- Live from Earth · 1983
- Greatest Hits · 1980
- In the Heat of the Night · 1979
- Tropico · 1984
- Get Nervous · 1982
- Greatest Hits · 1983
- Crimes of Passion · 1980
- Precious Time · 1981
- Wide Awake In Dreamland · 1988
- Best Shots · 1985
- Precious Time · 1981
- Seven the Hard Way · 1985
- Crimes of Passion · 1980
Essential Albums
- After the blockbuster hit Crimes of Passion, Benatar and guitarist/future husband Neil Giraldo set about putting together Benatar's heaviest album to date. While it lacked the commercial firepower of the previous set, it still featured strong songs and a few hits: "Fire and Ice" and the expansive "Promises in the Dark," one of Benatar's most dramatic and effective tracks. Her voice is a powerful instrument, and with it she does justice to The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" and Paul Revere & The Raiders' "Just Like Me." The title track, written by Billy Steinberg, captured Benatar's sensual side, while Benatar and Giraldo delivered the perfect hard rocker in "Evil Genius," where she comes close to heavy metal. "Take It Anyway You Want It" and "Hard to Believe" work up a pop lather. Benatar would seriously revamp her music after this point. However, taken as the final album of her opening trilogy, Precious Time is the perfect consolidation of everything she learned as a rock 'n' roll singer.
- Pat Benatar had sung cabaret and many other styles before finding her voice as a hard pop-rocker. Her voice was a force of nature, and her band (led by guitarist and future husband Neil Giraldo) understood the balance between pop and rock and how to get the most out of each. "Heartbreaker"—a tune penned in part by Carole Bayer Sager—was a career-changer, a fierce bite of sexual power that established Benatar as a star. She gave a similarly forceful read to John Cougar Mellencamp's "I Need a Lover." "We Live for Love" capitalized on new wave with bright guitars, oversized robotic beats, and sweet synthesizers that moved Benatar closer to Blondie. (The album was produced by Mike Chapman, who also produced Blondie's breakthrough LP Parallel Lines.) "Rated X" pulses with new wave guitars and a further pop sense, while "So Sincere" teases with a playfulness that was often overlooked as Benatar dominated FM rock radio with a tougher sound.
Albums
Music Videos
- 2007
- 2007
- 2007
Artist Playlists
- A hard rock diva with a voice as big as her on-stage persona.
- Raw-edged rock, huge choruses, and anthemic pop hooks.
Singles & EPs
Compilations
Appears On
- Mr Sam & Andy Duguid
About Pat Benatar
Award-winning singer-songwriter Pat Benatar was one of the most successful rock acts of the ’80s. ∙ She won the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row, between 1980 and 1983. ∙ Her 1981 album, Precious Time, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, included the Grammy Award-winning pop-rock single “Fire and Ice.” ∙ The video for 1980’s “You Better Run” was the second clip ever played on MTV. ∙ The 1983 synth-rock hit “Love Is a Battlefield” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and came in at No. 30 on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s. ∙ Benatar's pop-rock hit “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” was used in pivotal scenes of the 2012 movies Pitch Perfect and Rock of Ages. ∙ In 2020, Benatar and her long-time musical collaborator and husband, Neil Giraldo, were nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
- HOMETOWN
- Brooklyn, NY, United States
- BORN
- January 10, 1953
- GENRE
- Rock