Meat Loaf: What was his real name, how did he get his stage name and what were Meat Loaf's most popular songs?

Meat Loaf's agent confirmed his death this morning on the artist's Facebook page, stating that they were left 'broken hearted’.

But what was Meat Loaf's real name and what were his most popular songs?

Here's everything you need to know:

What was Meat Loaf's real name?

Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947.

However The Rocky Horror Picture Show actor changed his name to Michael Lee Aday in 1984.

Where did his stage name come from?

Meat Loaf stated that he was humiliated when he was younger by an advert that made fun of people who couldn't fit into their jeans.

The advert had the line: 'Poor fat Marvin can't wear Levi's.’

This contributed to serious body-image issues for the singer, which lead to his name change.

He told Piers Morgan Live on CNN: 'When I was a kid I was so big – I was really big- that I literally could not wear blue jeans.

'My mother would take me to Sears, and they didn't make blue jeans that would fit me. I wore pleated pants in the first grade.’

His nickname as a child then became 'meat', which was given to him by his father, according to an interview that Meat Loaf did back in 2006 with Oprah Winfrey.

His dad joked that his son was bright red when he was born and looked like 'nine and a half pounds of ground chuck'.

'Loaf' was added when the singer played football in high school.

According to reports, Meat Loaf accidentally stood on his coach's foot, which led to the coach saying 'get off my foot, you hunk of meatloaf!

Meat Loaf then became the star’s stage name.

What were Meat Loaf's most popular songs?

Meat Loaf had a successful career with many chart-topping classics.

His Bat Out of Hell debut album, which was released in 1977 was one of his biggest-selling albums in history.

His 10-minute song 'Bat Out of Hell' that featured on the album reached number 15 in the UK in 1979.

I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) is one of the singer's greatest songs of all time.

The 1993 smash-hit with Lorraine Crosby has left fans questioning what the 'thing' is that he wouldn't do for love.

The lyric is repeated nine times throughout the song, which is from his album Bat Out of Hell II: Back to Hell, and was co-written by Jim Steinman.

The singer explained in an interview back in 2009 that there isn't just one thing he wouldn't do for love as the 'thing' changes throughout the song.

He explained: ' When we were recording it, Jim brings up the thing – he says, “People aren’t gonna know what that is.” I said, “Of course they are. How can they not know?” He goes, “They’re not gonna.”

"It’s the line before every chorus, there’s nine of them, I think. The problem lies because Jimmy likes to write, so you forget what the line was before you get to “I won’t do that.”‘

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The 'things' according to the lyrics include 'forget the way you feel right now', 'forgive myself if we don't go all the way tonight', 'do it better than I did with you' and 'stop dreaming of you every night of my life'.

The power ballad was Meat Loaf's first and only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK singles chart.

It also became the best-selling single of 1993 in the UK.

Other notable songs include ‘You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth’ and his version of ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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