Meat Loaf's father gave rock star name because he looked like 'meat'

Story behind Meat Loaf's name

Speaking during an interview in 2016 with FOX 5 NY morning program 'Good Day New York', rock superstar Meat Loaf said his father gave him the name "meat."

NEW YORK - Rock star and actor Meat Loaf passed away Thursday after becoming ill with COVID-19. He was 74 years old.

Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, the singer behind the mega-selling "Bat Out of Hell" album and the iconic songs "Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad" and "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," used the stage name Meat Loaf. Its alleged origins range from his weight to a favorite recipe of his mother’s.

But during an interview in 2016 with FOX 5 NY morning program ‘Good Day New York,' Aday explained- while imitating his father's Texas twang- how he got the name in the hospital only days after being born.

"My son looks like four and a half pounds of ground chuck. (Because I was bright red,)" said Aday. "So I want you to put on his crib right there in the slot, in the little plastic slot, put meatloaf. Put meat. (I'm sure the nurses were 'no, you can't.) I want you to put meat in that slot. Move that crib right to the middle so when everybody comes up they see meat."

Aday would go on to be raised by his school teacher mother after she divorced his father, a police officer.

"So I've been called Meat since I was four days old," said Aday.

In 1977 when "Bat Out of Hell" was released, he became one of the most recognizable performers in rock. Fans fell hard for the roaring vocals and the 250-plus pound singer.

He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday.