Jim Steinman, who wrote and composed music for Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion and many more, died on Monday, April 19th. He was 73 years old.
The Connecticut chief coroner’s office has confirmed Steinman’s death Rolling Stone. There was no cause of death.
A statement posted on Steinman’s Facebook page read: “With a heavy heart I can confirm Jim’s passing. There will be much more to say in the coming hours and days as we prepare to honor this giant of a human being and his glorious legacy. For now, do something that makes you feel young, happy and free. He would like this for you! ”
Steinman’s unique career has led him to work as a composer, lyricist and producer for a number of artists in a variety of styles. According to a biography on his website, the records he worked on sold over 190 million copies worldwide. He was nominated for four Grammy Awards throughout his career, eventually winning the Album of the Year for his work in Dion’s 1996 film, Falling in love with you.
Steinman began his career in musical theater, writing and performing in a musical while in college. The engine of dreams, which caught the attention of New York theater producer Joe Papp. After graduation, Steinman worked at the New York Public Theater (which Papp founded) and juggled various creative projects. In 1973, Yvonne Elliman recorded Steinman’s “Happy Ending,” which became Steinman’s first commercially released song. In the same year, the Public Theater staged its musical More than you deserve.
One of the actors who auditioned More than you deserve it was Meat Loaf, and he and Steinman soon entered into a close personal and professional relationship. The two began working on Meat Loaf’s solo debut, Bat Out of Hell, in the early 1970s, but the album was not released until 1977. Only a year later – after Meat Loaf sang on Saturday night live – that the album became a certified hit.
“There is no other composer like him,” Meat Loaf said at Steinman’s entrance to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012. “I can never reward him. In fact, he was such an influence, the biggest influence on my life, and I learned so much from him that there would be no way I could repay Mr. Jim Steinman. ”
Despite the success Bat Out of Hellhowever, the relationship between Meat Loaf and Steinman began to fall apart after Steinman began working on a sequel to Roy Bittan, Bruce Springsteen’s keyboardist, without saying Meat Loaf. Although they completed and released Dead Ringer In 1981, Steinman and Meat Loaf worked together more sporadically and were frequently involved in lawsuits against each other.
In the 1980s, Steinman collaborated with Barbra Streisand, Sisters of Mercy, and Fire Inc. He produced Bonnie Tyler records, including in 1983 Faster than the speed of light (which contained Steinman’s hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart”) and 1986 Secret dreams and forbidden fire; composed the theme song for pro fighter Hulk Hogan; and wrote “Holding for a Hero” for Footloose soundtrack (sung by Tyler). Meat Loaf also recorded a handful of Steinman songs for the 1984s Bad attitude, while in 1989 Steinman released the album Original None with his group Pandora’s Box.
In the early 1990s, Meat Loaf and Steinman reunited properly, and in 1993 they launched Bat Out of Hell II: Back in Hell, who presented the hit “I would do anything for love (but I will not do that)”. A few years later, Steinman became attached to Dion, producing Falling in love with you and writing her hit, “Everything’s Back to Me Now.” Steinman also took over several musical theater projects in the 1990s, collaborating with Andrew Lloyd Webber on They whistled in the wind and creates his own project, vampire dance, which opened in Austria in 1997.
In 2006, Meat Loaf was released Bat Out of Hell III: Monster Is Loose, which was credited and promoted as another production with Steinman, but the couple was again involved in a legal dispute and collaborated on it shortly (In an interview with Steinman Rolling Stone, Meat Loaf acknowledged that the album “should never have happened” and said: “For me, this record is non-existent.” Braver than we are.
“My songs are hymns,” Steinman said Rolling Stone in 1978, “at those moments when you feel like you’re in charge of a burning match. They are hymns to the essence of rock & roll, to a world that despises inaction and loves passion and rebellion. There are hymns like the feeling you hear “Be My Baby” by Ronettes. That’s what I like about hymns – anger, melody and passion. ”