The American songwriter and music producer Jim Steinman was known for his showy, operatic rock creations. His grandiose music reflected his profound and stubborn self-belief which allowed him to remain unswayed when the debut album he wrote for Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell, was turned down by all the major record labels before finally being released in 1977. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time (50 million copies and counting).
Deeply inspired by both Mahler and Wagner (the LA Times dubbed him the “Richard Wagner of Rock‘n’Roll”), Steinman was unconcerned by contemporary music trends and the opinions of critics. He stood out from the crowd and his eccentric fashion choices reflected this. According to lyricist Don Black, “He looked like Dracula, he wore skull and crossbones jewellery – he wasn’t your regular normal chap.”
Steinman was born in Hewlett, Long Island, New York. His father Louis owned a steel distribution warehouse and his mother Eleanor taught Latin. After graduating from high school he attended Amherst College in Massachusetts. It was at Amherst where Steinman’s talents found their natural outlet and in 1969 he wrote and starred in The Dream Engine, a self-described “epic rock spectacle”. Steinman did not have to wait long for success -– Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival – was in the audience and immediately bought the rights and commissioned him to pen a musical, More Than You Deserve, which was staged at New York’s Public Theater in 1973. This was the catalyst for Steinman’s future collaboration with Meat Loaf, who, then a young actor named Marvin Lee Aday, auditioned and was cast in the show.
Steinman’s bombastic compositions and Meat Loaf’s dramatic vibrato were a match made in epic-rock heaven. Meat Loaf regarded Steinman as a far better writer than he was: “Why would I ever want to write a song when I’ve got someone like Jim Steinman?” His magnum opus, Bat Out of Hell (which over the years evolved into a trilogy), showcased Steinman’s skill for multi-part composition, moving away from rock’s traditional verse/chorus structure and displaying exaggerated lyrics laden with teenage passion and fury. Steinman described his style in Rolling Stone (1978): “My songs are anthems to the essence of rock’n’roll, to a world that despises inaction and loves passion and rebellion.”
He was not one for hiding from the spotlight – he craved recognition and insisted on a front-cover credit on the album. Steinman later claimed his name was considered too Jewish by the marketing team to be given equal billing at the top of the cover, and thus was shunted to the bottom. Meat Loaf reflected on Steinman’s ambitions in a Rolling Stone interview after his death: “Really, he wanted to be a celebrity – he thought that people didn’t know what he did with Bat Out Of Hell – Jim wanted the world to know.”
The duo’s other hits included the singles You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad and I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). The two were professionally (and personally) inseparable for many years, despite the odd legal dispute. On Radio 4’s Last Word, Meat Loaf’s fittingly dramatic description highlighted the intensity of their relationship: “Jim wasn’t my friend, he was my other wife. And I’ve always said I’m Henry the Eighth and he was Anne Boleyn”.
Notwithstanding their seemingly inseparable relationship, Steinman achieved success with other artists, too. He wrote and produced Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 number one hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart. Tyler was overjoyed to record the song and described its anthemic power in The Guardian, 2009: “So many people say they fell in love to it and it means a hell of a lot to them – I never get tired of singing it.”
Steinman achieved another hit with Tyler when Holding out for a Hero was released as part of the soundtrack for the 1984 film Footloose. Despite being panned by some critics for its “laughable” lyrics and “piano riffs [which] come dangerously close to cheese” the song’s raw emotional power nevertheless led it to worldwide success.
In 1996 Céline Dion’s recording of his Wuthering Heights-inspired power ballad, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now was an international hit, upsetting Meat Loaf who wanted the song for himself. Steinman also received a Grammy award for producing her album Falling Into You in 1997.
His work producing songs for goth-rock band the Sisters of Mercy’s 1987 Floodlands album allowed a new audience to witness his outrageous production style. This Corrosion, described by lead singer Andrew Eldritch as “the high-point of a Borgia’s disco evening”, opens with a 40 piece choir and becomes gradually more darkly dramatic as it progresses. It remains one of the band’s best-known songs.
The composer enjoyed musical theatre success in the 1990s, collaborating on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind which, despite disappointing box office returns in the US, achieved far greater things when it transferred to London’s West End. The show spawned a number one hit in 1998 with Boyzone’s version of No Matter What.
Steinman was still ploughing on with his Bat Out Of Hell franchise in 2017, breaking box office records with his stage version in Manchester and London’s West End. Sadly the pandemic put paid to any touring plans.
Steinman never married; perhaps the closest thing he came to a life partner was Meat Loaf. His monumental rock anthems and ballads expressed an over-the-top passion that evaded him in real life. Apart from his songs, which have permeated popular culture worldwide, possibly his greatest legacy is his majestic bravura, never bowing to pressure to be anything other than his eccentric, bombastic self. He is survived by his brother Bill.
DALIAH SHERRINGTON
James Richard Steinman: born November 1, 1947. Died April 19, 2021
