Michael Reed was released in October 2017 on the BOOH Label, which was created specifically for this album. The album was first distributed in Canada to coincide with the show's run in Toronto, then later was released again via Ghostlight Records in July 2018, both as a worldwide digital release and on CD for sale in the UK to coincide with the show's run at the Dominion Theatre, London. The cast album features the vocals of the show's cast in Manchester, with Andrew Polec and Christina Bennington leading in their roles as Strat and Raven, Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton as Falco and Sloane, and Danielle Steers and Dom Hartley-Harris as Zahara and Jagwire. Of this original cast, only Andrew Polec, Christina Bennington and Danielle Steers remained with the show from opening in Manchester in 2017 through to complete the NYC run in 2019. In 2017, Velvet Valve Records was preparing to release music with Karine Hannah singing. In March 2017, Velvet Valve Records digitally released a recording of Hannah singing "Braver Than We Are". This recording is different from the recording of Hannah singing "Braver Than We Are" from the early 2000s. Plans to release an album with Hannah after the single, possibly to be titled Renegade Angel, were abandoned. Personal life Responding to an interviewer's assertion that his songs are tragic, Steinman said he has "never been stomped on literally. Figuratively, I am stomped on every day ... anyway, that is the way I feel sometimes. I've never had my heart broken the way you are talking about. I've never been dumped... but probably because I don't allow myself to be dumped." At the time of his death, Steinman lived in Ridgefield, Connecticut. According to the New York Times, Steinman lived alone in his 6000 square foot house described as a "majestic museum of the self, attached to a quaint cottage in the woods of Ridgefield. He spent years expanding and reimagining the house, transforming it into an embodiment of his own eccentric, complicated personality." Health and death Steinman had a stroke in 2004 and temporarily lost the ability to speak. He had another stroke four years prior to his death. Per the death certificate from the Connecticut Department of Health, Steinman died from kidney failure at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut, on April 19, 2021, at age 73. Upon Steinman's death, rock writer Paul Stenning said he