US rock star Meat Loaf is “stable and in good condition” after collapsing on stage during a concert in Canada. A post on his Facebook page said he collapsed due to severe dehydration. He was admitted to hospital for routine tests, and additional tests are being performed but he is described as “responsive and recovering well”.
The message extended “his heartfelt thanks for everyone’s support and well wishes” and said he is “expecting a speedy and full recovery”. Earlier in the week, the singer had cancelled shows in Moose Jaw and Calgary because of ill health. Rescheduling of concert dates have yet to be announced.
The 68-year-old is one of rock’s most successful recording artists, with hits including Bat Out of Hell. He was performing another hit, I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That), when he dropped his microphone and fell to the floor on Thursday evening.
Musicians went to his side to help and the music stopped. A spokesman for Alberta Health Services said a patient had been transported from the auditorium to a hospital. Fans said they initially believed his collapse could have been a planned part of his performance, the Edmonton Journal newspaper reported.
The Northern Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton was cleared shortly afterwards and ambulances were seen outside the venue, the newspaper said. Meat Loaf previously collapsed in 2003 at a performance in London, and again in 2011, during a July concert in Pittsburgh – an incident which he later blamed on an asthma attack.
The singer’s album Bat Out of Hell has sold more than 43 million copies worldwide and continues to sell an estimated 200,000 copies annually nearly 40 years after it was released.