Jim Steinman Biography

James Richard Steinman was born on November 1st, 1948 in New York, New York. While attending Amherst College, Steinman wrote and performed a musical called "The Dream Engine." Present in the audience at the performance was theater legend, Joseph Papp, who was so exited that he bought the rights to it during intermission.

In 1975, Jim began touring with rock 'n roll singer Meat Loaf while working on a musical called "Neverland" in which he has characterized as a rock'n roll Peter Pan. Three of the songs from "Neverland" were to be included in a project with singer, Meat Loaf, called "Bat Out of Hell," a collection of 7 songs, in a style unlike anything else produced at that time. It was rock 'n roll, but with a Wagnerian and operatic twist to it. They eventually worked out a deal with Epic, with Todd Rundgren as a producer and "Bat Out of Hell" was released in 1977.

"Bat Out of Hell," with Meat Loaf, has become a milestone in rock music and is one of the best selling albums of all time, spending over 400 weeks in the British album charts. It has been officially declared the best selling disc of all time at well over 40 million, and the sequel, "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell" topped the charts in 38 countries sixteen years later, in 1993.

In 1994, Jim was contacted by Andrew Lloyd Webber, to provide the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's score for the musical adaptation of the British movie, "Whistle down the Wind." The musical opened in Washington, D.C. in December, 1996 to mixed reviews, after which the team reworked the piece for opening in 1998 in London's West End.

Steinman is not only a formidable talent in the realms of musicals and rock 'n roll, but also versatile, winning a Grammy award as the producer for the 1996 Best Album of the Year, Celine Dion's "Falling Into You." He made one platinum album as a singer, "Bad For Good." His film credits include "Footloose," "Streets of Fire," "The Shadow," and "Mask of Zorro."

He is currently writing the music and lyrics for a new musical to be entitled "Batman," directed by film director Tim Burton. He is also executive producing and writing the songs and score for "Wuthering Heights California," a made for MTV movie.