{{infobox | above	15th BRIT Awards
label2	Date
data2	14 February 1994
label3	Venue
data3	Alexandra Palace
label4	Host
data4	Elton John and RuPaul
header5	< 1993 • BRIT Awards • 1995 > }}

The 1994 BRIT Awards were the 14th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 14th February 1994 at Alexandra Palace in London.

Live performers

Bjork and PJ Harvey — "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

Bon Jovi ft. Dina Carroll — "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"

Elton John — "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"

Meatloaf — "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"

Pet Shop Boys — Go West

Stereo MCs — "Connected"

Take That — "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

Van Morrison ft. Shane McGowan — "Have I Told You Lately"

The awards

Solo artist awards

British Male Solo

!Artist

Apache Indian

Paul Weller

Rod Stewart

Paul Weller

Van Morrison

Winner: Sting

British Female Solo

!Artist

Beverley Craven

Dina Carroll

PJ Harvey

Shara Nelson

Winner: Dina Carroll

International Male Solo

!Artist

Billy Joel

Lenny Kravitz

Neil Young

Terence Trent D'Arby

Winner: Lenny Kravitz

International Female Solo

!Artist

Björk

Janet Jackson

Mariah Carey

Nanci Griffith

Tina Turner

Winner: Björk

Group awards

British Group

!Artist

Jamiroquai

M People

Stereo MCs

Take That

Winner: Stereo MCs

International Group

!Artist

Crowded House

Pearl Jam

Spin Doctors

U2

Winner: Crowded House

Breakthrough awards

British Breakthrough

!Artist

Apache Indian

Jamiroquai

Shara Nelson

Winner: Gabrielle

International Breakthrough

!Artist

4 Non Blondes

Björk

Rage Against the Machine

Spin Doctors

SWV

Winner: Björk

General artist awards

British Dance Act

!Artist

Apache Indian

Jamiroquai

M People

Stereo MCs

The Shamen

Winner: M People

Record awards

British Single

!Artist	!Song
Apache Indian	"Chok There"
Dina Carroll	"Don't Be a Stranger"
Gabrielle (singer)	Gabrielle	Dreams (Gabrielle song)>Dreams"
M People	Moving on Up (song)>Moving on Up"
New Order	"World (The Price of Love)"
Paul Weller	"Wild Wood"
Radiohead	"Anyone Can Play Guitar"
Shaggy (musician)	Shaggy	"Oh Carolina"
Suede (band)	Suede	"Animal Nitrate"
Take That	"Pray (Take That song)>Pray"

Winner: Take That || "Pray"

Mastercard British Album

!Artist !

Album
Dina Carroll	So Close (Dina Carroll album)>So Close''
Jamiroquai	''Emergency on Planet Earth''
Stereo MCs	''Connected (Stereo MCs album)>Connected''
Oasis (band)	Oasis	''Definitely Maybe''
Suede (band)	Suede	Suede (album)>Suede''

Winner: Stereo MCs — ''Connected''

British Video

!Artist	!Song
David Bowie	"Jump They Say"
Depeche Mode	"I Feel You"
Gabrielle (singer)	Gabrielle	Dreams (Gabrielle song)>Dreams"
Jamiroquai	Too Young to Die (Jamiroquai song)>Too Young to Die"
New Order	"World (The Price of Love)"
Pet Shop Boys	Go West (song)>Go West"
Peter Gabriel	Steam (Peter Gabriel song)>Steam"
Sting (musician)	Sting	"Shape of My Heart"
Suede (band)	Suede	"Animal Nitrate"
Take That	"Pray (Take That song)>Pray"

Winner: Take That — "Pray"

Soundtrack

!Film

Reservoir Dogs

Sleepless in Seattle

The Jungle Book (1994 film)

Winner: The Bodyguard

General awards

Outstanding Contribution to Music

!Artist

Van Morrison

British Producer

!Producer

Brian Eno

M People

Nellee Hooper

Winner: Brian Eno

Category:BRIT Awards BRIT Awards BRIT Awards

name	The Brit Awards
current awards	2011 BRIT Awards
description	Excellence in music
presenter	British Phonographic Industry
country	United Kingdom
year	1977
website	}}

The Brit Awards (stylized as the BRIT Awards; often simply called the Brits) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust. In addition, an equivalent awards ceremony for classical music, called the Classic BRIT Awards, is held each May. Robbie Williams holds the record for the most Brit Awards, having won a total of 12 as a solo artist and another 5 awards as part of Take That.

The awards began in 1977 and as annual event in 1982 under the auspices of the British record industry's trade association. The last BPI Awards show took place at the O2 and was the first of the ceremonies to be broadcast on television, by the BBC the awards transferred to ITV in 1993. In 1989 they were renamed the Britannia Music Awards to echo sponsorship by Britannia Music Club and this was shortened to BRIT Awards.

MasterCard has been the long-time sponsor of this annual event.

The Brit Awards were broadcast live until 1989, when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted a poorly organised show in which little went as rehearsed. Subsequently, the event was recorded and broadcast the following night. This was part of a revamp by Jonathan King, who had hosted the show in 1987. He created the "BRITs" moniker and released a megamix of British dance acts, including S'Express and A Guy Called Gerald, called ''BRITs 1990''. He also persuaded Margaret Thatcher to sing "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" for a pre-recorded segment.

From 2007, the Brit Awards reverted to a live broadcast on British television, on 14 February on ITV. In that year, comedian Russell Brand was presenter and three awards were dropped from the ceremony: Best British Rock Act, Best British Urban Act and Best Pop Act.

On 18 February 2009, the venue for the BRITs was once again the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. The 2011 Brit Awards were held at The O2 Arena in London for the first time in its history, moving from the original venue of Earls Court.

Primary winners of each year

1977: The Beatles win 3 awards

1981 ( Toyah Willcox ) win 1 award

1982: ''no clear winner''

1983: Paul McCartney wins 2 awards

1984: Michael Jackson, Culture Club win 2 awards

1985: Prince wins 2 awards

1986: Eurythmics win 2 awards

1987: Peter Gabriel 2 awards (Best British Male & Best British Video) Kate Bush

1988: ''no clear winner''

1989: Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Fairground Attraction and Tracy Chapman win 2 awards

1990: Queen, Neneh Cherry, Phil Collins and Fine Young Cannibals win 2 awards

1991: The Cure win Best British band

1992: Seal wins 3 awards

1993: Annie Lennox and Simply Red win 2 awards

1994: Björk, Take That and Stereo MC's win 2 awards

1995: Blur win 4 awards

1996: Oasis win 3 awards.

1997: Manic Street Preachers and Spice Girls win 2 awards

1998: The Verve win 3 awards

1999: Robbie Williams wins 3 awards

2000: Travis, Robbie Williams and Macy Gray win 2 awards

2001: Robbie Williams wins 3 awards

2002: Dido and Kylie Minogue win 2 awards

2003: Coldplay and Ms. Dynamite win 2 awards

2004: The Darkness win 3 awards

2005: Scissor Sisters win 3 awards

2006: Kaiser Chiefs win 3 awards

2007: Arctic Monkeys and The Killers win 2 awards

2008: Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters and Take That win 2 awards

2009: Duffy wins 3 awards

2010: Lady Gaga wins 3 awards

2011: Arcade Fire and Tinie Tempah win 2 awards

Notable moments

Adele's Performance of 'Someone Like You' (2011)

Adele performed her song "Someone Like You" at the 2011 Brits with only a piano accompanying her. Her emotional performance was received with a standing ovation at the O2 Arena and the video received millions of hits on YouTube within days. Following the performance, James Corden, who hosted the 2011 awards, said, "Wow. Wasn't that amazing? You can have all the dancers, the pyrotechnics, laser shows you want, but if you sound like that, all you need is a piano. Incredible." The performance launched "Someone Like You" 46 spots up the UK charts to number one and, in the process, made Adele the first artist in the UK since the Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums at the same time.

Liam Gallagher and Peter Kay (2010)

At the 2010 Brits, Liam Gallagher made a surprise appearance to accept his award for Best Brits album of the past 30 years. After thanking all of his former bandmates (apart from brother Noel) and declaring his fans "the best fans in the fucking world", he hurled his award and microphone into the audience; a search for the microphone caused a 10 minute delay. After walking off stage, comedian Peter Kay, who hosted the awards, reacted to Liam's actions by saying "what a knobhead".

Mick Kluczynski (2009)

Ten days before the 2009 Brits, Mick Kluczynski, the production manager for the Brits since 1995 who assisted with the transition from the Fleetwood/Fox debacle to the scale of the current ceremony, died. Despite this setback the team he put in place ensured that everything went as planned, and the show was dedicated to his memory.

Vic Reeves and Sharon Osbourne (2008)

After Vic Reeves appeared to forget which award he was presenting, Sharon Osbourne attempted to wrestle the microphone from him, insisted he was drunk and called him a "pissed bastard". She proceeded to make the full announcement herself. The next day it was reported that Reeves was not intoxicated and was hurt by Osbourne's behaviour. The incident has since been ascribed to an autocue malfunction, but Reeves said in his defence that he was trying to read the autocue screen, but he couldn't read it because Osbourne was pushing him out of the way.

Russell Brand (2007)

Some controversy was caused by the host of the 2007 Awards ceremony, comedian Russell Brand, who made several quips relating to news stories of the time including singer Robbie Williams' entering rehab for addiction to prescription drugs, the Queen's 'naughty bits' and a fatal friendly fire incident involving a British soldier killed by American armed forces in Iraq. ITV1 received over 300 complaint calls from viewers. He would again instigate controversy the following year at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

Geri Halliwell Vs. The Spice Girls (2000)

The Spice Girls were set to receive the Outstanding Contribution award at the 2000 Brit awards, reportedly to mark their dominance of the music scene in the past decade. There was much media speculation before and even during the event as to whether or not former Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell would accept the award with the four remaining members of the group. On the night, however, Halliwell declined to join her former band mates and instead ensured front page coverage the following day by performing her solo number 1 single Bag It Up straddling a pole between a pair of giant inflatable legs.

Ronnie Wood and Brandon Block (2000)

Dance DJ Brandon Block was told by his friends that he had won an award and had been summoned to the stage to collect it. Because of his advanced state of intoxication he believed them and walked on to the stage, eventually ending up next to a bemused Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and actress Thora Birch, who were about to present the award for Best Soundtrack Album. After Block was removed from the stage by security, Wood aimed an insult in his direction, at which Block broke free to square up to the guitarist. A series of insults were then traded between the two, both of which were audible through the stage microphone, causing claims that the whole event may have been staged. Wood then threw his drink into Block's face, and the DJ was ejected from the event. Some time after the incident, Block claimed that he had subsequently apologised to Wood for his behaviour, and Wood had merely brushed it off.

Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher (2000)

Around the time of his departure from Take That, Robbie Williams had begun a friendship with the Gallagher brothers from Oasis at the Glastonbury Festival. However, it was short-lived and the two parties regularly traded insults in the press with Noel Gallagher referring to Williams as "the fat dancer from Take That". Having won Best British Single and Best Video for "She's the One", Williams challenged Liam Gallagher to a televised fight, saying: "So, anybody like to see me fight Liam? Would you pay to come and see it? Liam, a hundred grand of your money and a hundred grand of my money. We'll get in a ring and we'll have a fight and you can all watch it on TV, what d'you think about that?". Liam Gallagher was not in the country at the time.

Belle & Sebastian (1999)

In 1999, indie band Belle & Sebastian were nominated for Best British Newcomers, despite having released three albums before the 1999 Awards. The award was sponsored by Radio One and voted for online by their listeners. At the time, Steps were arguably Britain's biggest boy/girl pop band and were also nominated. Despite this, the award was won by Belle & Sebastian. On the Saturday after the awards, a story appeared in the press alleging that the group had rigged the vote in their favour, encouraging students from two universities to vote online. However, fans argued that the band had a predominantly large student following, that band member Isobel Campbell had attended one of the universities in question, and in particular, the award ought to be given on artistic merit as opposed to popularity or CD sales.

Chumbawamba, John Prescott and Björk (1998)

In 1998, Danbert Nobacon of politically active band Chumbawamba threw a bucket of iced water over Labour cabinet minister John Prescott. Despite apologies on behalf of the band from EMI Europe, Chumbawamba were unrepentant, claiming "If John Prescott has the nerve to turn up at events like the Brit Awards in a vain attempt to make Labour seem cool and trendy, then he deserves all we can throw at him."

Icelandic singer Björk won the award for Best International Female. She energetically ran up to the stage and gave the infamous speech: "I am grateful grapefruit," to mass applause and cheers. The speech has been dubbed as one of the greatest ever.

Melanie C and Liam Gallagher (1997)

Prior to the ceremony in 1997, Liam Gallagher stated in the British media that he "wasn't going to the Brit Awards because if he bumped into the Spice Girls, he would smack them". In response to this, as the Spice Girls received the award for Best British Video, during their acceptance speech, Sporty Spice, Melanie C, challenged Gallagher by saying "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough".

Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress (1997)

Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, wore an infamous Union Jack dress. The Height of Spicemania was taking place in the UK and the Spice Girls had just cracked the USA as well, reaching number 1 with their debut single and album, taking British music across the globe in a way not seen by a British pop group since the Beatles, Geri Halliwell captured the zeitgeist and became pin-up girl for Cool Britannia.

Halliwell was originally going to wear an all-black dress, but she thought it was too boring so her sister sewed on a Union Jack tea-towel, with a 'peace' sign on the back, so as to not offend anyone. It was worn during the Spice Girls' performance of their number one song "Who Do You Think You Are". Later on she sold her dress in a charity auction to Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas for a record £41,320, giving Halliwell the Guinness World Record for the most expensive piece of pop star clothing ever sold. The performance won Most Memorable Performance Of 30 Years at the Brit Awards in 2010.

Michael Jackson and Jarvis Cocker (1996)

In 1996, Michael Jackson was given a special Artist of a Generation award. At the ceremony he accompanied his single "Earth Song" with a stage show, culminating with Jackson as a 'Christ-like figure' surrounded by children. Jarvis Cocker, of the band Pulp, mounted the stage in what he would later claim as protest at this portion of the performance. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) bottom in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards three of the children in Jackson's performance, who were now on stage. No criminal proceedings followed.

Suede (1993)

In previous years the Awards were primarily aimed as a tribute to already legendary status stars such as Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Rod Stewart. However before the ceremony The NME had critisied the Awards show for not representing new exciting music.

In 1993, Suede were an uprising indie band who had already had a big following at that point. as a result of NME's criticism and the release of new single Metal Mickey, Suede earned them a last-minute invitation to play at that years Brit Awards ceremony where they performed their third single Animal Nitrate. Impressed by the band's charged sexuality in particular the androgyny and energy of singer Brett Anderson, Suede's debut album shocked audiences and critics alike and earned them the Mercury Prize and Animal Nitrate went into the UK top ten. Looking back on the performance Anderson has said "Ive never felt more out of place then that time we played at the Brits, it was so ridiculously corporate"

The KLF (1992)

In 1992, dance/art band The KLF were awarded Best British Group (shared with Simply Red) and were booked to open the show. In an attempt to hijack the event, the duo collaborated with grindcore metal band Extreme Noise Terror to perform a death metal version of the dance song "3 a.m. Eternal" that prompted conductor Sir Georg Solti to walk out in disgust. The performance ended with Bill Drummond firing blanks from a vintage machine gun over the audience and KLF publicist/announcer Scott Piering stating, "Ladies and gentlemen, The KLF have now left the music business." Producers of the show then refused to let a motorcycle courier collect the award on behalf of the band. Later, guests arriving for an after show party witnessed the band dump a dead sheep outside the venue with the message "I died for ewe — bon appetit" tied around its waist.

Freddie Mercury (1990)

The 1990 awards ceremony saw the last public appearance of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Queen appeared at the ceremony to receive the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Mercury (who had been suffering from AIDS since 1987 but hadnt disclosed it to the public) did not make a speech, as Brian May did the talking on behalf of the other members but his gaunt appearance was noticeable

Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood (1989)

In 1989, the ceremony was broadcast live and presented by Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and singer Samantha Fox. The inexperience of the hosts, an ineffective autocue and little preparation combined to create an unprofessional show that was poorly received. The hosts continually got their lines mixed up, a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson was never transmitted and several star guests arrived late on-stage or at the wrong time, such as Boy George in place of The Four Tops.

The Samantha Fox/Mick Fleetwood show proved to be the single most important event in BPI/Brit Awards history. It was perceived to be so disastrous that the British public's interest was revived and the BRITs became associated with risky live TV.

Bananarama (1988)

1988 saw the final performance of all three original members (until 2000) performing their single Love In The First Degree with fourteen partially clothed male dancers.

Rick Astley and The Who (1988)

1988 was the first year that the show moved to the Royal Albert Hall. A major coup at the time was to get The Who to perform, which was intended to be the first appearance of their much awaited comeback. The show was running late because the amount of time needed for the winners to get to stage to collect their awards had been underestimated. Rick Astley was the final winner of the day, and was seated in a box rather than at a table. With 9:00 pm and the news broadcast fast approaching, the decision was made to let The Who on and Astley was half-way to the stage when the band started playing. Even with this change, The Who's performance was still going to overrun, and the BBC took the decision to delay the 9:00pm news by over a minute.

Electricians' strike (1987)

In 1987 the BPI Awards ceremony was held in the Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel. At the time there was a BBC electricians' strike in effect and the organisers decided to use a non-TV events production company, called Upfront, to manage the show. Despite the show being picketed, the event was transmitted as intended. For a while the outdoor broadcast scanner was rocked on its wheels by the protesters and they managed to shut off the power to one of the big GE video screen projectors. Upfront was then asked to organise the following year and persuaded the BPI to move the event to a larger venue, starting the trend that continues to this day, albeit at Earls Court, and with a different production company (MJK Productions).

Most successful acts

There have been numerous acts, both groups and individuals, that have won multiple awards. The table below shows those that have won four or more awards.

British Acts	Number of awards
Robbie Williams	17
Annie Lennox	8
Take That
	6
Coldplay
Spice Girls	5
Arctic Monkeys
Phil Collins
George Michael (3 with Wham!)
Elton John	4
The Beatles
Manic Street Preachers
Paul Weller

International Acts	Number of awards
U2	7
Michael Jackson	6
Prince (musician)	Prince	5
Björk	4
Eminem
R.E.M.	3
Scissor Sisters
Lady Gaga
Kylie Minogue

See also

List of BRIT Awards ceremonies

Classic BRIT Awards

References

;General ;Specific

External links

BRIT Awards Official website

Category:1977 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Awards established in 1977 Category:British music awards Category:ITV television programmes

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Name	Tori Amos
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Myra Ellen Amos
Born	August 22, 1963, Newton, North Carolina, United States
Instrument	Piano, harpsichord, clavichord, Hammond organ, harmonium, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Kurzweil, clavinet, vocals
Genre	Piano rock, art pop, alternative rock, electronica
Occupation	Musician, vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1986–present
Label	Atlantic (1986–2001) Epic (2002–2007)Universal Republic (2008–2011) Deutsche Grammophon (2011–present)
Website	toriamos.com everythingtori.com
Notable instruments	Bösendorfer piano }}

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.

As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million albums worldwide. She has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards. Amos was also named one of ''People Magazine'''s 50 Most Beautiful People in 1996.

Early life

Amos was born in Newton, North Carolina. When she was two, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and, while living in Rockville, Maryland, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the D.C. area.

Atlantic years (1986–2001)

Y Kant Tori Read

In 1986, Amos formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read, the name of which was a reference to her days at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs on her piano by ear, but was never successful at sight reading. In addition to Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all her subsequent albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. Following several phases of writing and recording, during which Amos has since asserted that the band lost their musical edge and direction due to interference from record executives, in July 1988, the Y Kant Tori Read's self-titled debut album was released. Although its producer, Joe Chiccarelli, has stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time, it is now out of print and Amos has expressed no interest in reissuing it. Following the album's commercial failure and the group's subsequent disbanding, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway, Sandra Bernhard, and Al Stewart) as a backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called "Distant Storm" for the film ''China O'Brien''; in the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good. It was the only song recorded by the band, and its only commercial release was in the film.

Solo career

Despite the disappointing reaction to ''Y Kant Tori Read'', Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990. The initial recordings were declined by the label, which Amos felt was because the album had not been properly presented. The album was reworked and expanded under the guidance of Doug Morris and the musical talents of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, resulting in ''Little Earthquakes'', an album recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault. This album became her commercial and artistic breakthrough.

Amos traveled to New Mexico with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, ''Under the Pink''. The album was received with mostly favorable reviews and sold enough copies to chart at #12 on the ''Billboard 200'', a significantly higher position than the preceding album's position at #54 on the same chart.

Her third solo album, ''Boys for Pele'', was released in January 1996. The album was recorded in an Irish church, in Delgany, County Wicklow, with Amos taking advantage of the church recording setting to create an album ripe with baroque influences, lending it a darker sound and style. She added harpsichord, harmonium, and clavichord to her keyboard repertoire, and also included such anomalies as a gospel choir, bagpipes, church bells, and drum programming. The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite the album's erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, ''Boys for Pele'' is Amos's most successful simultaneous transatlantic release, reaching #2 on both the ''Billboard 200'' and the ''UK Top 40'' upon its release at the height of her fame.

Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives, Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall converted into a state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios.

''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' and ''To Venus and Back'', released in May 1998 and September 1999, respectively, differ greatly from previous albums as Amos's trademark acoustic piano-based sound is largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica, dance music, vocal washes and sonic landscapes. The underlying themes of both albums deal with womanhood, and Amos's own miscarriages and marriage. Reviews for ''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' were mostly favorable and praised Amos's continued artistic originality. While not her highest chart debut, debut sales for ''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' are Amos's best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week. ''To Venus and Back'', a two-disc release of original studio material and live material recorded from the previous world tour, received mostly positive reviews and included the first major-label single available for sale as a digital download.

Motherhood inspired Amos to produce a cover album, recording songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to show a woman's perspective. That idea grew into ''Strange Little Girls'', released in September 2001, one year after giving birth to her daughter. The album is Amos's first concept album, with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them new original songs; Amos felt that since 1998, the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label.

Epic Records years (2002–07)

With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to Epic in late 2001. In October 2002, Amos released ''Scarlet's Walk'', another concept album. Described as a "sonic novel", the album explores Amos's alter ego, Scarlet, intertwined with her cross-country concert tour following 9/11. Through the songs, Amos explores such topics as the history of America, American people, Native American history, pornography, masochism, homophobia and misogyny. The album had a strong debut, demonstrating that Amos' fan base remained intact through the label change. However, ''Scarlet's Walk'' is Amos' last album to date to reach certified gold status.

Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG Entertainment as a result of the industry's decline. Amos would later hint in interviews that during the creation of her next album, those in charge at the label following the aforementioned merger were interested "only in making money", the effects of which on the album have not been disclosed.

Amos released two more albums with the label, ''The Beekeeper'' (2005) and ''American Doll Posse'' (2007). Both albums received mixed reviews, some of which stated that the albums suffered from being too long. ''The Beekeeper'' was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping, which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and the removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church to create an album based largely on religion and politics. The album debuted at #5 on the ''Billboard 200'', placing her in an elite group of women who have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts. ''American Doll Posse'', another concept album, was fashioned around a group of girls (the "posse") who are used as a theme of alter-egos of Amos's. Musically and stylistically, the album saw Amos return to a more confrontational nature. Like its predecessor, ''American Doll Posse'' debuted at #5 on the ''Billboard 200''.

During her tenure with Epic Records, Amos also released a retrospective collection titled ''Tales of a Librarian'' (2003) through her former label, Atlantic Records; a two-disc DVD set ''Fade to Red'' (2006) containing most of Amos's solo music videos, released through the Warner Bros. reissue imprint Rhino; a five disc box set titled ''A Piano: The Collection'' (2006), celebrating Amos's 15 year solo career through remastered album tracks, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, and a string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions, also released through Rhino; and numerous official bootlegs from two world tours, ''The Original Bootlegs'' (2005) and ''Legs & Boots'' (2007) through Epic Records.

Universal Music years (2008–present)

Universal Republic (2008–2011)

In May 2008, Amos announced that, due to creative and financial disagreements with Epic Records, she had negotiated an end to her contract with the record label, and would be operating independently of major record labels on future work. In September of the same year, Amos released a live album and DVD, ''Live at Montreux 1991/1992'', through Eagle Rock Entertainment, of two performances she gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival very early on in her career while promoting her debut solo-album, ''Little Earthquakes''. By December, after a chance encounter with chairman and CEO of ''Universal Music Group'', Doug Morris, Amos signed a "joint venture" deal Universal Republic Records.

''Abnormally Attracted to Sin'', Amos's tenth solo studio-album and her first album released through Universal Republic, was released in May 2009 to mostly positive reviews. The album debuted in the top 10 of the ''Billboard 200'', making it the Amos' seventh album to do so. ''Abnormally Attracted to Sin'', admitted Amos, was a "personal album", not a conceptual one. Continuing her distribution deal with Universal Republic, Amos released ''Midwinter Graces'', her first seasonal album, in November of the same year. The album features reworked versions of traditional carols, as well as original songs written by Amos.

During her contract with the label, Amos recorded vocals for two songs for David Byrne's collaboration album with Fatboy Slim, entitled ''Here Lies Love'', which was released in April 2010. In July of the same year, the DVD ''Tori Amos- Live from the Artists Den'' was released exclusively through Barnes & Noble.

After a brief tour from June to September 2010, Amos released the highly exclusive live album ''From Russia With Love'' in December the same year, recorded live in Moscow on 3 September 2010. The limited edition set included a signature edition Lomography Diana F+ camera, along with 2 lenses, a roll of film and 1 of 5 photographs taken of Tori during her time in Moscow. The set was released exclusively through toriamos.com and only 2000 were produced. It is currently unknown as to whether the album will receive a mass release.

Deutsche Grammophon (2011–Present)

In September 2011, Amos released her first classical music album, ''Night of Hunters'', featuring variations on a theme to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Satie and Schubert, through the Deutsche Grammophon label, a division of Universal Music Group. She is currently writing the music for Samuel Adamson's musical adaptation of the George MacDonald story ''The Light Princess'' for the Royal National Theatre, which was originally expected to debut in spring 2012 but has now been deferred. Amos has, however, confirmed the release of an album in 2012 marking the 20th anniversary of her debut album ''Little Earthquakes''. The album will consist of songs from her back catalogue rearranged and performed by the Metropole Orchestra.

In print

Released in conjunction with ''The Beekeeper'', Amos co-authored an autobiography with rock music journalist Ann Powers entitled ''Piece by Piece'' (2005). The book's subject is Amos's interest in mythology and religion, exploring her songwriting process, rise to fame, and her relationship with Atlantic Records.

Image Comics released ''Comic Book Tattoo'' (2008), a collection of comic stories, each based on or inspired by songs recorded by Amos. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Pia Guerra, David Mack, and Leah Moore.

Additionally, Amos and her music have been the subject of numerous official and unofficial books, as well as academic critique, including ''Tori Amos: Lyrics'' (2001) and an earlier biography, ''Tori Amos: All These Years'' (1996).

In 2011 Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, a sociology graduate student at Western Michigan University, received her PhD for a dissertation entitled “All I Am: Defining Music as an Emotional Catalyst through a Sociological Study of Emotions, Gender and Culture". Trier-Bieniek focused on Amos' female fans and the emotional support they receive from listening to Amos' music. Now a professor at Valencia College, Trier-Bieniek continues to publish academic work born from this study.

Personal life

Family

Amos is the third child of Rev. Dr. Edison and Mary Ellen Amos. She was born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina, during a trip from their Georgetown home in Washington, D.C. Her maternal grandparents were of mixed European and Eastern Cherokee ancestry; of particular importance to her as a child was her grandfather, Calvin Clinton Copeland, who was a great source of inspiration and guidance to her as a young child, offering a more pantheistic spiritual alternative to her father and paternal grandmother's traditional Christianity.

Early in her professional career, Amos befriended author Neil Gaiman, who became a fan after she referenced him in the song "Tear in Your Hand" and also in print interviews. Although created before the two met, the character Delirium from Gaiman's ''The Sandman'' series (or even her sister Death) is inspired by Amos; Gaiman has stated that "they steal shamelessly from each other". She wrote the foreword to his collection ''Death: The High Cost of Living''; he in turn wrote the introduction to ''Comic Book Tattoo''. Gaiman is godfather to her daughter and a poem written for her birth, ''Blueberry Girl'', was published as a children's book of the same name in 2009.

Amos married English sound engineer Mark Hawley on February 22, 1998. Their only child, a daughter named Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, was born in 2000. They divide their time between Sewall's Point in Florida, Kinsale (County Cork) in Ireland, and Cornwall in England.

Activism

In June 1994, Amos co-founded RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a toll-free help line in the US connecting callers with their local rape crisis center. Amos, herself a survivor of sexual assault, was seen as unlocking the silence of her assault through her music; thus "Unlock the Silence" went on to become a year-long campaign for RAINN when Amos became a national spokesperson for the organization. By the summer of 2006, RAINN had received its one millionth caller and the organization's success has led to it ranking in "America's 100 Best Charities" by ''Worth'', and one of the "Top 10 Best Charities" by ''Marie Claire''.

Discography

Up to 2011, Amos has released 12 studio albums during her solo career. Apart from the first two albums, the other 10 are self-produced.

''Little Earthquakes'' (1992)

''Under the Pink'' (1994)

''Boys for Pele'' (1996)

''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' (1998)

''To Venus and Back'' (1999)

''Strange Little Girls'' (2001)

''Scarlet's Walk'' (2002)

''The Beekeeper'' (2005)

''American Doll Posse'' (2007)

''Abnormally Attracted to Sin'' (2009)

''Midwinter Graces'' (2009)

''Night of Hunters'' (2011)

Additionally, Amos has released over 30 singles, over 60 B-sides, and has contributed original material to nine film soundtracks, including ''Higher Learning'' (1995), ''Great Expectations'' (1998) and ''Mission: Impossible II'' (2000) among others.

Tours

Amos, who has been performing in bars and clubs from as early as 1976 and under her professional name as early as 1991 has performed more than 1,000 shows since her first world tour in 1992. In 2003, Amos was voted fifth best touring act by the readers of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Her concerts are notable for their changing set lists from night to night.

; ''Little Earthquakes Tour'' : Amos's first world tour began on January 29, 1992 in London and ended on November 30, 1992 in Auckland. She performed solo with a Yamaha CP-70 unless the venue was able to provide a piano. The tour included 142 concerts around the globe. ; ''Under the Pink Tour'' : Amos's second world tour began on February 24, 1994 in Newcastle upon Tyne and ended on December 13, 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. Amos performed solo each night on her iconic Bösendorfer piano, and on a prepared piano during "Bells for Her". The tour included 181 concerts. ; ''Dew Drop Inn Tour'' : The third world tour began on February 23, 1996 in Ipswich, England, and ended on November 11, 1996 in Boulder. Amos performed each night on piano, harpsichord, and harmonium, with Steve Caton on guitar on some songs. The tour included 187 concerts. ; ''Plugged '98 Tour'' : Amos's first band tour. Amos, on piano and Kurzweil keyboard, was joined by Steve Caton on guitar, Matt Chamberlain on drums, and Jon Evans on bass. The tour began on April 18, 1998 in Fort Lauderdale and ended on December 3, 1998 in East Lansing, Michigan, including 137 concerts. ; ''Five and a Half Weeks Tour'' / ''To Dallas and Back'' : Amos's fifth tour was North America–only. The first part of the tour was co-headlining with Alanis Morissette and featured the same band and equipment line-up as in 1998. Amos and the band continued for eight shows before Amos embarked on a series of solo shows. The tour began on August 18, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ended on December 9, 1999 in Denver, including 46 concerts. ; ''Strange Little Tour'' : This tour was Amos's first since becoming a mother in 2000 and her first tour fully solo since 1994 (Steve Caton was present on some songs in 1996). It saw Amos perform on piano, Rhodes piano, and Wurlitzer electric piano, and though the tour was in support of her covers album, the set lists were not strictly covers-oriented. Having brought her one-year-old daughter on the road with her, this tour was also one of Amos's shortest ventures, lasting just three months. It began on August 30, 2001 in London and ended on December 17, 2001 in Milan, including 55 concerts. ; ''On Scarlet's Walk'' / ''Lottapianos Tour'' : Amos's seventh tour saw her reunited with Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans, but not Steve Caton. The first part of the tour, which featured Amos on piano, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, was six months long and Amos went out again in the summer of 2003 for a tour with Ben Folds opening. The tour began on November 7, 2002 in Tampa and ended on September 4, 2003 in West Palm Beach, featuring 124 concerts. The final show of the tour was filmed and released as part of a DVD/CD set titled ''Welcome to Sunny Florida'' (the set also included a studio EP titled ''Scarlet's Hidden Treasures'', an extension of the ''Scarlet's Walk'' album). ; ''Original Sinsuality Tour'' / ''Summer of Sin'' : This tour began on April 1, 2005 in Clearwater, Florida, with Amos on piano, two Hammond B-3 organs, and Rhodes. The tour also encompassed Australia for the first time since 1994. Amos announced at a concert on this tour that she would never stop touring but would scale down the tours. Amos returned to the road in August and September for the ''Summer of Sin'' North America leg, ending on September 17, 2005 in Los Angeles. The tour featured "Tori's Piano Bar", where fans could nominate cover songs on Amos's website which she would then choose from to play in a special section of each show. One of the songs chosen was the Kylie Minogue hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which Amos dedicated to her the day after Minogue's breast cancer was announced to the public. Other songs performed by Amos include The Doors' "People are Strange", Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game", Madonna's "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer", Björk's "Hyperballad", Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (which she debuted in Austin, Texas, just after the events of Hurricane Katrina), Kate Bush's "And Dream of Sheep" and Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", dedicating it to drummer Paul Hester who had died a week before. The entire concert tour featured 82 concerts, and six full-length concerts were released as ''The Original Bootlegs''. ; ''American Doll Posse World Tour'' : This was Amos's first tour with a full band since her 1999 ''Five and a Half Weeks Tour'', accompanied by long-time band mates Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain, with guitarist Dan Phelps rounding out Amos's new band. Amos's equipment included her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and two Yamaha S90 ES keyboards. The tour kicked off with its European leg in Rome, Italy on May 28, 2007, which lasted through July, concluding in Israel; the Australian leg took place during September; the North American leg lasted from October to December 16, 2007, when the tour concluded in Los Angeles. Amos opened each show dressed as one of the four non-Tori personae from the album, then Amos would emerge as herself to perform for the remaining two-thirds of the show. The entire concert tour featured 93 concerts, and 27 full-length concerts of the North American tour were released as official bootlegs in the ''Legs and Boots'' series. ; ''Sinful Attraction Tour'' : For her tenth tour, Amos returned to the trio format of her 2002 and 2003 tours with bassist Jon Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain while expanding her lineup of keyboards by adding three M-Audio MIDI controllers to her ensemble of her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard. The North American and European band tour began on 10 July 2009 in Seattle, Washington and ended in Warsaw on 10 October 2009. A solo leg through Australia began in Melbourne on 12 November 2009 and ended in Brisbane on 24 November 2009. The entire tour featured 63 concerts. ; ''Night of Hunters tour'' : Amos' eleventh tour is her first with a string quartet, Apollon Musagète, (Amos' equipment includes her piano and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard) and her first time touring in South Africa. It kicked off on 28 September 2011 in Finland, Helsinki Ice Hall and will continue until 22 December 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

Award nominations

! Group !! Year !! Award !! Work !! Result
rowspan="4"		Best Female Video
Best Cinematography in a Video
Best New Artist In a Video
Breakthrough Video
	1995	Best Alternative Music Album	''Under The Pink''
1997	Best Alternative Music Album	''Boys for Pele''
	Best Alternative Music Album	''From the Choirgirl Hotel''
Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Raspberry Swirl"
	Best Alternative Music Album	''To Venus and Back''
Female Rock Vocal Performance
	Best Alternative Music Album	''Strange Little Girls''
Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Strange Little Girl"
	Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging	''Scarlet's Walk'' (deluxe edition)
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical	"Timo on Tori (Don't Make Me Come to Vegas)"

Note: The 2003 nomination for "Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging" goes to the art directors Dave Bett and Sherri Lee and not to Tori Amos and the 2003 nomination for "Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical" goes to the remixers Mark Buttrich and Timo Maas and not to Tori Amos.

Notes and references

External links

Official website

Synthesis.net April 2007 podcast interview

Tori Amos on Synthesis.net

Tori Amos on Virb.com

Tori Amos on Advocate.com

Tori Amos on Allmusic.com

Y Kant Tori Read on Allmusic.com

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American female singers Category:American feminists Category:American harpsichordists Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American rock pianists Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:English-language singers Category:Epic Records artists Category:Female rock singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Musicians from Maryland Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:People from Catawba County, North Carolina Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Rape victim advocates Category:Island Records artists Category:Women classical composers Category:Women composers

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Name	Meat Loaf
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Marvin Lee Aday
Birth date	September 27, 1947
birth place	Dallas, Texas
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, saxophone
Genre	Rock, hard rock, rock and roll, rock opera
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor
Years active	1967–present
Label	Rare Earth, Cleveland International, Epic, RCA, Arista, MCA, Polydor, Sanctuary, Mercury, Virgin, Loud & Proud
Associated acts	Jim Steinman, Neverland Express, Floating Circus, Stoney & Meatloaf
Website	}}

Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947), better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American rock musician and actor. He is noted for the ''Bat Out of Hell'' album trilogy consisting of ''Bat Out of Hell,'' ''Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell'' and ''Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.'' ''Bat Out of Hell'' has sold more than 43 million copies. After more than 30 years, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually and stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best selling albums of all time.

Although he enjoyed success with ''Bat Out of Hell'' and ''Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell'' and earned a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo for a track on the latter album, Meat Loaf experienced some initial difficulty establishing a steady career within his native US. However, he has retained iconic status and popularity in Europe, especially the UK, where he ranks 23rd for the number of weeks overall spent on the charts. He ranked 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock."

Meat Loaf has also appeared in over 50 movies or television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His most notable roles include Eddie in the American premiere of ''The Rocky Horror Show'' and ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' and Robert "Bob" Paulson in ''Fight Club.''

Early life

Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday in Houston, Texas. He was the first child of Wilma Artie (''née'' Hukel), a school teacher and a member of the Vo-di-o-do Girls gospel quartet, and Orvis Wesley Aday, a police officer. His father was an alcoholic who would go on drinking binges for days at a time. Marvin and his mother would drive around to all the bars in Dallas, looking for Orvis to take him home. Because of this, Marvin often stayed with his grandmother, Charlsee Norrod.

Meat Loaf relates a story in his autobiography, ''To Hell and Back'', about how he, a friend, and his friend's father drove out to Love Field to watch John F. Kennedy land. After watching him leave the airport, they went to Market Hall, which was on Kennedy's parade route. On the way they heard that Kennedy had been shot, so they headed to Parkland Hospital, where they saw Jackie Kennedy get out of the car and Governor John Connally get pulled out, although they never saw the president taken out.

In 1965, Marvin graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, having already started his acting career via school productions such as ''Where's Charley?'' and ''The Music Man.'' After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, he transferred to North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas in Denton).

After Marvin received his inheritance from his mother's death, he rented an apartment in Dallas and isolated himself for three and a half months. Eventually a friend found him. Marvin bought a car and drove to California

Music career

In Los Angeles, Marvin formed his first band, "Meat Loaf Soul". During the recording of their first song, he hit a note so high that he managed to blow a fuse on the recording monitor. He was immediately offered three recording contracts, which he turned down. Meat Loaf Soul's first gig was in Huntington Beach at the Cave, opening for Them, Van Morrison's band. While performing their cover of the Howlin' Wolf song "Smokestack Lightning," the smoke machine they used made too much smoke and the club had to be cleared out. Later, the band was the opening act at Cal State Northridge for Renaissance, Taj Mahal and Janis Joplin. The band then underwent several changes of lead guitar, changing the name of the band each time. The new names included Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. As Floating Circus, they opened for The Who, The Fugs, The Stooges, MC5, Grateful Dead, and The Grease Band. Their regional success led them to release a single, "Once Upon a Time," backed with "Hello." Meat Loaf joined the Los Angeles production of ''Hair.'' During an interview with New Zealand radio station ZM, Meat Loaf stated that the biggest life struggle he had to overcome was not being taken seriously in the music industry. He compared his treatment to that of a "circus clown."

''Stoney & Meatloaf''

With the publicity generated from ''Hair,'' Meat Loaf was invited to record with Motown. They suggested he do a duet with Shaun "Stoney" Murphy, who had performed with him in ''Hair,'' to which he agreed. The Motown production team in charge of the album wrote and selected the songs while Meat Loaf and Stoney came in only to lay down their vocals. The album, titled ''Stoney & Meatloaf'' (Meatloaf being shown as one word), was completed in the summer of 1971 and released in September of that year. A single released in advance of the album, ''What You See Is What You Get,'' reached number thirty six on the R&B; charts and seventy-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. To support their album, Meat Loaf and Stoney toured with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers, opening up for Richie Havens, The Who, The Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and Rare Earth. Meat Loaf left soon after Motown replaced his and Stoney's vocals from the one song he liked, "Who Is the Leader of the People?" with new vocals by Edwin Starr. The album has been re-released after Meat Loaf's success, with Stoney's vocals removed. Meat Loaf's version of "Who Is the Leader of the People?" was released, but the album failed.

''More Than You Deserve''

After the tour, Meat Loaf rejoined the cast of ''Hair,'' this time on Broadway. After he hired an agent, he auditioned for the Public Theater's production of ''More Than You Deserve.'' It was during the audition that Meat Loaf first met his future collaborator Jim Steinman. He sang a former Stoney and Meatloaf favorite of his, "(I'd Love to Be) As Heavy as Jesus" (On VH1 Storytellers, Meat Loaf shares his first introduction with Jim Steinman. Meat would revive Steinman's reaction to his intimate audience, "Well, I think you're heavy as two Jesuses to be a matter of fact!"), and with that, got the part of Rabbit, a maniac that blows up his fellow soldiers so they can "go home." Also in the show were Ron Silver and Fred Gwynne. After it closed, he appeared in ''As You Like It'' with Raúl Juliá and Mary Beth Hurt.

He recorded a single of "More Than You Deserve" and had a cover of "In the Presence of the Lord" as its B-side. He was only able to save three copies of it because the record company would not allow its press release. With those three copies he released many rare CDs featuring the two songs, which can occasionally be spotted at CD outlets. He later recorded it again (1981) in a slightly rougher voice.

''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''

During the winter of 1973, after returning from a short production of ''Rainbow in New York'' in Washington, D.C., Meat Loaf received a call asking him to be in ''The Rocky Horror Show'' asking him to play the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. The success of the play led to the filming of ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' where Meat Loaf played only Eddie, a decision he has said he felt was "a huge mistake." About the same time, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman started work on ''Bat out of Hell.'' Meat Loaf convinced Epic Records to shoot videos for four songs, "Bat Out Of Hell," "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," "You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth" and "Two out of Three Ain't Bad." He then convinced Lou Adler, the producer of ''Rocky Horror,'' to run the "Paradise" video as a trailer to the movie. Meat Loaf's final show in New York was Gower Champion's ''Rockabye Hamlet,'' a Hamlet musical. It closed two weeks into its initial run. Meat would later return occasionally to perform ''Hot Patootie'' for a special Rocky Horror reunion or convention and rarely at his own live shows (one performance of which was released in the 1996 ''Live Around the World'' CD set).

During his recording of the soundtrack for Rocky Horror, Meat Loaf recorded two more songs: "Stand By Me" (a Ben E. King cover), and "Clap Your Hands." They remained unreleased until 1984, when they appeared as B-sides to the "Nowhere Fast" single.

In 1976, Meat Loaf recorded lead vocals for Ted Nugent's ''Free-for-All'' album when regular Nugent lead vocalist Derek St. Holmes quit the band. Meat Loaf sang lead on five of the album's nine tracks.

Major success

''Bat Out of Hell''

Meat Loaf and friend/songwriter Jim Steinman started ''Bat Out of Hell'' in 1972, but did not get serious about it until the end of 1974. Meat Loaf decided to leave theatre, and concentrate exclusively on music. Then, the ''National Lampoon Show'' opened on Broadway, and it needed an understudy for John Belushi, a close friend of Meat Loaf since 1972. It was at the Lampoon Show that Meat Loaf met Ellen Foley, the co-star who sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" with him on the album ''Bat Out of Hell.''

After the ''Lampoon'' show ended, Meat Loaf and Steinman spent time seeking a record deal. Their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Finally, they performed the songs for Todd Rundgren, who decided to produce the album, as well as play lead guitar on it (other members of Todd's band Utopia also lent their musical talents). They then shopped the record around, but still had no takers until Cleveland International Records decided to take a chance. On October 21, 1977, ''Bat Out of Hell'' was released.

Meat Loaf and Steinman formed the band The Neverland Express to tour in support of ''Bat Out of Hell.'' Their first gig was opening for Cheap Trick in Chicago. He gained national exposure as musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' on March 25, 1978. Guest host Christopher Lee introduced him by saying, "And now ladies and gentlemen I would like you to meet Loaf. (pauses, looks dumbfounded) I beg your pardon, what? (he listens to the director's aside) Oh! Why...why I'm sorry, yes, of course...ah... Ladies and gentlemen, Meat Loaf!" The huge success of the album caused a rift to open up between Meat Loaf and Steinman: the group, named after Meat Loaf for ease of labeling, seemed to Steinman to sideline his work as creator, and Steinman started to resent the attention that his partner was getting.

During a show in Ottawa, Meat Loaf fell off the stage and broke his leg. He toured with the broken leg, performing from a wheel chair. During this time, Meat Loaf began heavy use of cocaine, had a nervous breakdown and threatened to commit suicide by jumping off the ledge of a building in New York. In the middle of recording his second album, ''Bad for Good'', Meat Loaf lost the ability to sing; it is unclear as to the exact cause - the tour was a punishing one, and the vocals are energy intense. However, his doctors said that physically he was fine and that his problem was psychological. Nevertheless, Steinman decided to keep recording ''Bad for Good'' without Meat Loaf.

Bat Out of Hell has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest selling albums of all time. In the UK alone, its 2.1 million sales put it in 38th place. Despite peaking at #9 and spending only two weeks in the top ten in 1981, it has now clocked up 474 weeks on the UK album chart, a figure bettered only by ''Rumours'' by Fleetwood Mac - 478 weeks. In Australia, it knocked the Bee Gees off the number #1 spot and went on to become the biggest-selling Australian album of all time (by a non-Australian). ''Bat Out of Hell'' is also one of only two albums that has never exited the Top 200 in the UK charts; this makes it the longest stay in any music chart in the world, although the ''published'' chart contains just 75 positions.

Life after ''Bat Out of Hell''

In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared in the short-lived Broadway production of the rock musical ''Rockabye Hamlet.'' In 1980, he started working on ''Dead Ringer.'' Steinman wrote all of the songs, but had little else to do with the album. The tour they planned, to support the album, was cancelled after one show, because they ran out of the money that the studio advanced them. Sonnenberg also convinced CBS to advance more money for the making of the movie ''Dead Ringer,'' which was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and won some favorable reviews, but was poorly considered after Sonnenberg re-edited the movie.

On December 5, 1981, Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express were the musical guests for ''Saturday Night Live'' where he was reunited with fellow ''Rocky Horror Picture Show'' alum Tim Curry. Curry and Meat Loaf teamed up in a skit depicting a One-Stop Rocky Horror Shop. Later, Tim Curry performed "The Zucchini Song" and Meat Loaf & The Neverland Express performed "Bat Out of Hell" and "Promised Land." In 1983, he released the self written ''Midnight at the Lost and Found.'' Meat Loaf, a poor songwriter by his own admission, did not care for the songs he wrote for the album.

In 1984, Meat Loaf went to England, to record the album ''Bad Attitude,'' which included a duet with Roger Daltrey and two songs written by Jim Steinman; the recording of the album was rushed. During the tour to support the album, Leslie (Meat Loaf's girlfriend) had a nervous breakdown and had to check into the Silver Hill Hospital rehab facility in Connecticut. Things finally looked like they were going to turn around in 1986, when Meat Loaf found a new writer, John Parr, and started recording a new album, ''Blind Before I Stop.'' Unfortunately, the producer put a dance beat underneath every song, which resulted in critical failure and Meat Loaf going bankrupt, eventually losing everything. His relationships with lifelong friend Jim Steinman and Leslie also deteriorated. In 1985, Meat Loaf did some comedy sketches in England with Hugh Laurie. At some point, Meat Loaf tried stand-up comedy, appearing several times in Connecticut.

Meat Loaf performed "Thrashin" for the soundtrack of the 1986 skateboarding cult classic film ''Thrashin''' (directed by David Winters and starring Josh Brolin).

To try to get his career back off the ground, Meat Loaf started touring small venues, such as pubs and clubs. Slowly, he developed a faithful following which grew to the point where they were unable to fit into the venues that Meat Loaf was playing, and then they too began to grow. This carried on until the late '80s, where he began to sell out arenas and stadiums again, including over 10,000 tickets at Ohio State University. Leslie studied to be a travel agent, so they could save on travel expenses, and they toured all over the United States, Germany, England, Scandinavia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Bahrain. With the help of his New York collection of musicians — John Golden, Richard Raskin and Paul Jacobs — his European tours enjoyed immense popularity in the 1980s. Because of the success of the touring, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman began to work on ''Bat Out Of Hell II'' which was finally released in 1993, sixteen years after ''Bat Out Of Hell''. The album was a huge success and is considered one of the greatest comebacks in music history.

''Dead Ringer''

Songwriter Jim Steinman started to work on ''Bad for Good'', the album that was supposed to be the follow-up to 1977's ''Bat out of Hell'', in 1979. During that time, a combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion had caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. Without a singer, and pressured by the record company, Steinman decided that he should sing on ''Bad for Good'' himself, and write a new album for Meat Loaf; the result was ''Dead Ringer'', which was later released in 1981, after the release of Steinman's ''Bad for Good''.

After playing the role of Travis Redfish in the movie ''Roadie'', Meat Loaf's singing voice returned, and he started to work on his new album in 1980. Steinman had written five new songs which, in addition to the track "More Than You Deserve" (sung by Meat Loaf in the stage musical of the same name) and a reworked monologue, formed the album ''Dead Ringer'', which was produced by Meat Loaf and Stephan Galfas, with backing tracks produced by Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Iovine, and Jim Steinman. (In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared on the track "Keeper Keep Us", from the Intergalactic Touring Band's self-titled album, produced by Galfas.) The song "Dead Ringer for Love" was the pinnacle of the album, and launched Meat Loaf to even greater success after it reached #5 in the UK and stayed in the charts for a surprising 19 weeks. Cher provided the lead female vocals in the song, which contributed to the success of the single.

The album reached #1 in the UK, and three singles were released from the album: "Dead Ringer for Love" (with Cher), "I'm Gonna Love Her for Both of Us," and "Read 'Em and Weep".

Struggle

''Midnight at the Lost and Found''

Following a dispute with his former songwriter Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf was contractually obliged to release a new album. Struggling for time, and with no resolution to his arguments with Steinman seemingly on the horizon (eventually, Steinman would sue Meat Loaf, who subsequently sued Steinman as well), he was forced to find songwriters wherever he could. The resulting album was ''Midnight at the Lost and Found''.

According to Meat Loaf, Steinman had given the songs "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)" to Meat Loaf for this album. However, Meat Loaf's record company refused to pay for Steinman. This was hard luck for Meat Loaf, as Bonnie Tyler's version of "Eclipse" and Air Supply's version of "Making Love" would top the charts together, holding #1 and #2 for a period during 1983.

Meat Loaf is credited with being involved in the writing of numerous tracks on the album, including the title track, "Midnight at the Lost and Found". However, when the album was released in 1983, it was regarded by many as being poor. Fans were disappointed to see that the iconic pictures on the covers of ''Bat out of Hell'' and ''Dead Ringer'' were replaced by a black-and-white photograph of Meat Loaf (on some later re-releases, a color image of a screaming Meat Loaf was used as the cover image).

The title track still regularly forms part of Meat Loaf concerts, and was one of very few 1980s songs to feature on the 1998 hit album ''The Very Best of Meat Loaf''. This was the last album that Meat Loaf did with the record label Epic until the 'best of' album.

''Bad Attitude''

''Bad Attitude'', released 1984, features two songs by Jim Steinman, both previously recorded, and was mainly an attempt to keep Meat Loaf from going bankrupt during this period of lawsuits. It concentrated more on the hard rock side of Meat Loaf, was a minor success around the globe and released a few hit singles, the most successful being "Modern Girl". It also holds some of Meat Loaf's favorite songs that include "Jumpin' the Gun" and "Piece of the Action". It was recorded in England. The US release on RCA Records was on April 1985 and features a slightly different track list, as well as alternate mixes for some songs.

"Modern Girl" was taken from this album and was the biggest hit. "Piece of the Action", "Sailor to a Siren" is the b side and "Nowhere Fast" were also released singles with extended mixes and exclusive songs: "Take a Number", "Stand by Me" (a Ben E. King cover) and "Clap Your Hands". The latter two songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack.

''Blind Before I Stop''

''Blind Before I Stop'' was released in 1986. It features production, mixing, and general influence by Frank Farian. Meat Loaf gave songwriting another shot with this album and wrote three of the songs on the album. Released as a single (in the UK) was "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries," which was a duet with rock singer John Parr. another single released on the UK was, 'Special Girl'.

According to Meat Loaf's 1998 autobiography, the album sold poorly because of the production of the album. Meat Loaf would have preferred to cancel the project and wait to work with more Steinman material. The album, however, has gained a cult following over the years, citing the songs "Execution Day" and "Standing on the Outside" as standout tracks on the record. "Standing on the Outside" was also featured during the third season of the 1980s TV show ''Miami Vice''; it was used several times during the episode titled "Forgive Us Our Debts" (first aired December 12, 1986).

The song "Masculine" was the only song off the record to be a Live Show mainstay from 1987 to 1992. This then was omitted in favor of "Life is a Lemon And I Want My Money Back" with the success of ''Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell''.

Return to popularity

''Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell''

Because of the success of Meat Loaf's touring in the eighties, he and Steinman began work during the Christmas of 1990 on the sequel to ''Bat out of Hell''. After two years, ''Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell'' was finished. The artist's then manager, Tommy Manzi, later told HitQuarters that music industry insiders were wholly unenthusiastic about the idea of a comeback, and considered the project "a joke". The immediate success of "Bat out of Hell II" quickly proved any doubters wrong, with the album going on to sell over 15 million copies, and the single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" reaching number one in 28 countries. Meat Loaf won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo in 1994 for "I'd Do Anything for Love." This song stayed at #1 in the UK charts for seven consecutive weeks. The single features a female vocalist who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud." Mrs. Loud was later identified as Lorraine Crosby, a performer from North East England. Meat Loaf promoted the song with American vocalist Patti Russo who performed lead female vocals on tour with him. In Germany, Meat Loaf became notably popular following the release of ''Bat out of Hell II'' but has enjoyed most of his success among pop/rock fans.

Also in 1994, he was honored by singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, something he says was one of the two biggest highlights of his career. Meat Loaf attempted to follow the success of "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by releasing "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" as a follow-up; this song reached #13 in the US.

''Welcome to the Neighborhood''

In 1995, Meat Loaf released his seventh studio album, ''Welcome to the Neighborhood''. The album went platinum in the United States and the UK. It released three singles which all hit the top 40, including "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (which reached #13 in the US and #2 in the UK charts) and "Not a Dry Eye in the House" (which reached #7 in the UK charts). "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" was a duet with Patti Russo (who had been touring with Meat Loaf and singing on his albums since 1993).

Of the twelve songs on the album, two are written by Jim Steinman. Both are covers, the "Original Sin" from Pandora's Box's Original Sin album (it was also heard in the movie The Shadow, where it was performed by Taylor Dayne) and "Left in the Dark" first appeared on Steinman's own Bad for Good. The video, which had a bigger budget than any of his previous videos, helped the single in its success. Other big hits, namely "I'd Lie for You" and "Not a Dry Eye in the House", were written by Diane Warren.

''The Very Best of Meat Loaf''

In 1998, Meat Loaf released ''The Very Best of Meat Loaf''. Although not reaching the top ten in the UK, it recently went platinum, and was already platinum around the rest of the world just after its release. The album featured all of Meat Loaf's best-known songs, a few from his less popular albums from the 1980s, and three new songs. The music on the two Steinman songs was written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The single from the album was "Is Nothing Sacred", written by Jim Steinman with lyrics by Don Black. The single version of this song is a duet with Patti Russo, whereas the album version is a solo song by Meat Loaf. The album did not feature any songs from his 1986 album Blind Before I Stop.

''Couldn't Have Said It Better''

In 2003, Meat Loaf released his album ''Couldn't Have Said It Better''. Only for the third time in his career, Meat Loaf released an album without any songs written by Jim Steinman (not counting live bonus tracks on special edition releases). Although Meat Loaf claimed that Couldn't Have Said It Better was "the most perfect album [he] did since ''Bat out of Hell''", it was not quite as successful. However, the album was a minor success worldwide and reached #4 in the UK charts, accompanied by a sellout world tour which was used to promote the album and some of Meat Loaf's biggest hits. One such performance on his world tour was at Sydney's 2003 NRL grand final. There were many writers for the album including Diane Warren and James Michael, who were both asked to contribute his 2006 album ''Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose''. Diane Warren has written for Meat Loaf in the past and had some very big hits. James Michael had never written for Meat Loaf before and it was only his songs that were released as singles from the album. The album featured duets with Patti Russo and Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday.

Hair of the Dog and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

On February 20–22, 2004, during Meat Loaf's Australian tour, Meat Loaf did his classics with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, titled ''Bat out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra''. He went as far as to bring in the Australian Boy's Choir to do back-up on a ''Couldn't Have Said It Better'' track, "Testify". The show went on to spawn a DVD and a CD "Meat Loaf and The Neverland Express featuring Patti Russo Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra". The CD had few songs from the concert placed on it and were edited.

Meat Loaf sold out over 160 concerts during his 2005 tour, "Hair of the Dog". On November 17, 2003, during a performance at London's Wembley Arena, on his ''Couldn't Have Said It Better'' tour, he collapsed of what was later diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The following week, he underwent a surgical procedure intended to correct the problem. As a result, Meat Loaf's insurance agency did not allow him to perform for any longer than one hour and 45 minutes.

As well as singing all the classics, he sang a cover version of the hit single "Black Betty". During this tour Meat Loaf also sang "Only When I Feel", a song meant to appear on his then-upcoming album ''Bat out of Hell III''. The song subsequently turned into "If It Ain't Broke (Break It)".

''Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose''

Meat Loaf and Steinman had begun to work on the third installment of ''Bat out of Hell'' when Steinman suffered some health setbacks, including a heart attack. According to Meat Loaf, Steinman was too ill to work on such an intense project while Steinman's manager said health was not an issue. Steinman had registered the phrase "Bat Out Of Hell" as a trademark in 1995. In May 2006, Meat Loaf sued Steinman and his manager in federal District Court in Los Angeles, seeking $50 million and an injunction against Steinman's use of the phrase. Steinman and his representatives attempted to block the album's release. An agreement was reached in July 2006. According to Virgin, "the two came to an amicable agreement that ensured that Jim Steinman's music would be a continuing part of the 'Bat Out Of Hell' legacy."

The album was released on October 31, 2006, and was produced by Desmond Child. The first single from the album, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (featuring Marion Raven) was released on October 16, 2006. It entered the UK singles chart at #6, giving Meat Loaf his highest UK chart position in nearly 11 years. The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 and sold 81,000 copies in its opening week, but after that did not sell well in the U.S. and yielded no hit singles, although it was certified gold. The album also featured duets with Patti Russo and Jennifer Hudson.

In the weeks following the release of ''Bat III'', Meat Loaf and the NLE (The Neverland Express) did a brief tour of America and Europe, known as the Bases Loaded Tour. In 2007, a newer, bigger worldwide tour began, the Seize the Night tour, with Marion Raven, serving as a supporting act, throughout the European and US tour. Portions of the tour in February 2007 were featured in the documentary ''Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise'', directed by Bruce David Klein. The film was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival in 2007. It opened in theaters in March 2008 and was released on DVD in May 2008.

During a performance at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK on October 31, 2007, at the opening of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" he suggested that the crowd of thousands should enjoy the performance as it was the last of his career. He attempted to sing the first line of the song, but instead said "Ladies and gentlemen, I love you, thank you for coming, but I can no longer continue." Removing the jacket he was wearing, he thanked the audience for 30 years, said "goodbye forever" and left the stage. His tour promoter, Andrew Miller, denied that this was the end for Meat Loaf and said he would continue touring after suitable rest. The next two gigs in the tour, at the NEC and Manchester Evening News Arena were cancelled because of "acute laryngitis" and were rescheduled for late November. The concert scheduled for November 6, 2007 at London's Wembley Arena was also cancelled. Meat Loaf cancelled his entire European tour for 2007 after being diagnosed with a cyst on his vocal cords. After releasing a statement he said "It really breaks my heart not to be able to perform these shows" adding "I will be back".

On June 27, 2008, Meat Loaf returned to the stage in Plymouth, England for the first show of his ''Casa de Carne Tour'' alongside his longtime duet partner Patti Russo, who debuted one of her own original songs during his show. The tour continued through July and August with twenty dates throughout England, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Six U.S. showdates were also added for October and December 2008.

''Hang Cool Teddy Bear''

In May 2009, Meat Loaf began work on the album ''Hang Cool Teddy Bear'' in the studio with Green Day's ''American Idiot'' album producer Rob Cavallo, working with such writers as Justin Hawkins, Rick Brantley, Tommy Henriksen and Jon Bon Jovi. Though not much was revealed officially to begin with, Meat Loaf gave away some information through videos he posted on Twitter and Youtube. The album is based on the story of a fictional soldier, whose "story" furnishes the theme. During his March 19, 2011 concert held outside of Vancouver, BC, Canada, Meat explained that he had wanted an inset put with the album to explain what the premise of the album was, but he said there were too many "bleeping" record label politics and it did not get done. He went on to tell the audience that the story was of a soldier who being wounded, had his life flash forward before his eyes, and the songs were telling the story of his life.

The album is based on a short story by L.A.-based screenwriter and director Kilian Kerwin, a long-time friend of the singer. Hugh Laurie and Jack Black both perform on the album, Laurie plays piano on the song "If I Can't Have You", while Black sings a duet with Meat Loaf on "Like A Rose". Patti Russo and Kara DioGuardi also duet on the album. Meat Loaf himself describes the album as the "most important of his career", not as good as ''Bat out of Hell'' but in the same ball park. The guests, he says were not planned but he says the idea of using his friends came only when he saw them fit in a song and not as a commercial gimmick. Queen's Brian May features on guitar along with Steve Vai. It received positive reviews from critics and fans alike. The first single from the album, "Los Angeloser", was released for download on April 5 with the album charting at number 4 in the official UK album chart on April 25, 2010.

The Hang Cool Tour followed in the US, UK and Canada with rave reviews from fans and critics. Patti Russo accompanied him on the tour, continuing through the summer of 2011.

''Hell in a Handbasket''

In May 2011, Meat Loaf confirmed in a video on his YouTube account, that he was in the process of recording a new album called ''Hell In A Handbasket''. According to Meat, the album is being recorded and produced by Paul Crook; Dough McKean will mix with input from Rob Cavallo. The album will feature songs called "All of Me", "Blue Sky", "The Giving Tree", and a duet with Patti Russo called "Our Love And Our Souls". On July 6, the album had to be finished for the record company. It is scheduled for release in October 2011 for Australia/New Zealand, and February 2012 for the rest of the world.

''Future Albums''

Meat Loaf has eight songs for an album after ''Hell in a Handbasket'' and he is coming up with a Christmas album in 2012, called "Hot Holidays". It will feature guest vocals by Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire, plus a few other famous names, including “different rock people and some actors,” he tells Billboard.. He recently said he is going to work with Jim Steinman again, but that Steinman "doesn't know it yet".

Other work

In 2000, he appeared as the viral meningitis addled Confederate Colonel Angus Devine in the sixth season episode "Gettysburg" of ''The Outer Limits'' who is accidentally transported forward in time 150 years in a failed attempt to prevent the assassination of the President in 2013.

He also appeared in the ''South Park'' episode "Chef Aid". In a flashback, Meat Loaf claims that he started out as an unsuccessful artist named Cous-cous. After being booed off stage and almost deciding to quit, Chef tells him that his name might be the problem, and then hands him a plate of meatloaf to cheer him up.

Meat Loaf appears (uncredited) as Jack Black's father in the 2006 film ''Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny'', providing vocals on the film's opening song ''Kickapoo''. In the special features and commentary of the film's DVD release, it is noted that this is the first time Meat Loaf has sung for a movie soundtrack since ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.

Along with his daughter Pearl Aday, and longtime duet partner Patti Russo, he taped an episode of the FOX game show ''Don't Forget the Lyrics!'' which aired on May 22, 2009. In mid-2009, Meat Loaf appeared in TV commercials for A1 Steak Sauce, in conjunction with the product's new slogan "A1 – Makes beef sing". In his commercial for the product, the slogan is "Makes Meat Loaf sing". On October 26, 2010, Meat Loaf appeared (credited as "Meat Loaf Aday") on the Fox show ''Glee'', in "The Rocky Horror Glee Show," their tribute episode to ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.

Meat Loaf recorded a song, Stand in the Storm, with country singer John Rich, rapper Lil Jon, and rocker Mark McGrath with whom he appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. The song is being sold on iTunes, with proceeds going to charity.

Personal life

In 1984 Meat Loaf changed his first name to Michael.

Meat Loaf is a registered Republican.

Family

In December 1978, he went to Woodstock to work with Steinman. It was at the Bearsville studio that Meat Loaf met his future wife, Leslie G. Edmonds; they were married within a month. Leslie had a daughter from a previous marriage, Pearl, who has since followed in her stepfather's footsteps to become a singer.

Aday and his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut in 1979. In 1981, Leslie gave birth to Amanda Aday, now a television actress. For a brief time after Amanda's birth, they moved to nearby Westport. According to Meat Loaf, Pearl, then in the fifth grade, came home crying "because she had the wrong type of jeans and I said, 'That's it. We're gone.'" The family then moved to Redding, Connecticut, "which is much more of a blue-collar, working-class kind of town, and it really didn't make any difference what kind of jeans you were wearing. I really liked it there." Meat Loaf coached children's baseball or softball in each of the Connecticut towns he lived in. In 1998, Meat Loaf relocated to California. Meat and Leslie divorced in 2000 and he has since remarried.

Meat Loaf's daughter, Pearl, is married to Scott Ian, rhythm guitar & songwriter for thrash metal band Anthrax. Their first child, Revel Young Ian, was born on June 19, 2011.

Near-death experiences

Meat Loaf is said to have cheated death on numerous occasions, crashing in a car which rolled over, being struck on the head with a shot during a shot put event, jumping off of a stage during a concert and breaking both of his legs, and being afflicted with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. In October 2006, his private jet had to make an emergency landing at London's Stansted Airport after his plane's forward landing gear failed.

Activism

Meat Loaf is a baseball fan and supporter of the New York Yankees. He is an avid fantasy baseball player and participates in multiple leagues every season.

Meat Loaf is a supporter of the northern English football team Hartlepool United and, in 2003, the BBC reported he was seeking a residence in the nearby area. Meat Loaf currently resides just outside of Calabasas, California, near Saddle Peak and Calabasas Peak.

He also does a considerable amount of charity work, and in June 2008, he took part in a football penalty shootout competition on behalf of two cancer charities in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. He auctioned shots to the 100 highest bidders and then took his place between the goal posts. He also participates in celebrity golf tournaments.

Tours

Bat Out Of Hell Tour 1977-1979

Dead Ringer Tour 1981

Meat Loaf & The NLE Euro Tour '82

Meat Loaf World Tour 1983

Bad Attitude Tour 1984-1985

20/20 Tour 1987-1988

Lost Boys & Golden Girls 1988-1989

1990 Tour

1991-1992 Tour

Everything Louder Tour 1993-1995

Born To Rock Tour 1996

The Very Best Of Tour 1999

Storytellers Tour 1999-2000

Night Of The Proms Tour 2001

Just Having Fun Tour 2002

Couldn't Have Said It Better 2003-2004

The Hair Of The Dog Tour 2005

The Three Bats Tour 2006-2007

The Casa de Carne Tour 2008

The Hang Cool Tour 2010-2011

The Guilty Pleasure Tour 2011-?

Discography

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" width="40%"| |- !Title !Release Year !Character |- |''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' |1975 |Eddie "An ex-delivery boy" |- |''Americathon'' |1979 |Oklahoma Devil, Roy Budnitz |- |''Scavenger Hunt'' |1979 |Scum |- |''Roadie'' |1980 |Travis W. Redfish |- |''Dead Ringer'' |1981 |Meat Loaf, Marvin |- |''Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams'' |1981 |Cameo |- |''Out of Bounds'' |1986 |Gil |- |''The Squeeze'' |1987 |Titus |- |''Motorama'' |1991 | |- |''Wayne's World'' |1992 |Tiny |- |''Leap of Faith'' |1992 |Hoover |- |''To Catch a Yeti'' |1993 |Big Jake Grizzly |- |''Angels in the Outfield'' |1993 |Angel |- |''Bean'' |1997 |Cameo |- |''Spiceworld: The Movie'' |1997 |Dennis |- |''Black Dog'' |1998 |Red |- |''The Mighty'' |1998 |Iggy Lee |- |''Crazy in Alabama'' |1999 |Sheriff John Doggett |- |''Fight Club'' |1999 |Robert 'Bob' Paulson |- |''Blacktop'' |2000 |Jack |- |''The Ballad of Lucy Whipple'' |2001 |Amos "Rattlesnake Jake" Frogge |- |''Face to Face'' |2001 |Driver |- |''Rustin'' |2001 |Coach Trellingsby |- |''Focus'' |2001 |Fred |- |''The 51st State'' |2002 |The Lizard |- |''Wishcraft'' |2002 |Detective Sparky Shaw (as Michael Aday) |- |''The Salton Sea'' |2002 |Bo |- |''A Hole in One'' |2004 |Billy |- |''BloodRayne'' |2005 |Leonid |- |''The Pleasure Drivers'' |2005 |Dale (as Meat Loaf Aday) |- |''Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny'' |2006 |JB's father |- |''Pelts Masters of Horror'' |2006 |Jake Feldman |- |''History Rocks'' |2007 |Himself |- |''Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise'' |2008 |Himself |- |''Tiger Force Forever: Unleashed'' |2009 | |- |''Burning Bright'' |2010 |Howie |- |''Beautiful Boy'' |2010 | |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" width="40%"| |- !Title !Episode Title !Release Year !Character |- |''Strike Force'' |"MIA" |1985 |Adams Family 1971 |- |''The Equalizer'' |"Bump and Run" |1985 | |- |''Tales from the Crypt'' |"What's Cookin'?" |1992 | |- |''The Dead Man's Gun'' |"The Mail Order Bride" |1997 | |- |''Nash Bridges'' |"Wild Card" |1997 | |- |''South Park'' |"Chef Aid" |1998 |Cameo |- |''The Outer Limits'' |"Gettysburg" |2000 | |- |''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' | |2007 | |- |''Private Sessions'' | |2007 | |- |Go-Phone Commercial | |2007 |Singing Father |- |''The F Word'' | |2008 |Himself |- |''Hannity'' | |2009 |Member of Panel |- |''Tiger Force Forever: Unleashed'' | |2009 | |- |''Masters of Horror'' |"Pelts" |2009 |Jake |- |''House, M.D.'' |"Simple Explanation" |2009 |Patient |- |''Don't Forget the Lyrics'' | |2009 | |- |''Ghost Hunters'' |"Bat Out of Hell" |2009 |Himself |- |''Monk'' |"Mr. Monk and the Voodoo Curse" |2009 |Reverend Hadley Jorgensen |- |''Citizen Jane'' | |2009 |Detective Jack Morris |- |''Popstar to Operastar'' | |2010 |Judge |- |''WWE Raw'' | |2010 |Himself |- |''Glee'' |"The Rocky Horror Glee Show" |2010 |Barry Jeffries (Credited as: Meat Loaf Aday) |- |''Ghost Hunters'' |"Sloss Furnaces" |2010 | |- |''This Week'' | |2010 |Himself |- |''The Celebrity Apprentice'' | |2011 |Himself |}

References

Books

External links

Meat Loaf talks about meeting John Lennon, new album 'Hang Cool Teddy Bear' and more on The Rock radio station

Behind The Music: Meat Loaf on VH1classic.com

Meat Loaf's YouTube channel

MeatLoaf on Twitter

Category:1947 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Texas Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American members of the Churches of Christ Category:American television actors Category:American vegetarians Category:Arista Records artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Motown artists Category:MCA Records artists Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Musicians from Dallas, Texas Category:Neverland Express members Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants Category:University of North Texas alumni Category:Pseudonymous musicians

bn:মিট লোফ bg:Мийт Лоуф ca:Meat Loaf cs:Meat Loaf da:Meat Loaf de:Meat Loaf es:Meat Loaf fa:میت لوف fr:Meat Loaf gl:Meat Loaf it:Meat Loaf he:מיטלוף ka:მიტ ლოუფი hu:Meat Loaf nl:Meat Loaf ja:ミートローフ (歌手) no:Meat Loaf pl:Meat Loaf pt:Meat Loaf ro:Meat Loaf ru:Мит Лоуф sk:Meat Loaf sr:Mit Louf fi:Meat Loaf sv:Meat Loaf th:มีต โลฟ tr:Meat Loaf uk:Міт Лоуф

name	Shop Boyz
background	group_or_band
alias	The Boyz of Shop
origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
genre	Hip Hop, Southern Rap
years active	2004-2010
label	OnDeck Records/Universal Republic
associated acts	DJ Drama, Mims, Lil Boosie
website	http://www.shopboyzonline.com
current members	MeanieFatSheed
past members	Rich Shoo }}

The Shop Boyz are an Atlanta-based hip hop group, originating from the Kings Glen Trail in Decatur. They are most known for their single "Party Like a Rockstar" from their debut album ''Rockstar Mentality''. The group is composed of Demetrius "Meany" Hardin, Richard "Fat" Stevens and Rasheed "Sheed" Hightower. In mid-2008, Rich "Shoo" left the group of a battle with Sheed.

Rockstar Mentality

The group's debut album, ''Rockstar Mentality'', was released through OnDeck Records, an imprint of Universal Records on June 19, 2007. The lead single, "Party Like a Rockstar," charted on the ''Billboard'' rap charts as well as "Rocking My New Hair Do" and the Hot 100 (peaking at #2 on the Charts). "Party Like a Rockstar" was the number one selling ringtone of 2007. Despite the success of "Party Like A Rockstar", the album sold fewer than 200,000 copies as of August 24, 2007.

Shop Boyz performed at CollegeFest 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Shop Boyz released a new single called "Up Thru There" in September 2008.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chartpositions
		! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"
2007		* Release date: June 19, 2007	* Label: Universal Republic	11	4	2

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions					Album
		! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"
		2	3	1	10	23
	—	111	—	—	—
2008		—	79	—	—	—

References

External links

Official website

Even Rappers Want to Be Rock Stars, ''The New York Times''. Published April 22, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2007.

Shop Boyz Category:American hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Southern hip hop groups

de:Shop Boyz pt:Shop Boyz