Pat Benatar

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Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar on the cover of her 1997 album Innamorata
Pat Benatar on the cover of her 1997 album Innamorata
Background information
Birth name Patricia Mae Andrzejewski
Born January 10, 1953 (age 54)
Origin Brooklyn, New York, USA Flag of United States
Genre(s) Rock
Arena rock
Hard rock
Occupation(s) Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1978 - present
Label(s) Chrysalis Records
Website http://benatar.com/

Pat Benatar (born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953) is a Grammy Award-winning American rock singer.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Pat Benatar was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Polish/Irish family. She initially studied voice and opera, following in the footsteps of her mother while growing up in Lindenhurst, New York, on Long Island. [1]

A 1971 graduate of Lindenhurst High School, in 1972 she married her high school sweetheart, Dennis T. Benatar, providing her the surname with which she became famous. She immediately moved to Richmond, Virginia with her husband, where she worked as a bank clerk and sang gigs at night.[2]. She and her husband moved to New York in 1975 where they were soon divorced. Dennis also has a sister named Pat Benatar.

Benatar then began to pursue her singing career in earnest. She was discovered at an amateur-night contest in the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1977. After performing successfully several times at the club, Benatar finally found her onstage persona in the form of a wild Halloween costume (a vampire) which she had worn as a joke. In several interviews, Benatar recounted her realization for the new audience reaction: "The crowd was always polite, but this time they went out of their minds," Benatar would later report. "It was the same songs, sung the same way, and I thought, 'Oh my god...it's these clothes and this dog!'" Because of that performance, she was signed to Chrysalis Records by its founder Terry Ellis.[3]

Her first single, "Heartbreaker", was released in October 1979 and was an immediate hit, climbing to #23 in the US. Her debut LP, In the Heat of the Night, was even more successful, reaching #12 and establishing Benatar as a new force in rock. The LP featured a cover of John Cougar Mellencamp's "I Need a Lover" as well as the single "We Live for Love", an effective fusion of rock and new wave that saw it reach the US Top 30 and become a hit as far away as Australia (#28).

In August 1980, Benatar released her second LP, Crimes of Passion, featuring her signature song "Hit Me with Your Best Shot". The single was her first to break the US Top 10 (#9) and sold over a million copies, going gold. The album reached US #2 in January 1981 and a month later Benatar won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance of 1980. Other singles released from Crimes of Passion were "Treat Me Right" (US #18) and a cover of Young Rascal's "You Better Run" (US #42, AUS #31). The album remained on the US album charts for 93 weeks.

Benatar's first (and only) US chart-topper was the LP Precious Time, released in August 1981. It was also her first to chart in the UK, reaching #30. The album's lead single, "Fire and Ice", was another big hit (US #17, AUS #30) and would win Benatar her second Grammy Award, this time for Best Female Rock Performance of 1981.

In February 1982, Benatar married her lead guitarist Neil Giraldo, with whom she would have two daughters, Haley and Hana.

A hit single, "Shadows of the Night", (US #13, AUS #19) heralded a new LP, Get Nervous, released in January 1983. The album was another smash, reaching US #4, and the single would garner Benatar yet another Grammy, for Best Female Rock Performance of 1982. The follow-up single, "Little Too Late" was also successful, hitting US #20.

By 1983, Benatar had established a reputation for writing about 'tough' subject matter, with a significant amount of songs featuring a "battle" metaphor. This was best exemplified by one of the biggest hits of her career, "Love Is a Battlefield", released in December 1983. By now 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. This new pop direction was a huge commercial success, with the single peaking at #5 in the US, her first hit single in the UK at #49, and #1 in Australia for 6 weeks. The song would also net Benatar her fourth consecutive Grammy Award, for Best Female Rock Performance of 1983. A live album, Live from Earth, from which "Love Is a Battlefield" was one of two studio recorded tracks, hit US #13.

In late 1984, the single "We Belong" became another Top 5 smash in the US (also hitting UK #22 and AUS #7) but the LP Tropico became her first studio album since the 1979 debut to fail to crack the US Top 10, reaching only #14 (AUS #9). A second single release, "Ooh Ooh Song", continued this trend by struggling to US #36.

Benatar would hit the US Top 10 once more, with the single "Invincible" in 1985, but her days of assured commercial success in the US were over. "Sex As a Weapon" would only climb as high as #28 in January 1986 and LP Seven the Hard Way barely dinted the US Top 30, peaking at #26. At the same time, her appeal in the UK began to grow, with a 1987 greatest hits LP, Best Shots, reaching #6 and re-released singles "Love Is a Battlefield" and "Shadows of the Night" charting at #17 and #50, respectively. Her standing in Australia (always Benatar's most successful territory outside of the US), also remained undiminished, with Seven the Hard Way hitting the Top 10, and Best Shots and 1988's Wide Awake in Dreamland the Top 20. A single lifted from the latter, "All Fired Up", was a #2 smash in Australia, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year.

Benatar won four consecutive Grammy Awards for "Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female" from 1980 to 1983, and was nominated four additional times in 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989. She is also the winner of three American Music Awards, and was Rolling Stone magazine's Favorite Female Vocalist twice. Benatar will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Based on number of songs and their charted positions, Billboard magazine ranks her as the most successful female rock vocalist of all time.[citation needed]

[edit] The band

Although billed as a solo artist, Benatar recorded and toured with a consistent set of band members over most of her career, who contributed greatly to the writing and producing of songs and are recognizable characters on album photos and in many of her music videos.

  • Neil "Spyder" Giraldo (incorrectly spelled as "Geraldo" in early liner notes/credits) is the distinctive lead guitar of the band and has performed on all of Benatar's albums. Neil also plays keyboards and harmonica, and has many writing and producing credits on the Benatar albums.
  • Myron Grombacher performed drums on nine of Benatar's albums and has numerous writing credits. Myron is easily recognizable in the music videos, particularly as the mad dentist in "Get Nervous."
  • Charlie Giordano performed keyboard duties on five albums, and is identifiable by his glasses and distinctive array of berets, blazers and 80's-style ties.
  • The original bass player was Roger Capps, replaced on Tropico by Donnie Nossov, and then later by Frank Linx.
  • Scott Sheets is also credited on guitar on the first three albums, originally as lead.

[edit] Other achievements

Benatar still writes and tours with her husband, Neil Giraldo.

In the summer of 2005, the couple's older daughter, Haley Giraldo, starred in E!'s reality TV series, Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive.

[edit] Stage and screen

In 1975, Benatar performed as the character "Zephyr" in Harry Chapin's off-Broadway sci-fi rock musical "Zinger." A rendition of Zephyr's solo piece "Shooting Star" is on the Synchronistic Wanderings collection.

In 1980, she portrayed the character "Jeanette Florescu" in Marcus Reichert's film noir Union City.

Benatar has made numerous TV appearances, mostly as herself. She appeared with her husband in the Charmed episode "Lucky Charmed", and in an episode of Dharma & Greg as herself (singing "We've Only Just Begun" at an impromptu wedding in an airport).

[edit] Advertising

In 2006, the song "We Belong" was part of a $20 million dollar ad campaign for Sheraton hotels.[4] although the version used in the commercial was not Benatar's. Her version of the song is featured in the 2006 comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, starring Will Ferrell and directed by Adam McKay.

Though she had earlier expressed dismay for rock stars endorsing products (including onetime cohort Debbie Harry, who had developed her modeling career simultaneously to her rock career), Benatar herself has now become a commercial spokeswoman for the Energizer company, and is currently being featured in an ad for Candies Vintage shoes for Kohl's department store.

[edit] Trivia

  • Was offered the song "Like A Virgin" but turned it down. It eventually was recorded by Madonna.
  • Then-unknown actors Judge Reinhold and Bill Paxton appeared in Benatar's WWII-themed music video for "Shadows of the Night" (as an American fighter copilot and a German radio operator, respectively).
  • "We Belong" was featured in the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" in final race scene.
  • "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" appeared in one scene of Spring Fever (1983).
  • "Invincible" was featured as the theme in the 80's movie 'The Legend of Billie Jean'- starring Helen Slater, and Christian Slater, along with many others.
  • "All Fired Up" was originally recorded by Australian Band, The Rattling Sabres.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album U.S. UK Additional information
1979 In the Heat of the Night 12 — Debut album
1980 Crimes of Passion 2 — —
1981 Precious Time 1 30 —
1982 Get Nervous 4 73 —
1983 Live from Earth 13 70 features 2 studio recordings
1984 Tropico 14 31 —
1985 Seven the Hard Way 26 79 —
1988 Wide Awake in Dreamland 28 11 —
1991 True Love 37 40 Recorded with her regular band plus the Roomful of Blues horn section and drummer.
1993 Gravity's Rainbow 85 — —
1997 Innamorata 171 — —
2003 Go 187 — —

[edit] Compilations

Year Album U.S. UK Additional information
1999 Synchronistic Wanderings: Recorded Anthology 1979-1999 — — 3 CD box set featuring hits, album tracks, soundtrack and unreleased rarities.
2005 Greatest Hits 47 — comprehensive hit singles collection

[edit] Singles

Year Song U.S. U.S. Main- stream Rock UK AUS Album
1979 "I Need a Lover" — — — — In the Heat of the Night
1979 "If You Think You Know How to Love Me" — — — — In the Heat of the Night
1979 "Heartbreaker" 23 — — 95 In the Heat of the Night
1980 "We Live for Love" 27 — — 28 In the Heat of the Night
1980 "Rated X" — — — — In the Heat of the Night
1980 "You Better Run" 42 — — 31 Crimes of Passion
1980 "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" 9 — — 33 Crimes of Passion
1981 "Treat Me Right" 18 31 — — Crimes of Passion
1981 "Hell Is for Children" — — — — Crimes of Passion
1981 "Fire and Ice" 17 2 — 30 Precious Time
1981 "Promises in the Dark" 38 16 — — Precious Time
1981 "Precious Time" — — — — Precious Time
1982 "Shadows of the Night" 13 3 50 19 Get Nervous
1983 "Little Too Late" 20 38 — — Get Nervous
1983 "Looking for a Stranger" 39 4 — — Get Nervous
1982 "Anxiety (Get Nervous)" — — — — Get Nervous
1983 "Love Is a Battlefield" 5 1 17 1 Live from Earth
1984 "Lipstick Lies" — — — — Live from Earth
1984 "We Belong" 5 3 22 7 Tropico
1984 "Diamond Field" — — — — Tropico
1985 "Ooh Ooh Song" 36 22 — 78 Tropico
1985 "Temporary Heroes" — — — — Tropico
1985 "Painted Desert" — — — — Tropico
1985 "Invincible (Theme from The Legend of Billie Jean)" 10 4 53 23 Seven the Hard Way
1985 "Sex As a Weapon" 28 5 67 33 Seven the Hard Way
1986 "Le Bel Age" 54 19 — 86 Seven the Hard Way
1986 "Big Life" — — — — Seven the Hard Way
1988 "All Fired Up" 19 2 19 2 Wide Awake in Dreamland
1988 "Don't Walk Away\" — — 42 — Wide Awake in Dreamland
1988 "Let's Stay Together" — — — — Wide Awake in Dreamland
1989 "One Love" — — 59 — Wide Awake in Dreamland
1991 "True Love" — — — — True Love
1991 "Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss" — 17 — — True Love
1991 "So Long" — — — — True Love
1993 "Everybody Lay Down" — 3 — — Gravity's Rainbow
1993 "Somebody's Baby" — — 48 — Gravity's Rainbow
1994 "Crazy" — — — — Gravity's Rainbow
1994 "Every Time I Fall Back" — — — — Gravity's Rainbow
1997 "Strawberry Wine (Life Is Sweet)" — — — — Innamorata
1997 "At This Time" — — — — Innamorata
1997 "Papa's Roses" — — — — Innamorata
2003 "Have It All" — — — — Go
2004 "Go" — — — — Go

[edit] External links

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