Meat Loaf

Super-sized superstar Meat Loaf does everything big. Big as in multiplatinum hits spanning four decades. Big as in sprawling sonic epics of young love and heartbreak powered by a professionally trained voice that can raise the rafters. Big as in sing-along smashes like the mini-rock opera "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," the back-seat steamer "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," and the summer-lovin' heat wave "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)." And big as in one playlist alone just won't do it — head to Next Steps for more Meat Loaf goodness.

When you think of Meat Loaf, you think of such larger-than-life pop-rock extravaganzas as the searing "Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" or the autobiographical tearjerker "Objects in the Rear View Mirror." Yet Loaf spent years on the stage before storming the charts, so he's more than comfortable when joining a heavyweight cast of operatic superstars for a charity singsong — clock his contribution "Nessun Dorma!" from Turandot alongside Pavarotti and pals.

Meat Loaf's 1977 smash album, Bat Out of Hell, went platinum many, many times over, spawned no less than three hit singles — including the bittersweet power balled "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" — and, in the process, planted a pop culture milestone. Cut to 16 years later: after scoring one-off hits like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," with Marion Raven, and making a name on the stage and silver screen (yeah, that's him in Fight Club), he does it again. With composer-collaborator Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf releases Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and proves that larger-than-life story-songs powered by supersonic, operatic pipes (think "Rock 'n Roll Dreams Come Through") are, in a word, timeless.