Tributes have poured in this morning for legendary musician Meat Loaf, who has died at the age of 74.
The I’d Do Anything For Love singer passed away yesterday, with his wife, daughters and some close friends by his side.
Meat Loaf, real name Michael Lee Aday, was best-known for his Bat Out Of Hell trilogy, the debut of which remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Celebrities including Cher, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Fry have all posted their own tributes to the star.
Credit: Facebook, Meat Loaf
Cher wrote: “Had So Much Fun With Meatloaf When We Did “Dead Ringer”. Am Very Sorry For His Family,Friends,& Fans. Am I imagining It, or Are Amazing Ppl In The Arts Dying every other Day.”
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Stephen Fry posted today: “I hope paradise is as you remember it from the dashboard light, Meat Loaf. Had a fun time performing a sketch with him on Saturday Live way back in the last century.
“He had the quality of being simultaneously frightening and cuddly, which is rare and rather wonderful …”
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I hope paradise is as you remember it from the dashboard light, Meat Loaf. Had a fun time performing a sketch with him on Saturday Live way back in the last century – https://t.co/RxoH36OYHw
TV presenter Piers Morgan said: “RIP Meat Loaf, 74. One of rock music’s all-time great characters whose seminal iconic album Bat Out Of Hell is one of the biggest-selling records in history.
“A wondrously talented, flamboyant, funny, outrageous and rebellious chameleon. Sad news.”
Boy George shared an anecdote of the star, writing: “R.I.P Meatloaf. Love and prayers to all his family and close friends. He once turned me upside down in a Chinese Restaurant in St Johns Wood.”
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My friend interviewed Meat Loaf about ten years ago and he graciously signed a printed-out meme for me. A king. pic.twitter.com/ZmvRSxuViU
DJ Jo Whiley posted: “God I loved Bat Out of Hell. Soundtrack to my youth. Sad news RIP Meatloaf. Extraordinary voice Phenomenonal character.”
Comedian Ed Gamble has also shared a tribute, saying: “Meat Loaf was an absolute one off and Bat Out Of Hell is a straight 10 out of 10 album. The title track is an always will be my impossibly long karaoke choice. (Also, Fight Club). RIP Meat x”
And music promoter Ade Dovey, who launched the Albert Hall gig venue in Manchester, shared a fond memory of when Meat Loaf came to visit our city.
Credit: YouTube, Meat Loaf
He posted: I remember when Meat Loaf came to [Albert’s] Schloss one afternoon in Manchester for PR launch of Bat Out Of Hell Musical.
“Was strange being in the same room with the chap, he wasn’t well back then but he still had this rad aura of pure awesome.”
The news was shared on Facebook this morning, with a message that said: “We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man.
“We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time.
“From his heart to your souls…don’t ever stop rocking!”
Featured image: Meat Loaf
Music
Wet Leg are BACK and coming to Manchester very soon
Danny Jones
One of the best up-and-coming indie bands around is returning after what feels like forever, but it’s actually only been a few years; either way, Wet Leg are back and coming to Manchester.
Their self-titled debut dropped back in 2022 and was met with an overwhelming reaction, picking up three Grammy Awards at a BRIT for Best British Group at the first time of asking.
It did slap, to be fair.
More importantly, fast forward three years and they’re back with a release date for their sophomore record, moisturizer, a brand new single by the name of ‘catch these fists’, as well as a small handful of new tour dates – including a gig at a brilliant Manchester music venue, of course.
uk pre-orders of moisturizer from the official wet leg store before 3pm bst tuesday 8th april will get early access to pre-sale tickets for uk headline live dates. pic.twitter.com/KUvazSX6NY
The Isle of Wight-founded five-piece, fronted by charismatic duo Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, will be heading out on a couple dozen live shows across Europe and the festival season circuit, as well as a one-off gig (for now) in the US at The River in LA.
However, just five of those are domestic headline dates, with the gang preparing to delight crowds in London, Birmingham and our friends over in Leeds.
Guess we’ll just have to go to both.
Here in Manchester, Wet Leg will be playing the cult favourite venue, O2 Victoria Warehouse, which just wrapped up this year’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival programme.
As for the new album, moisturizer is due to release on 11 July, and from the small teaser we’ve been given courtesy of their new single, it sounds like there’s been some experimentation; the guitars and attitude are being dialled up even further, and they’re just as confident as ever.
An absolute jam, as expected.
Best of all, you don’t have to wait long to see them live again, as they’ll be heading out across the country just next month and are scheduled to arrive in Old Trafford on Thursday, 29 May.
Tickets for the Manchester gig and all other Wet Leg UK tour this May will be available for early access to those who pre-order the album online from 10 am local time on Wednesday, 9 April.
General sale goes live at the same time on Friday, 11 April. You can get ready to grab yours HERE.
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | March 2025
Danny Jones
Oh, hello there. Did you think we’d forgotten to do our Manchester artists round-up for March? Don’t be daft, it was just a joke – a silly little April Fool’s joke.
This is, without a doubt, one of our favourite times of the month because we get to look back at our music habits in more bite-sized pieces rather than feeling like we have to defend a whole year’s worth every time Spotify Wrapped rolls around.
If you don’t know the drill by now, for one, where have you been? Secondly, welcome to the listening party: it’s the period we set aside to spotlight the best up-and-coming, underrated and veteran musicians from Greater Manchester alike – so long as they’re good, we’re happy.
Let’s get into it then, yeah?
Manchester bands and artists we’ve been listening to this month
1. Lusaint
First up on our list for March is a very talented woman by the name of Lusaint – real name Lucy Hopkins, but trust us, this is a stage name set for stardom as far we’re concerned. Manc born and bred, she has the voice and vibe of an old soul with all the talent and style to go up against the biggest around today.
She started gaining followers through her stunning covers of everyone from Kings of Leon and Whitney Houston to Fleetwood Mac, Jason Mraz and many more. That being said, her pop-forward original solo material is hitting our ‘Sweet Tooth’ and then some, so we tried to keep it cool when we met her recently.
If you’re looking for where to start, her latest single ‘Neon Lights’ has an almost laid-back, neo-soul vibe; ‘Sober’ has a bit of Winehouse and Bailey Rae to it, but the best way to sum her up is soulful R’n’B with plenty of jazz and contralto moments sprinkled in there. The piano version of ‘Dark Horse’… Oof.
You’re damn right we’re putting them back amongst our Manc artists of the month list because not only have we’ve been listening to their new album non-stop but, in case you hadn’t heard, it’s just gone to number one – their second to date!
Leigh’s very own Lottery Winners need no introduction at this point: they’re becoming an increasingly big name in the indie, pop and Northern scene in general, but they also might just be up there with the hardest working bands going right now.
We could recommend tonnes of songs to kick off with but we’d like to give a big shout to ‘Superpower’, a real bit of genre whiplash that really works, ‘You Again’ with Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers because it’s just a banger and ‘Turn Around’ because same and it has the cutest music video ever.
Now, this next one pains us slightly because Push Baby, as eclectic and interesting as they are, are currently inactive as of 2022 following the release of their second full LP, Wow, That’s What I Call Push Baby!, which is a brilliant subversion of modern mainstream music.
Made up of lead vocalist Jake Roche, the son of British household names Coleen Nolan and Shane Richie, as well as multi-instrumentalist Charley Bagnall – both formerly of the boyband Rixton too – this alternative duo were pushing plenty of boundaries before they took a pause to pursue other projects.
Song wise, ‘WHAT YOU GONNA DO?’ is the closest thing to a new NSYNC track as you’ll find, ‘thenineteenseventyfive’ feels like it could just about fit on a 1975 album if you just swapped out the vocals, and you simply have to start with the first song we ever heard from them: ‘thor’
You get a much different level of production on the studio version than this equally beautiful live recording. We hope they come back.
4. Tim Burgess
Our penultimate pick for this month is a Manc music legend whose music we’ve been exposed to most of our lives, but it pains us to confess we were relative latecomers to his solo stuff. The Charlatans’ frontman had such a large body of work, but we’ve finally cracked into properly for the first time.
It won’t surprise you whatsoever to learn the Salfordian icon’s own singer-songwriter records are just brilliant asd everything else he’s done in his career and we’ll feel daft to have waited this long to dive deep. There’s plenty to get through, put it that way.
Everyone’s heard ‘OH My Corazon’ (in fact, we’d wager you’ve heard even more Burgess than you realise), but we’d grown a particular soft spot for ‘Sure Enough – Eyedress Remix’, ‘White’ and ‘Empathy For The Devil’ where he voices go real Ian Brown-esque. We’ll keep digging and get back to you.
Yet more evidence that he deserves your attention and respect for what he’s done/doing for Manc music
5. Dirty Blonde
Last but certainly not least is another duo that, unlike Push Baby, aren’t just active but are absolutely ripping through the infancy of their alt rock story already and have all ferocity of a pair of Manc music pioneers that are going to go far – Spill The Sound seem to think so too.
Modern girl rock that kicks you in the face with punchy riffs, catchy hooks, great vocals and plenty of confidence and all-around swagger that makes you think they’re made for this business. You could probably draw all manner of comparisons to contemporaries, but put simply, they just sound sick.
There’s not absolute reams to get through yet as the two are ones for the future, but we’ve particular enjoyed ‘Rush’, ‘Run (When I Tell You)’ and you’d be a fool not to take a look at their new single ‘Adore Me’ which achieves exactly what the title says. Love ’em and we look forward to hearing more.
And we’re sorry to say that’s all she wrote for another month, and we apologise to any of you die-hard readers for being a day late to it this time around. We promise we won’t make a habit of it.
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In the meantime, you can always go back and listen to our Manc music favourite from February to keep your playlists feeling refreshed – and all the other lists prior, come to think of it.
Daisy Jackson -
21st January 2022 
