DETROIT — Well before the platinum records and packed arenas, Meat Loaf was a striving singer with a stint in Detroit and an obscure Motown release under his belt.
Meat Loaf, who died Thursday at 74, would go on to describe his brief time in Detroit as a happy accident. But it was also a crucial chapter in the saga of the singer-actor raised in Texas as Michael Aday, years before he blossomed into a household name with 1977's "Bat Out of Hell" and a slew of hit singles.
"In a dramatic sense, it was almost like destiny kept bringing him back to Motown," said Paul Barker, director of development with the Motown Museum.
