One of Meat Loaf’s closest friends says the iconic singer should never have been allowed out to perform prior to the 2011 AFL grand final due to serious health issues.
The Texan icon’s performance has become iconic for all the wrong reasons in the decade that has passed, with various AFL personalities, including league CEO Gillon McLachlan, piling on the legendary performer over the years.
However, after the Grammy winner, born Marvin Lee Aday, died on Thursday night (Friday AEDT), Australian promoter Harley Medcalf, who was behind the scenes with the rock superstar on grand final day, lifted the lid on just how grim Meat Loaf’s health was on that infamous day.
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“The story has never been told. I have never spoken about it,” he told Nine’s TODAY.
“Meat was so proud. He went on stage that day because he always went on stage. He rang me that morning, I happened to be in Melbourne, and I spent three hours with him in the dressing room.
“He had a fever, he had the shakes, he was coughing up all the stuff from his lungs. He should not have gone on stage. If I could roll back that moment, I would’ve grabbed him and walked him out the door, but he was under so much pressure.
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“It rained, there was no sound check, no gear check, nothing. He was literally just tossed out there. But he [was] the big Texan strongman (and said), ‘I can do this’.
“He was sick and no one has spoken about that and no one has ever defended him. It’s just wrong, this part of his incredible legacy of this beautiful man. He doesn’t deserve that.
“It’s not something that I would ever talk about, but now he’s passed, he never did (speak about it). So much pride in that Texan heart.”
The AFL boss even mocked the iconic singer during last year’s ‘Big Freeze’, dressing up as Meat Loaf before going down the slide, and said the infamous performance “brought shame on America”.
“I just thought it appropriate that here on this stage – he sung here, he brought great shame and disgrace to the whole game of Australian Rules football,” McLachlan said.
“It’s a decade (since his performance) this year. He brought shame to the MCG, the committee got rolled, he brought shame on America.
“He complained he needed 100 Harleys and he only got three, that was the reason he performed badly. He said we underpaid him, he got half a million dollars, it was $499,000 too much.”