The Two Women Who Made Meat Loaf’s Greatest Song Iconic

“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” was not his alone

When I heard early on the morning of January 21st that Meat Loaf had passed away the previous day, I attempted to process this news the only way I knew how: I immediately played the video of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (and then posted it on my Facebook page). People under a certain age know him more for “I Would Do Anything for Love,” and fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show probably first thought of “Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul,” but for me “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is his greatest song, and one of the best to come out of the 1970s not by someone named Bruce Springsteen.

Written by the brilliant Jim Steinman and performed flawlessly by Meat Loaf, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is much more than just Meat Loaf, however. While not listed as a duet (though the 45-rpm single did say “Feature Female Vocal: Ellen Foley” in small print), the song is elevated from great to iconic because of the talents of two women: Ellen Foley and Karla DeVito.

If you’re one of the 64 million people who’ve seen the video on YouTube and know nothing else about the history of the song, you might wonder what I’m rambling on about. It’s actually quite simple: the woman in the legendary video is Karla DeVito, but she is actually lip synching the part originally sung by Ellen Foley. Here’s what happened.

When Meat Loaf recorded his 1977 debut album Bat Out of Hell, Ellen Foley provided background vocals for “Bat Out of Hell,” “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” and “All Revved Up with No Place to Go,” and lead vocals with Meat Loaf on “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” However, she decided against going on tour with Meat Loaf after the album’s release and was replaced by Karla DeVito. Foley said in a 2021 interview with Noise11.com that DeVito also replaced her in the video because “she was the face of the tour, the face of the female element of Meat Loaf.” She also added: “40 million records later … it bothered me for a while but it certainly doesn’t anymore. Anybody who knows anything about the record…knows I sang the vocal on the record.”

With all due respect, anyone who’s only seen the video and knows nothing about the recording of the album could be forgiven for not realizing that Karla DeVito did not sing on the original recording. Watch the video below and tell me you can tell she’s lip synching. DeVito’s performance is so good that she did indeed become the female face of Meat Loaf, and has remained so in the minds of most for 45 years.

One quick side note about the Bat Out of Hell album: it has a Springsteen connection (and you’re surely not surprised I found one). E Street Band pianist Roy Bittan plays on all of the songs except “For Crying Out Loud,” and Max Weinberg is the drummer on “Bat Out of Hell,” “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”

It’s somehow appropriate, given how larger-than-life Meat Loaf was, that it took both Foley and DeVito to help elevate the record beyond all expectations, Foley with her vocals and DeVito with her amazing stage presence. We, like the young lovers in the song, were “doubly blessed” (though none of us are 17 anymore, and hopefully are fully dressed).

Foley and DeVito only became friends over the past few years, and they performed a duet on Foley’s most recent album (fittingly, they both lip synch in the video below). Foley clearly understands their inescapable connection, saying in the interview with Noise11.com “[Asking DeVito to do the duet with her] was not all that unselfish. I figured it would get some attention if she was on the record with me.”

Even as we continue to mourn Meat Loaf, both of these talented women deserve some attention.