- Who
- Meat Loaf
- What
- 65,000,000 unit(s) sold
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
- When
Bat out of Hell (1977), Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993) and Bat out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose (2006) have reportedly sold more than 65 million copies worldwide for Meat Loaf (USA, b. Marvin Lee Aday, 27 September 1947, d. 20 January 2022). The larger-than-life rock star, who passed away shortly before he was due to return to the studio to record songs for a new album, was responsible for the best-selling solo debut in history: Bat out of Hell – featuring “You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)”, “Heaven Can Wait”, “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad” and the epic, almost-10-minute-long title track – has racked up global sales of more than 44 million copies, including 14 million in the singer’s homeland and 3.3 million in the UK. Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982) is the only album by a solo artist with higher sales than Bat out of Hell.
Back into Hell – which includes the mysteriously titled, chart-topping, Grammy-winning “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” – has reportedly sold 15 million copies worldwide, with the Desmond Child-produced The Monster is Loose making up the numbers as the trilogy fizzled out in 2006.
In 2004, Meat Loaf also released Bat out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, featuring live versions of the seven tracks on the original Bat out of Hell album, as performed on his 2004 tour of Australia.
Other notable trilogies have come from David Bowie (Low, Heroes and Lodger – aka the Berlin Trilogy; 1977–79), Paul McCartney (McCartney, McCartney II and McCartney III; 1970–2020), Jay-Z (The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse and The Blueprint III; 2001–09) and Bob Dylan (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde (1965–66).
