Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947), better known as Meat Loaf, is an American rock singer and actor of stage and screen. He is noted for his albums Bat out of Hell, II, and III and several famous songs from movies as well as his obesity. The Neverland Express is the name of the band he fronts as its lead singer. In 2001, he changed his first name to Michael.Despite setbacks (including bankruptcy, on more than one occasion), Meat Loaf is notable for the success of his music career, spawning some of the largest-selling albums of all time, and breaking several records for chart duration. Bat out of Hell, the debut album which had been four years in the making, has sold over 37 million copies. After almost 30 years, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and stayed on the charts for over 9 years. Each of the seven tracks on the album eventually charted as a single hit.Although he enjoyed success with Bat out of Hell and Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell, Meat Loaf experienced some initial difficulty establishing a steady career within his native United States; however, he has retained iconic status and popularity in Europe, especially the UK, where he ranks 23rd for number of weeks overall spent on the charts, and is one of only two artists with an album never to have left the music charts. With the help of his New York collection of musicians John Golden, Richard Raskin and Paul Jacobs his European tours enjoyed immense popularity in the 80's. In Germany, Meat Loaf became notably popular following the release of Bat out of Hell II but has enjoyed most of his success among pop/rock fans. He ranked 96th on VH1's '100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'.Meat Loaf has also appeared in over 50 movies or television shows sometimes even as himself, or as characters resembling his onstage personality, such as his memorable role as Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He appeared in the acclaimed feature film Fight Club, as Robert "Bob" Paulson; he is credited for this role as "Meat Loaf Aday".In 2007 Meat Loaf granted filmmaker Bruce David Klein exclusive access for the making of Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise, an independent theatrical documentary film that captures the legendary rocker and his life in rehearsals and on the road during his 2007 World Tour. The film was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival in 2007.