Singer Michael Lee Aday, who goes by the stage name Meat Loaf, died aged 74. Photo / AP
Singer Michael Lee Aday, who goes by the stage name Meat Loaf, died aged 74. Photo / AP
Meat Loaf's family flew to his bedside after his health declined "more rapidly than expected".
The Bat Out Of Hell hitmaker was surrounded by his loved ones when he passed away on Friday at the age of 74 and although his daughter Amanda Aday didn't confirm reports he died after contracting Covid-19, she admitted his condition had quickly gone downhill.
Aday told how she and her sister Pearl rushed to Nashville after receiving a call informing them their dad's health "was declining very rapidly, more rapidly than expected".
She added to People magazine: "As soon as we could, we just went to his bedside at the hospital and just sat with him and held his hand."
Aday was "very thankful" she and her sister, Pearl, had the chance to see their father before he died, and she revealed some of his closest friends had also flown in to see him one final time, and they were all rewarded with moments of "sweet and funny" confessions from the veteran rocker.
She said: "My dad, as far as our tour family, that's what we call it ... He's the boss, but we're a family...
"He flipped a couple of us off, which is very dad, very appropriate," she admits. "That's a good sign. He's there. He's joking."
The 41-year-old beauty recently got engaged to her partner, a musician named Chill and she revealed the Fight Club actor was the one who had encouraged him to pop the question.
In September, Meat Loaf came out to one of Chill's shows and asked him: "When are you going to marry my daughter? Because you've got to do it so I can walk her down the aisle before I die."
Meat Loaf and his daughter Pearl Aday pictured in 2012. Photo / Getty Images
Chill told him: "I'm planning on it, Meat. I love her."
The 'Dead Ringer For Love' hitmaker replied: "Well, I love you. And I know you love her. And so let's make this happen."
The two men then "texted every day" while making "secret plans" for the proposal because Meat Loaf "wanted to make sure I had some kind of over the top" event.
Poignantly, the last conversation Aday had with her father was about their wedding, when she told him to "get strong" so he could walk her down the aisle.
He asked when it would happen and she recalled: "And I said, 'As soon as you're out of here, we'll go to the courthouse, if you want. We'll do it right away.'
"And he said, 'No courthouses, but okay, let's go.' So, and those were, not his final words, but his final words directly to me."
Plans for a funeral and memorial service have yet to be finalised.
Aday noted: "We certainly hope that there will be one and we plan to send a lot of invitations out to people that dad loved and respected and that we hope will want to be a part of that."
