Jim Steinman
Composer and producer
BORN NOVEMBER 1, 1947 – DIED APRIL 19, 2021, AGED 73
JIM Steinman didn’t write songs, he composed mini operatic musicals which he termed “Wagnerian Rock”.
“My songs are anthems to those moments when you feel like you’re on the head of a match that’s burning,” he said. “They’re anthems to the essence of rock ’n’ roll, to a world that despises inaction and loves passion and rebellion.”
The Grammy-winning composer made his name with Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell in 1977, creating one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
Sixteen years later he wrote Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, another multi-platinum hit featuring No.1 hit I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
He also wrote Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Celine Dion’s It’s All Coming Back To Me Now and Air Supply’s Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.
Each ballad built to a thundering crescendo underpinned by drums and warbling vocals. Critics could be sniffy but he didn’t care. “I’ve been called over the top. How silly,” he said. “If you don’t go over the top, you can’t see what’s on the other side.”
Steinman was born in New York. While studying in Massachusetts, he created the musical The Dream Engine, which led Joseph Papp of the New York Shakespeare Festival to ask him to provide the music and lyrics for the musical More Than You Deserve.
When he met Meat Loaf on his musical More Than You Deserve it resulted in a legendary partnership.
He also wrote the lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1996 musical Whistle Down The Wind. In 2012, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Steinman suffered a stroke in 2004. His brother, Bill Steinman, said he had been ill for some time and died of kidney failure.