Pat Benatar
Patricia Mae Giraldo (née Andrzejewski; formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953) is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 Billboard top 40 singles,[1] while in Canada she had eight straight platinum albums, and she has sold over 35 million albums worldwide. She is also a four-time Grammy Award winner. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.
Pat Benatar
Patricia Mae Andrzejewski
January 10, 1953
New York City, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- Vocals
1972–present
- Chrysalis
- CMC International
- Bel Chiasso
2
Her 1979 debut album, In the Heat of the Night, was her breakthrough in North America, especially in Canada where it reached No. 3 on the album chart. Two singles from it were hits: "Heartbreaker" and "We Live for Love", the latter written by her lead guitarist and future husband, Neil Giraldo. Her second album, 1980's Crimes of Passion, was her most successful work, peaking at No. 2 in North America and France, being certified 4× and 5× platinum in the US and Canada, respectively. Its single "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" reached the top 10 in the US and Canada and is considered to be her best-known song. Her third album, Precious Time (1981), was another success, topping the US Album Chart and becoming her first top 10 album in Australia. Its single "Fire and Ice" charted highly in the US and Canada. Her next release, Get Nervous (1982), sold less well than her previous two albums, but did include the North American hit "Shadows of the Night".
In 1983 her sound began to move towards more atmospheric pop. The single "Love Is a Battlefield" (1983) was her biggest hit in most countries, reaching No. 1 in the Netherlands, Australia and on the US Rock Tracks chart, and No. 5 on the US Hot 100. The live album it came from, Live from Earth, was her biggest seller in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1984, she released Tropico and its lead single "We Belong", which reached the top 10 in several countries, including No. 5 on the US Hot 100.
Her 1985 album, Seven the Hard Way, sold less well, but it yielded two singles harking back to the rock vein: "Invincible", a top 10 hit in North America, and "Sex as a Weapon". Her follow-up, Wide Awake in Dreamland (1988), marked a resurgence in sales in Canada and Australia, and was her biggest hit in the UK. Its rocker, "All Fired Up", was a significant hit in Canada, Australia and the US. She released four additional albums between 1991 and 2003.
Early life[edit]
Pat Benatar was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City.[2] Her mother, Mildred (née Knapp; 1928–2016), was a beautician, and her father, Andrew (Andrzej) Andrzejewski (1926–2009), was a sheet-metal worker.[3] Her father was of Polish descent and her mother was of German, English, and Irish ancestry.[4] Her family moved to North Hamilton Avenue in Lindenhurst, New York, a village in the Long Island town of Babylon.[5]
She became interested in theater and began voice lessons at Daniel Street Elementary School, singing her first solo at the age of eight, a song called "It Must Be Spring". At Lindenhurst Senior High School (1967–1970), she participated in musical theatre, playing Queen Guinevere in the school production of Camelot, marching in the homecoming parade, singing at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, and performing a solo of "The Christmas Song" on a holiday recording of the Lindenhurst High School Choir in her senior year.
She trained as a coloratura with plans to attend the Juilliard School, but decided instead to pursue health education at Stony Brook University. At 19, after one year at Stony Brook, she dropped out to marry her first husband, high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar, a U.S. Army draftee who trained at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, then served with the Army Security Agency at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, before being stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia, starting in 1973. She worked as a bank teller near Richmond, Virginia.[6][7]
Career[edit]
Career beginnings[edit]
Benatar quit her job to pursue a singing career after being inspired by a Liza Minnelli concert she saw in Richmond. She had a gig at a Holiday Inn and got a job as a singing waitress at a nightclub named the Roaring Twenties.[7] At the Roaring Twenties, she met and formed a duo with pianist Phil Coxon, which soon expanded to a ten-person lounge band called Coxon's Army, a regular at Sam Miller's basement club.[7] The band gained in popularity and was the subject of a never-aired PBS special; its bassist Roger Capps was later the original bass player for the Pat Benatar Band. The period also yielded Benatar's first single: "Day Gig" (1974), written and produced by Coxon and given a limited local release. Her last significant gig in Richmond was a two-hour performance at Thomas Jefferson High School.[7]
Dennis Benatar was discharged from the Army and the couple moved to New York in May 1975 so she could pursue a singing career.[7] She performed at an amateur night at the comedy club Catch a Rising Star in New York. Her rendition of Judy Garland's "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" earned her a callback by club owner Rick Newman, who then became her manager; she became a regular performer at Catch a Rising Star for the next three years. In late 1975 she landed the part of Zephyr in Harry Chapin's futuristic rock musical, The Zinger, which ran for a month in 1976 at the Performing Arts Foundation's (PAF) Playhouse in Huntington Station, Long Island.
Halloween 1977 proved a pivotal night in her early, spandexed stage persona. She entered a Halloween contest at the Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village dressed as a character from the film Cat-Women of the Moon. Later that evening, she went onstage at Catch a Rising Star still in costume.[8] Between appearances at Catch a Rising Star, she recorded commercial jingles for Pepsi-Cola and a number of regional brands. She headlined New York City's Tramps nightclub over four days in spring 1978, where her performance was heard by representatives from several record companies. She was signed to Chrysalis Records by co-founder Terry Ellis the following week.[9] She and Dennis divorced shortly after, although she kept his surname.
1979–1981: In the Heat of the Night and Crimes of Passion[edit]
Benatar's debut album, In the Heat of the Night, was released in August 1979, but only debuted on the US Billboard 200 album chart in October, eventually peaking at number 12 in the US in March 1980. Mike Chapman produced three tracks on the album, while engineer Peter Coleman oversaw the rest. In addition, Chapman and his songwriting partner, Nicky Chinn, wrote three songs that appear on the LP: "In the Heat of the Night" and "If You Think You Know How to Love Me" which were previously recorded by Smokie, and a rearranged version of a song they wrote for Sweet, "No You Don't". The album also featured two songs written by Roger Capps and her; "I Need a Lover", written by John Mellencamp; and "Don't Let It Show", written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.
The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1980.[10] Canada became the album's most successful market as it certified 4× Platinum there with chart peak of number 3 on the RPM albums chart.[11] While it was a moderate success in Australia, reaching number 25, and very successful in New Zealand, reaching number 8, it barely made the Top 100 in the UK. Unusual for an English-language album, its most successful European market was France where it went to number 20.
"If You Think You Know How to Love Me" was the first single to be released on September 14, 1979. However, it was unsuccessful. Her second single "Heartbreaker" was released on October 26, 1979, and became a sleeper hit, eventually climbing to number 23 in the US, number 16 in Canada and number 14 in New Zealand. It was later listed at No. 72 on VH1's list of the Greatest Hard Rock songs of all-time.[12] A third single "We Live for Love", which was written by her future husband Neil Giraldo, was released in February 1980, and became her first Top 10 hit anywhere by reaching number 8 in Canada, while reaching number 27 in the US, number 26 in New Zealand, and number 28 in Australia, her first hit there.[13]
In August 1980, she released her second LP, Crimes of Passion, featuring her signature song "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" along with the controversial song "Hell Is for Children." The lyrics of the song discuss things that child abusers tell their victims, such as, "Tell Grandma you fell off the swing." Benatar was inspired by reading a series of articles in The New York Times about child abuse in America.[14] "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (US number 9) was her first single to break the US Top 10 and sold more than one million copies (Gold status) in the United States. It was also a Top 10 hit in Canada and a moderate hit in Australia, where it reached number 33. The album peaked for five consecutive weeks at number 2 in the US in January 1981 (behind John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy) and a month later, she won her first Grammy Award for "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" of 1980 for the album.[15]
Other singles released from Crimes of Passion were "Treat Me Right" (US number 18 and Canada number 12) and the Rascals' cover, "You Better Run" (US number 42 but did not chart in Canada), which was the second music video ever played on MTV, after the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star".[9][16] The album also featured a changed-tempo cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". Produced by Keith Olsen, Crimes of Passion remained on the US album charts for 93 weeks and in the top 10 for more than six months, becoming her first Platinum certification by the RIAA, and was later certified as being 4× Platinum, her biggest selling album in the US. In October 1980, she (along with future husband Neil Giraldo) appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The album was certified 5× Platinum in Canada, her best selling album in that country, where it peaked at number 2 on the album charts.[17] It was also successful in New Zealand (number 6), France (number 2) and Australia (number 16) but did not chart in the UK.
1982–1983: Precious Time, Get Nervous, and Live from Earth[edit]
In July 1981, Benatar released her third studio album, Precious Time, which became her first album to hit number one on the Billboard 200. In Canada it was certified double Platinum and peaked at number 2 on the album chart.[18] It was also her first to chart in the UK, reaching number 30, and became her biggest success in Australia and New Zealand, reaching number 8 and number 2, respectively, while once again being highly successful in France, peaking at number 3. The album's lead single, "Fire and Ice" (co-written by band member Scott Sheets), was another hit (US number 17 and number 2 on the new Rock Tracks chart, Canada number 4, Top 30 Australia and New Zealand) and won Benatar her second Grammy Award for "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" and her third consecutive RIAA certified Platinum album, eventually being certified double Platinum. "Promises in the Dark" (US number 38 and Canada number 31) was also released as a single.
Get Nervous was released in 1982, led by a hit single and MTV video, "Shadows of the Night", which sold well: US Hot 100 number 13 and Rock Tracks chart number 3, Canada number 12, and AUS number 19. The album was another success, reaching number 4 in the US, although it sold less well in most other countries, generally only reaching the Top 20 (Canada number 16), and only reached number 73 in the UK. It was her fourth consecutive RIAA and CRIA Platinum certification, and "Shadows of the Night" garnered Benatar her third Grammy, again for "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance". The follow-up singles, "Little Too Late" and "Looking for a Stranger", were also successful in the US, hitting number 20 and number 39 (plus number 4 on the Rock Tracks chart) but did not chart outside the US, even in Canada. The WWII-themed music video for "Shadows of the Night" featured then-unknown actors Judge Reinhold as an American fighter copilot and Bill Paxton as a German radio operator.
By 1983 she had established a reputation for singing about "tough" subject matters, best exemplified by one of the biggest hits of her career, "Love Is a Battlefield" (penned by noted hit songwriter Holly Knight with Mike Chapman), released in December 1983. By then, her sound had mellowed from hard rock to more atmospheric pop and the story-based video clip for "Love Is a Battlefield" was aimed squarely at MTV, even featuring Benatar in a Michael Jackson-inspired group dance number, using Jackson's Beat It director Bob Giraldi and choreographer Michael Peters. This new pop/rock direction was a huge commercial success, with the single remaining today as her biggest hit in most countries. This included it peaking at number 5 on the US Hot 100, number 1 for four weeks on the US Rock Tracks chart, number 2 in Canada, number 1 in the Netherlands (for four weeks ending as the number 2 song for the year), her first Top 30 hit there, and at number 1 in Australia for seven consecutive weeks, her first Top 25 hit there, number 3 in West Germany, number 5 in Switzerland, number 6 in New Zealand, and number 17 in the UK, her first Top 50 song there. It was her first song to chart in Switzerland, reaching number 11 there. The song also netted Benatar her fourth consecutive Grammy Award for "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance".
"Love Is a Battlefield" was one of two studio tracks included on the live album, Live from Earth, which was recorded during her sold-out 'Get Nervous' world tour of America and Europe in 1982 and 1983, the other being "Lipstick Lies". The album had mixed success in different countries: it peaked at number 2 in Australia, number 12 in New Zealand, number 13 in the US, and became her first hit album in Germany (number 7) and the Netherlands (number 4), but only made the Top 25 in Canada and France, and number 60 in the UK. It became her fifth consecutive RIAA and CRIA Platinum album.[10]
1984–1986: Tropico and Seven the Hard Way[edit]
In 1984, Benatar released her fifth studio album, Tropico, which, aside from reaching number 7 in New Zealand and number 31 in the UK, was generally a step back in most other countries (US number 14, Canada number 21, AUS number 9, France number 16, Germany number 26, Netherlands number 23). The single "We Belong", a slow-tempo pop song, released in October 1984, a month prior to the album's release, became another top 10 hit in the US peaking at number 5, reaching the Top 10 in several other countries, including number 7 in Australia, number 9 in West Germany, and number 5 in Switzerland, her most successful but last hit single there. It also peaked at number 22 in the UK. A second single release, "Ooh Ooh Song",[19] reached number 36 in the US, but fared poorly in other countries. She and Giraldo said that this album was the first where they moved away from her famed "hard rock" sound and started experimenting with new, sometimes "gentler", styles and sounds. Despite not making the US Top 10, the album immediately earned her a sixth consecutive RIAA and CRIA Platinum-certified album.
After the chart success of "We Belong" in the UK, "Love is a Battlefield" was re-released in the UK early 1985 and became her highest chart hit there, reaching number 17. "We Belong" was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1986, her first nomination in that category.
In 1985, she released her sixth studio album, Seven the Hard Way. She hit the US Top 10 (and number 4 on the US Rock Tracks chart) with the Grammy-nominated rock single "Invincible" (the theme from the movie The Legend of Billie Jean), which was written by Holly Knight (Love Is a Battlefield) and Simon Climie, three full months before the album was released. The track also reached number 6 in Canada. Her other Grammy-nominated single from the album, the guitar-driven "Sex As a Weapon", climbed as high as number 28 on the US Hot 100 in January 1986, number 5 on the US Rock Tracks chart, and reached the Top 30 in Canada. Both the Seven and the Hard Way singles were less successful outside North America than the previous two "gentler" singles, generally reaching the Top 30 in Australia, West Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand (although Invincible went Top 15 there), but missing the Top 50 in the UK. A third single, the mellow "Le Bel Age", made it to number 54 on the US Hot 100.
Seven the Hard Way peaked at number 26 in the US, earning an RIAA Gold certification (import CD). In Canada, it was her seventh consecutive Platinum certified album, even though it only peaked at number 36 on the albums sales chart. It also reached number 19 in Australia and was a big success in New Zealand reaching number 2, but did not reach the Top 50 in West Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland or the UK, and for the first time, an album of hers failed to chart in France. In her autobiography, Between a Heart and a Rock Place, she said, "Out of all the albums, Seven the Hard Way cost the most to make and sold the least." The album sold approximately 600,000 US copies.[20]
1987–1988: Best Shots and Wide Awake in Dreamland[edit]
In July 1988, Benatar released her seventh studio album, Wide Awake in Dreamland, which generally improved on the success of Seven the Hard Way, such as peaking at number 11 in the UK and Canada, earning her eighth consecutive Platinum certified album in Canada,[21] and number 13 in Australia. It peaked at number 26 in the US, but stalled at number 15 in New Zealand, usually one of her most successful markets. The Grammy-nominated lead single, "All Fired Up" (written by Kerryn Tolhurst, ex-The Dingoes) reached number 19 in both the U.S. and the U.K. (plus number 2 on the US Rock Tracks chart), number 8 in Canada, number 20 in New Zealand, and was a number 2 smash in Australia, becoming one of the biggest hits of 1988 in that country. Other singles released from the LP are "Don't Walk Away" (UK number 42), the Grammy nominated "Let's Stay Together", and "One Love" (UK number 59).
Although billed as a solo artist, Benatar recorded and toured with a consistent set of band members over most of her career:
