MUSIC ICON JIM WROTE CLASSICS
ROCK writing legend Jim Steinman whose hits catapulted Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler to stardom has died.
The 73-year-old was best known for his songwriting work on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell one of the best selling albums of all time as well as writing and producing the hit, I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
He was also behind Tyler’s global hit Total Eclipse Of The Heart and Holding Out For A Hero.
Steinman, known for helping to create “Popera”, was also the brains behind another power ballad, It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, first recorded by Pandora’s Box and then made famous by Celine Dion.
Tribute
Proving his versatility he also contributed to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1996 musical Whistle Down The Wind. He said his work was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and the records he worked on have sold 190million copies.
He was taken to the hospital on Sunday after an ambulance was called to his house in Connecticut. He died later but a cause of death has not been given.
He suffered a stroke in 2004 and temporarily lost the ability to speak saying later he had to “relearn” speech. Paying tribute to him, screenwriter Brian Lynch tweeted: “Rest in Peace Jim Steinman. Such a genius. I’m such a fan of his music. And it’s SO great for writing to, it helps bring out every emotion.”
In 2012 Steinman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Meat Loaf said of his friend: “There is no other songwriter ever like him. I can never repay him. He has been such an influence, in fact, the biggest influence on my life”.