April 23, 2003 04:58 PM
Meat Loaf dishes up
farewell tour
by Rob Evans
liveDaily Editor
Theatrical rocker Meat Loaf will say farewell to touring with a 15-month world tour that opens in California this June.
The singer-actor will play concert dates in the U.S. through September before traveling to Europe, Australia and Asia. Additional treks through Europe and North America will follow before the tour concludes.
Meat Loaf's publicist told the Associated Press earlier this month that the artist plans to devote more time to his acting career. Among the movies he has appeared in are "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Fight Club" and "Crazy in Alabama."
Though a U.S. release date hasn't been announced, Meat Loaf's first new studio album since 1995's platinum-certified "Welcome to the Neighborhood" has been issued in Europe and Australia. Titled "Couldn't Have Said It Better," the new album features contributions from Diane Warren, Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx and Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin. It was produced by Peter Mokran, who has mixed and/or engineered albums from 'NSync, Christina Aguilera and R. Kelly.
Meat Loaf's 1977 release, "Bat Out of Hell," has sold more than 14 million
copies in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America,
which ranks the album at No. 24 on its all-time sales list.