Howard Stern has urged the family of Meat Loaf to advocate for people to be vaccinated against COVID following the singer and actor’s death.
The ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ icon – real name Marvin Lee Aday – passed away last Thursday (January 20), according to a statement posted on his official Facebook page. He was 74 years old.
Reports have since emerged claiming Aday died after falling seriously ill with COVID, though a cause of death has not yet been confirmed. It is not known whether Meat Loaf had been vaccinated against the virus.
Last year the musician shared a link to Eric Clapton and Van Morrison‘s collaborative anti-lockdown song, ‘Stand And Deliver’, and said in interviews that he was opposed to government-enforced restrictions.
Speaking about the late artist on his SiriusXM radio show this week, host Stern explained: “Poor Meat Loaf got sucked into some weird fucking cult.
“And somehow [he] really believed that – he made a statement, ‘I’d rather die a free man than take that vaccine’. And now he’s dead!”
He continued: “I wish the family would come forward and say, ‘Ya know, when Meat Loaf was laying there in the hospital and he couldn’t breathe, he said, ‘I made a mistake. I should have taken the vaccine’. Like all these anti-vaxxers, they all say, ‘I made a mistake’.”
Elsewhere, Stern said that he was “always fascinated” by Meat Loaf and his “unusual” musical style. “It was almost like a Broadway show kinda thing,” he explained on the show.
In the wake of the singer’s death, tributes poured in on social media from the likes of Alice Cooper, Cher, Boy George, Brian May, Jack Black and Bonnie Tyler.
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian – who is married to Meat Loaf’s adopted stepdaughter, Pearl Aday – paid tribute to his late father-in-law on social media this week, writing: “There are so many stories to tell, and I know they will all be told over time.
“For now, what I know is that Meat’s legacy will live on through his family – Pearl, Amanda and Revel.”
In a statement announcing Meat Loaf’s death, it was confirmed that the star “passed away tonight [January 20] with his wife Deborah by his side”, adding: “Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours.”
