Meat Loaf‘s widow Deborah has thanked fans for their well wishes as she admits she is experiencing ‘gut-wrenching’ grief following his death last week.
The Bat Out Of Hell rocker – whose real name was Michael Aday – died on January 20 aged 74, after battling COVID-19 according to reports.
Deborah told People magazine: ‘The grief I feel over the loss of my husband is gut-wrenching.’
Huge loss: Meat Loaf’s widow Deborah has thanked fans for their well wishes as she admits she is experiencing ‘gut-wrenching’ grief following his death last week (pictured in February 2008)
Revealing how she was by her husband’s side when he died, she continued: ‘I was lying close to Michael when he took his last breath and my sadness is beyond words.’
‘I’ve always called him by his given name because I didn’t see him as ‘Meat.’ I feel much gratitude for the outpouring of love I have received from around the world.’
‘He meant so much to so many people, and it gave me joy to be able to share him with the world. As his wife, I also want everyone to know how much he meant to me as a husband.’
Deborah praised the Wayne’s World actor as her ‘world’ and she’s grateful they were always open with their feelings for one another.
Together: Revealing how she was by her husband’s side when he died, she continued: ‘I was lying close to Michael when he took his last breath (pictured in 2003)
She added: ‘For me, it was always about him. From the day we met, he was my world and I loved him. There wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t tell the other how much we loved them. Not a day that we didn’t hug each other.
‘Some of my fondest memories will always be about how we so often laughed, and how we brought out the silliness and playfulness in each other. Michael was a hugger–such a physically affectionate and kind man, and I’m grateful that he brought out those traits in me.’
The couple married in 2007 and Deborah feels thankful she waited until later in her life to settle down because she found such an ‘incredible’ husband.
Last video: Meat Loaf told a fan three weeks ago that he’d recently had an endoscopy and complained about lockdowns , telling the fan in a Cameo video: ‘COVID’s a drag
She said: ‘I waited until later in life to get married because I was waiting for the right man. And oh boy, was he ever the right man for me! I realise how blessed I am to have shared my life with such an incredible person. He didn’t hesitate to let me know how much I was appreciated, and often sweetly told me, ‘You’re a good wife.’ I will miss hearing that.
‘Our life together was an adventure. He was my best friend, my confidant, my lover and I miss him terribly already. As much as my heart is in pain right now, my heart is also so full of the love and glory we shared together. I will love you forever, Michael.’
Meat Loaf’s heartbroken daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday paid tribute to him on Instagram after his death Thursday aged 74.
Pearl, 47, posted a picture of herself hugging him onstage, writing: ‘I love you always, no matter what. I love you with my whole heart. We got you. Forever.’
Meanwhile Amanda, 41, uploaded an album of pictures of the two of them through the years and wrote: ‘I love you daddy always and forever.’
With both his girls: Meat Loaf’s heartbroken daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday paid tribute to him on Instagram after his death Thursday aged 74
Meat Loaf, whose real name was Michael Aday, shared his children with his first wife Leslie whom he was married to for about two decades until 2001.
Leslie had Pearl from a previous marriage but Meat Loaf adopted her. A few years later, he and Leslie conceived Amanda.
Pearl grew to become a singer herself and also married Scott Ian, who shot to fame as the rhythm guitarist for Anthrax.
Meanwhile Amanda became an actress, appearing on such programs as Carnivale, My Name Is Earl and Rizzoli & Isles.
‘I love you with my whole heart’: Pearl, 47, posted a picture of herself hugging him onstage, writing: ‘I love you always, no matter what’
Bereaved: Amanda, 41, uploaded an album of pictures of the two of them through the years and wrote: ‘I love you daddy always and forever’
The singer died after a struggle with COVID-19, with TMZ sources saying his condition rapidly deteriorated to critical after he became sick with the virus.
Meat Loaf railed against endless coronavirus restrictions and against vaccine mandates but it is unclear whether he himself was vaccinated.
Two weeks before his death Pearl wrote on Instagram that some of her ‘friends and family’ had contracted COVID-19.
After his death: Amanda wrote on Facebook that ‘Pearl and I along with his closest friends were able to be with him holding his hands and showering him with love in his final hours’
She added: ‘Thank their respect for science that they’re all vaxxed, otherwise they’d be way worse,’ without mentioning her father specifically.
After his death Amanda wrote on Facebook: ‘Although his passing was very sudden, my sister Pearl and I along with his closest friends were able to be with him holding his hands and showering him with love in his final hours.’
She continued: ‘I will have much more to say in the the coming days as I process through my grief. For now I will just say that he was simply larger than life and I will miss him every day for the rest of mine.’
Tributes poured in from friends and colleagues for the late musician, who once called himself a ‘fat motherf***er’ while discussing his weight loss to MailOnline.
One of the in memoriam messages came from Susan Sarandon, who starred with him in The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975.
‘Big man, big voice, big heart. In my experience, always a gentleman,’ she said in a statement to People magazine. ‘Condolences to his family.’
Side by side: Amanda memorialized her father: ‘For now I will just say that he was simply larger than life and I will miss him every day for the rest of mine’