Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler pay emotional tributes to 'Bat Out of Hell' songwriter Jim Steinman

21 April 2021, 10:15

Meat Loaf has paid tribute to his longtime collaborator, Jim Steinman, who has died at the age of 73.

"Coming here soon, my brother Jimmy. Fly Jimmy fly," Meat Loaf wrote. His words went alongside a series of photos of the two from throughout their successful career.

Jim Steinman died on Monday (April 19). The songwriter and producer had a long and fruitful partnership with Meat Loaf, starting with the singer's 1977 debut album, Bat Out of Hell, which Steinman wrote.

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The epic album featured several classic rock anthems, including 'You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)' and 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light', and is one of the best-selling albums of all time.

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Steinman also wrote the majority or entirety of three other classic Meat Loaf albums: 1981's Dead Ringer, 1993's Bat Out of Hell: Back Into Hell and 2016's Braver Than We Are.

The Bat Out of Hell sequel contained the ballad 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)', giving Meat Loaf a massive comeback in the early 1990s.

Steinman met Meat Loaf in 1973 when writing music and lyrics for the musical More Than You Deserve, which co-starred the singer.

"From the minute he walked in, I was stunned," Steinman said of Meat Loaf's audition back in 2003. "I thought he was astonishing. He's just one of those people who walks in and it's the equivalent of an enormous cat pissing on the door. Just stakes territory immediately."

Steinman also wrote hits for many other singers, including Bonnie Tyler's classic 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', and Celine Dion's 'It's All Coming Back to Me Now', which Meat Loaf later covered.

On Facebook, Tyler remembered Steinman as a "true genius."

"Jim wrote and produced some of the most iconic rock songs of all time and I was massively privileged to have been given some of them by him," she said.

"I made two albums with Jim, despite my record company initially thinking he wouldn’t want to work with me, thankfully they were wrong."

She also described Steinman as "a funny, kind, supportive, and deeply caring human being. I will always be grateful to him for the opportunity to work with him and also to know him too."

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