Meat Loaf Leeds: The night the music star rocked Millennium Square in 2002

A post on his official Facebook page on Friday said the 74-year-old rocker, who became a global star with hits like Bat Out Of Hell, had died with his wife Deborah at his side.

Superfans of Meat Loaf have paid tribute to the “kind, funny” singer who “has always shown so much energy, love and appreciation of his fans”.

Avid listeners of his music said they are “devastated” by his death, as they recalled fond memories of following him on tour, with one fan even describing Meat Loaf as his “idol and purpose in life”.

Meat Loaf played the square as part of a series of Summer shows - alongside Canadian rocker Bryan Adams who played on July 19 and British reggae godfathers UB40 who performed on July 24.

Fans took to social media to remember the show and pay tribute to the star.

James Wharton tweeted: "Me and my sister are Meat Loaf super fans. We saw him in Leeds (2001), Liverpool (2008) and Wembley Arena (2010).

"He has soundtracked my life, and I'm feeling sad about his death but his iconic music will be here forever."

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post about the show, James said Meat Loaf played "all his hits".

"It was a great show. He came out and performed all his great songs", James said.

"The stage faced the civic hall I seem to remember, and with that I remember some important people sitting on the balcony with a great view at the stage.

"At one point he pointed at them in the middle of a song and made some sort of reference.

"He was dressed in black, as per his usual, which meant when I got the photos developed - as one did back then - it was difficult to make out Meat as the stage was draped in black too.

"I wondered if that was something he did deliberately."

Dr David Robertshaw RN added: "Really sad to hear about #MeatLoaf today.

"He was one of my musical heroes and I learned all his songs on piano as a kid. I saw him live in Leeds 20 years ago and he was phenomenal!"

Alice Cooper has hailed Meat Loaf as “one of the greatest voices in Rock N Roll following his death aged 74.

Cooper said in a statement: “Meat Loaf was one of the greatest voices in Rock N Roll, and he was certainly one of my closest friends in the business.

“He was really so much fun, truly fun to be around. He just felt like a best friend to everyone no matter how long it had been since you last saw him. We worked together many times over the years and he was always a force.

“He was a real theatrical character like I was so our shows went really well together. I remember when you would see his show, he would treat the audience almost like a Pentecostal Preacher and he was so powerful on stage.

“Working with Meat Loaf was one of the main reasons I wanted to do the movie Roadie in the first place – I wanted to watch him show off his acting chops. He plays the ultimate roadie on this quest to be the best in the world.

“But that’s what he did in life too – he always wanted to be the best at what he was doing… And I think he succeeded. There was nobody, and I mean nobody like Meat Loaf. His shoes can never be filled.”

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Full setlist from Meat Loaf's show at Millennium Square (according to Setlist.fm)

Life Is a Lemon (And I Want My Money Back)

Mercury Blues

(K.C. Douglas cover)

Lawyers, Guns and Money

(Warren Zevon cover)

Tear Me Down

Dead Ringer for Love

All Revved Up With No Place to Go

I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Mony Mony

(Tommy James & the Shondells cover)

Guilty

(Pearl Aday on vocals)

You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)

Bat Out of Hell

Johnny B. Goode

(Chuck Berry cover)

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