Within a few years the musical duo parted ways, engaging in expensive lawsuits that left the singer bankrupt. He left the entertainment industry, choosing to live a quiet life with his wife and kids in western Connecticut.

Meat Loaf started a comeback in the early ‘90s with a role in Wayne’s World then with the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, featuring the hit single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” The ballad won him a Grammy Award and was his first and only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

He had roles in Spice World and Black Dog, then in ’99 he took on one of his most notable acting roles in Fight Club as a man with testicular cancer. Later in his career, Meat Loaf appeared in the realty TV Show Celebrity Apprentice, released his final album, Braver Than We Are, in 2016, and his final acting role was in the TV series Ghost Wars.