Jim Steinman, Musical Mastermind Behind Meat Loaf & Céline Dion, Dead At 73
Jim Steinman, the mastermind behind multiple pop music hits over the past 40 years, has died at 73.
Steinman — who collaborated with Meat Loaf, Céline Dion, Bonnie Tyler, Barbra Streisand, Def Leppard and more — reportedly died on Monday, April 19, in Connecticut.
While his cause of death has not been revealed, he passed away after an undisclosed medical emergency, which occurred at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 18, the state's medical examiner confirmed.
The Grammy-winning hitmaker worked on a bulk of Meat Loaf's multi-platinum 1977 record, Bat Out of Hell, which became one of the best-selling albums of all time. The project included hits "You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth" and "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
Steinman and Meat Loaf continued to work together for the 1993 album Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which featured the smash-hit "I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” — Steinman wrote and produced the song.
The iconic songwriter was known for drawing inspiration from works of art.
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For example, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was said to have inspired his tune "It’s All Coming Back to Me Now," which was most famously performed by Dion. Critics praised Dion's 1996 recording of the song, claiming it undoubtedly paved the way for her iconic, global career.
In 1997, the record producer won his first and only Grammy for writing on Dion's album Falling Into You.
Despite only winning one Grammy, his work never went unnoticed. While reflecting on Dion's mega-hit "It’s All Coming Back to Me Now," bassist and backup singer Kasim Sulton commended Steinman for his genius lyrics.
"The first line in the song is, ‘There are nights when the wind was so cold.’ It’s just classic [songwriter] Steinman [with] the descriptions," he shared on the REELZ documentary Céline Dion: Child Star To Superstar.
Steinman also worked on many of Tyler's albums, writing and producing her biggest hit, "Total Eclipse of the Heart." In addition, the rock legend composed Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and Barry Manilow's "Read 'Em and Weep," originally written for Meat Loaf.
Steinman suffered from a stroke in 2004, which left him temporarily unable to speak. During a speech at Amherst College in 2013, he revealed he spent years relearning to use his voice.
TMZ was the first to confirm Steinman's death.
