Music Legend Meat Loaf, known for hits like Bat Out Of Hell, has died at the age of 74, his family has announced.
A post on his official Facebook page said the star’s wife Deborah was at his side.
Meatloaf, affectionately called Meat, was one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records.
The singer, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday, sold millions of albums worldwide, with the Bat Out Of Hell trilogy among his most popular musical offerings - and also had an interesting personal life.
Hit single I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) reached number one in 28 countries and earned him a Grammy award.
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Greta Thunberg 'brainwashed'
He once accused schoolgirl eco-warrior Greta Thunberg of being “brainwashed”, saying climate change doesn’t exist.
In 2020, Meat said: "I feel for that Greta. She has been brainwashed into thinking that there is climate change and there isn't.
"She hasn't done anything wrong but she's been forced into thinking that what she is saying is true."
Thunberg, who has become a figurehead for the global environmental movement, responded to the musician on Twitter.
“It’s not about Meatloaf. It’s not about me. It’s not about what some people call me. It’s not about left or right,” she tweeted.
"It’s all about scientific facts. And that we’re not aware of the situation. Unless we start to focus everything on this, our targets will soon be out of reach."
Health battles
The rock n' roll star had spoken openly about his health issues in the past - including his asthma, which caused him to collapse on stage during a concert in Pittsburgh in 2011, and in 2003 he collapsed at Wembley Arena in London and was admitted to hospital.
He was even plagued by rumours he was dying after collapsing on stage in June 2016, due to severe dehydration.
Following the alarming incident, the hitmaker told how he couldn't stand up for longer than five minutes due to an extremely painful back injury.
The singer has a pinched nerve and has also been struck down by a swollen tongue which means he has to talk slower than usual.
At the time he told the Mirror said: "I don't do drugs. I don't drink," but admitted he freaked out after watching back his slurred interview on TV.
"I have a pinched nerve in my back and it feels like when I stand up to walk, that Norman Bates from Psycho is stabbing me in the back. And it hurts like hell."
In 2017, he had four back surgeries, which the Texas-born singer dubbed as "excruciating.".
He recalled: "There was a loose screw in my first surgery and they tried to fix it by putting things called 'baskets' underneath my spine, but they fell out within a month, leaving me in excruciating pain. I don't remember being alive - I don't even know the pain I was in."
He previously claimed dying on stage would be the "best thing" that could happen to him.
In an interview with Tinnitist, he said: "I'll die for ya. I literally will die for an audience. The best thing that could ever happen to me is that I die onstage.
"Because then I’m dying doing what I love. I hate to cut us off but I gotta go."
11 years as a veggie
The star shot an advert for Frankie and Benny's new vegan line in 2020 - although he rejected calls to rebrand as 'Veg Loaf'
At the time, he told how he turned veggie for 11 years after being served a dish that turned his stomach.
Describing the distressing incident, he recalled: "The guy we were with said, 'I've had rabbit here before and it's really good.
"So we ordered rabbit and they brought out a rabbit with its head on - no ears but a head. I thought,'I don't think so'."
