Late one night in October 1977 was a defining moment in my life when I heard the title track of Bat Out of Hell by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. At a time when singles lasted three minutes this went on for eight and left me wanting to hear more. The next weekend I went up to Edinburgh to buy my first ever album, little realising what a global sensation it would become in the months to come. Forty four years later Jim Steinman’s death came as a total shock and this is my tribute to the person who was my most important musical influence, not Donizetti, or Mozart, or Bellini or Verdi or Puccini but in the words of rock writer Paul Stenning “the greatest ever composer of symphonic rock“. RIP Jim!

James Richard Steinman (01 November 1947 – 19 April 2021) was an American composer, lyricist, record producer, and playwright who was known as the Richard Wagner of rock and the
Father of the Power Ballad. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, musical theater, and film score genres.

His work included albums such as Meat Loaf‘s Bat Out of Hell (which is one of the best selling albums of all time) and Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and producing albums for Bonnie Tyler. His most successful chart singles include Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart“, Air Supply‘s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All“, Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)“, the Sisters of Mercy‘s “This Corrosion” and “More“, Barry Manilow‘s “Read ‘Em and Weep“, Celine Dion‘s cover of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” (originally released by Steinman’s project Pandora’s Box) and Boyzone‘s “No Matter What” (the group’s first and only single to be popular and chart in the US, and for which Steinman only wrote the lyrics). Steinman’s only solo album Bad for Good was released in 1981.

Jim Steinman’s work also extended to musical theater, where he began his career. Steinman was credited with the book, music, and lyrics for Bat Out of Hell: The Musical, as well as lyrics for Whistle Down the Wind. He also wrote the score for Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires), a musical staged by Roman Polanski, which opened in Vienna in 1997 to rave reviews and record box office. It has been officially declared “the most successful musical ever to emerge from Continental Europe.”