Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar, born in 1953 in Greenpoint, stormed out of the gate in 1979 with In the Heat of the Night on Chrysalis, a hard rock record fronted by a cannon-sized voice that could punch through any wall of guitars. "Heartbreaker" set the tone, and her lead guitarist Neil Giraldo, who would become her husband, wrote "We Live for Love" for it. Giraldo's riffs and Benatar's snarl made a tough, tight partnership, and nobody on rock radio mistook her for a pop starlet.

Crimes of Passion in 1980 was the biggest of them all, riding "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", the song that has followed her ever since, along with the grim, driving "Hell Is For Children". It won her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, one of 4 she has collected. Precious Time went to number one in America, with "Promises In The Dark" and "Fire and Ice" aboard, and Get Nervous, a softer seller, still gave her the brooding "Shadows Of The Night".

Then the sound turned moodier and more atmospheric. "Love Is A Battlefield", from the live album Live from Earth, became her biggest hit across most of the world, and Tropico's "We Belong" kept the hot streak alive, all slow-burn synths and hushed intensity. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted her in 2022.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.