Meat Loaf whose rock operas catapulted him to the status of musical icon has died. His 1977 album Bat Out of Hell spent nearly 500 weeks in the British pop charts and became one of the biggest selling records of all time. ‘Combining roaring guitars, strong melodies and Meat Loaf’s powerful vocals ranging over three octaves, Bat Out of Hell created a genre entirely its own.’ Overall he sold more than 100 million albums in an incredible six decade career. He performed in Broadway musicals and starred in several movies including Rocky Horror, Spiceworld and Fight Club.
He was born 27 September 1947 4.23pm Dallas, Texas with gospel singer parents, his father also being an alcoholic and violent.
The demands of overnight celebrity and continuous touring in the late 1970s sent him into a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled breakdown. His career had ups and downs but he staged a strong comeback and continued touring in recent years despite a litany of health complaints.
He had an intensely emotional and influential 8th house Sun, Neptune, Venus conjunction; with his Pisces Moon inconjunct in his 1st. His 6th house of health had Mars in Cancer as well as Pluto Saturn in Leo – throughout his life he struggled with his weight, addictions and latterly heart problems.
Exactly now he had his Solar Arc Pluto square his 6th house Mars and his Progressed Moon exactly square his Progressed Mars; with both tr Pluto and tr Saturn moving through his hidden, trapped 12th. He died of covid and gave interviews saying he was scared to death of the virus but wouldn’t be dictated to over masks. He never admitted whether he had been vaccinated.
His soul-mate and creative, musical, songwriting partner Jim Steinman tragically died last April. In an interview Meat Loaf said of their at times rocky five decade road together – “he was the centerpiece of my life. We belonged heart and soul to each other. We didn’t know each other. We were each other.”
Steinman, 1 November 1947 New York, had a super-intense chart with a Sun, Mercury and Venus spread out through Scorpio; and Pluto, Mars, Saturn conjunct in Leo. He did have a Gemini Moon to lighten up his load but he would clash at times with Meat Loaf, since they were alike. Steinman’s Jupiter in upbeat Sagittarius was conjunct Meat Loaf’s Midheaven which would make career success more likely when they were together.
About Queen Gnarly Dude, drummer Roger Taylor born 1949, Roger Deacon bassist born 1951. Freddie Mercury born 1946. Not sure if they also have this influence in their charts. I do know as a late boomer I am proud of the musical accomplishments of many of my peer group.
Thanks for adding Jim Steinman Marjorie. The two men were inseparable in one another’s success, and it’s interesting to see their Scorpio S Nodes with Meat Loaf’s Jupiter, and Steinman’s Venus, linked together. Meat Loaf did say, apparently, that he thought he might die soon after Steinman’s death last year. It reminded me of the story of Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, and how Cohen died not long after she did. I don’t know what astrology might have been involved there though. Something very poignant at the heart of these stories, and rather beautiful.
Any chance of a synastry/composite for him and Jim Steinman, his collaborator on the Bat Out of Hell albums who died last April. See if we can tease out the success factor.
Thanks Marjorie – really appreciate the way you pick up and run with these requests at the drop of a hat. Many wouldn’t.
Yes, it’s amazing how she is able to produce these so quickly!
Glad we had him for 74 years considering his health was pretty rough. I heard he was ill long before Covid. Good bye to a great guy. He may have struggled with masks due to asthma, who usually have exemptions from wearing one.
Article:
Inside Meat Loaf’s Health Troubles, Including Vocal Strain, Alcoholism and Onstage Collapses
Before his death at the age of 74, the rocker endured decades of physical setbacks, struggled with mental health and battled addiction
https://people.com/music/meat-loaf-health-troubles/
“He died of covid and gave interviews saying he was scared to death of the virus but wouldn’t be dictated to over masks”
Sounds very much like the Saturn-Pluto in Leo (and in the 6th along with Mars) kicking in.
There’s a fair few successful musicians born in 47-48 with Saturn-Pluto in Leo – David Bowie, Elton John, Mick Fleetwood / Stevie Nicks, Brian May, Don Henley / Don Felder / Joe Walsh / Glenn Frey (Eagles), Marc Bolan, Jeff Lynne, Alice Cooper, Shakin’ Stevens (!), Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steven Tyler, Steve Winwood, John Bonham / Robert Plant (Led Zepp), Ozzy Osborne to pick the better known.
Maybe it’s an illusion based on my age and memories and I could find equally loaded years in say the 60s but so much talent and the ability to actually play instruments.
Modern music seems much more of an Aquarian manufacturing groups, autotuning their voices and using samples to create a new sound. Not to say, it’s all terrrible – just a different world and way of doing things which is how the world moves on.
You’re not wrong, my mother had that same “Leo trio” as I call it, she was also very musical.
What do you think of this? Saturn? 🙂
https://www.iflscience.com/brain/we-stop-discovering-new-music-at-a-certain-age-heres-why/
N.B. – anecdotally, I noticed something with a medical support group I help with occasionally – one week we had a theme of “music through the ages” and these people, who were mostly aged 40-60, lost interest around 1990ish and I thought “Well this last 30 years is going to be hard work” 😀
But – suddenly around 2005ish the group perked up again (especially loving Amy Winehouse), so I’m not sure…
I’m a Saturn in Gemini person so I’m always learning. That said, I’ve finally found myself getting more narrow-minded in my fifties; but I think that’s to do with transiting Saturn hitting the top of my chart so I’m crystallising a cycle of learning.
I don’t think it’s a biological process to become narrow-minded, more a case of learning to discern better. There’s modern music I like, but there is also a lot of dross because the executives are using the same formula over and over for a cash grab. When I look back to the music I listened to as a teenager, some of it I now shake my head and think “Omg that really was terrible, what did I see/hear in that?”. Equally some of the stuff I liked then, I appreciate even better now because I have better understanding of why it is so magnificently constructed. My philosophy to life is that it’s about learning to discern what works for you, what doesn’t support you while staying open to new stuff and being willing to reinvent where necessary.
Ultimately, I treat the science of ageing sceptically. It’s skewed by the attitudes of people believing they have to decline. In recent years, there’ve been TV programmes taking people in their 80s and showing that with simply a little exercise or crosswording, they can begin to improve their physical and cognitive skills. I’m pretty certain you can find 80-year-olds who love modern garage music or whatever because they still want new experiences. And if one can do it, then it’s almost certainly not a biological process.
Thank you GD. Yes tastes definitely change over time and some music, like Meatloaf, will appeal to a broad range of people over a long time. It’s also about what we remember – there was as much cheesy, commerical stuff in the 60’s as the 90’s (Ken Dodd?!?), but as you get older you’ll discern and cherry pick the good stuff, as it were.
I think that much of the science of ageing agrees with you, that people who maintain their openess to experience will show less decline later. The biological process is that we cannot create new neurons (neurogenesis) but we can make new connections (neuroplasticity). We’re still in the tail end of Venus retrograde, it’s just beginning to station, so a great time to rediscover and also reappraise. It doesn’t always work – I think that Ed Sheeran seems like a nice guy and a comptentant enough musician, but his music to me is still meh
However GD, the octogenerians will tell you that garage music isn’t modern, it’s from well over a quarter of a century ago. I hear they’re well into grime these days 😉 ;p
(Actually, my 97 year old neighbour loves Radiohead 😀 )