Meat Loaf, the larger-than-life symbol of theatrical rock, has died at age 74.

His family posted the news on his Facebook page just before 3 a.m. ET on Friday. It said that his wife, Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends “have been with him throughout the last 24 hours.” According to TMZ, he had recently become ill with COVID-19.

Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas September 27th, 1947, he first found professional success in the L.A. company of Hair. That led to an offer from a Motown subsidiary to to record with co-star Shaun “Stoney” Murphy. Stoney and Meat Loaf’s “What You See Is What You Get” received extensive airplay, but fell short of the Top 40. It did land the duo the chance to open for Rare Earth, Bob Seger and Alice Cooper.

He later moved east to join the New York production of Hair. His Broadway work helped land him an offer for another — and even more outrageous — musical. He played Eddie in The Rocky Horror Show and then in its 1975 movie adaptation.

During his days in New York, Meat Loaf became friends with songwriter Jim Steinman. Teaming with producer Todd Rundgren, they created the album Bat Out of Hell, which a Columbia-affiliated label picked up in 1977. After a slow start, momentum picked up after Meat Loaf’s March 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Over the next year, it spun off several iconic songs, including “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” and went on to sell an estimated 40-million copies worldwide (and 15-million here in the U.S.).