FINAL WORDS
Meat Loaf’s tragic final Facebook post saying ‘I’m back’ as Bat Out Of Hell star was set for comeback with new TV show
MEAT Loaf posted a message to fans about his comeback on a new TV show less than two months before his death last night aged 74.
The rock legend was about to start filming a dating series - due to air on ITV - named after his hit song I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That).
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He was also set to go back in to the music studio this month to record tracks for a new EP.
In his last post Facebook on November 29 - while still recovering from his latest painful back surgery - he wrote excitedly about his non-stop schedule.
It included new appearances on Cameo, an app where fans can buy personalised videos from celebrities.
Meat Loaf said: "YES KIDS IT'S TRUE.... I am back on Cameo for all of December and till January the 3rd.
"We start recording on the 5th. Hoping the TV show will start up in March.
"Love You, God Bless, Be Well, and most of all Stay Safe. Meat."
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It was accompanied by a moody photo of him wearing a leather jacket in a recording studio.
A week earlier the star posted another update saying his four back ops had left him in so much pain he could not walk.
🔵 Read our Meat Loaf live blog for the latest updates on his death
But he said he was "so excited" to start recording new tracks, which would be released along with live recordings from his archive.
Meat added: "Our TV show is a go. It is, I promise like nothing you have ever seen before!
"It will be amazing. Well, if you like music with great singing, challenge Games, and a little 'Fear Factor' thrown in. You will Love it!!"
Meat Loaf was executive producer as well as host on the dating show I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That), which had been signed by ABC in the US and ITV in Britain and Australia.
Producers said it will see participating couples “compete in a variety of comedic physical games designed to reveal how well they can work together – all to a soundtrack of classic hits performed live in the studio.”
In October he he was looking at going on tour again this year or next.
He said: "I'm not done yet.
"I keep leaving messages for the agent - 'Let's do five weeks, 16 shows in America, take a little break, then do 16 shows in Europe, take a break, do another 16 somewhere else."
Meat Loaf had also recorded an appearance on a wacky ghost hunting show, following a team of investigators to a haunted farm in Tennessee, which is due to air on Discovery+ next month.
His death last night after a stellar career spanning six decades sparked tributes around the world.
The news was posted on his official Facebook page, revealing he died on Thursday night with wife by his side.
The statement said: "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight with his wife Deborah by his side.
"Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours.
"His amazing career spanned six decades that saw him sell over 100 million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including Fight Club, Focus, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne’s World.
"Bat Out of Hell remains one of the top ten selling albums of all time.
"We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man.
"We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time. From his heart to your souls…don’t ever stop rocking!"
Failing health
The rock veteran had been plagued with health issues and rumours that he was dying ever since he collapsed onstage in June 2016.
He had appeared in a number of interviews with slurred speech, with even Katie Price telling him she thought he had died.
He was forced to deny he'd passed away again two months after further back surgery to remove a cyst.
He said: “Listen, I am not dying. After three months of therapy I will be fine. I am sick of talking about it. I don’t want to talk about it from now on.
"And anyone else who asks me the question, I’m not going to respond to it.”
In 2012, Meat Loaf claimed dying on stage would be the "best thing" that could happen to him.
"I’ll die for ya," he said in an interview with
"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."
Meat Loaf was last pictured on stage on March 27 last year when he performed with country artist John Rich at Redneck Riviera in Nashville.
The singer's cause of death has not yet been revealed.
He was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, in 1947, forming his first band Meat Loaf Soul in the 1960s and legally changing his name to Michael Lee Aday.
He had the nickname Meat Loaf since he was a child and kept it when he went on stage.
In 2016 he told Oprah he was "born bright red" and his father called him Meat because he "looked like nine and a half pounds of ground chuck.”
The second part reportedly came when he was 13 and accidentally stepped on his sports coach, who yelled: “Get off my foot, you hunk of meat loaf!”
Meat Loaf's colourful career saw him not only wow fans with his music, but also with his theatrics as he appeared in more than 50 movies and television shows - including the 1997 film Spice World.
In 1973, he was cast in the original LA Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show, playing the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott.
'Rebellious chameleon'
Piers Morgan was among stars mourning the rock legend, writing on Twitter: "RIP Meat Loaf, 74.
"One of rock music’s all-time great characters whose seminal iconic album Bat Out Of Hell is one of the biggest-selling records in history.
"A wondrously talented, flamboyant, funny, outrageous and rebellious chameleon. Sad news."
Singer Cher said she had "so much fun" with Meat Loaf when she worked with him on his 1981 album Dead Ringer.
In a tribute posted to Twitter, she added: "Am Very Sorry For His Family, Friends, & Fans.
"Am I imagining It, or Are Amazing Ppl In The Arts Dying every other Day."
Actor Stephen Fry tweeted: "I hope paradise is as you remember it from the dashboard light, Meat Loaf.
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"Had a fun time performing a sketch with him on Saturday Live way back in the last century.
"He had the quality of being simultaneously frightening and cuddly, which is rare and rather wonderful."
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Meat Loaf gives energetic performance of iconic track Bat Out of Hell
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