One thing that's really getting to irritate me a little more all the time, is how everyone who wants to talk about Meat Loaf is obsessed with either the "origin" of his name, or will insist on calling him Marvin Lee Aday.
If he's in interview, it's often one of the first thing they ask, or if it's an article, they'll be all "Oh but Marvin Lee Aday is his REAL name".
But I know a few different people who have had troubled backgrounds who decided to legally change their name, because they desperately want to be disassociated with that family name, they want to leave that behind, they want to be themselves, they want to be judged on their own merit.
And to dredge up the old name like that, it's a thing you don't do. It's just uncomfortable, rude.
The old name is dead. The new name, that's who they are.
With Meat Loaf, that's his name. His real name. It's also the name of his stage persona, but it's also his actual name. People who know him just call him "Meat" in his life. It's not the same as an actor who acts under a stage name.
Meat changed his name legally several times - he changed it to "Meat Loaf", but he said - he had trouble passing through customs (and for someone was was seemingly on endless world tours, this is a problem) - so he legally changed it to "Michael Lee Aday". The system is happier with this. But everyone on a personal level calls him Meat.
So every time I hear those same words from an interviewer "so the name Meat Loaf...", I cringe a little. No wonder he makes up a new "origin story" every time.
