Meet Pat Banatar...one of the most-played artists in the early days of MTV!

This four-time Grammy winner was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski in Brooklyn on January 10, 1953.  Her father was a sheet metal worker, her mother a beautician.

"Patti" became interested in theater, and began voice lessons at the age of 8.  Her training was strictly classical.  Pat participated in choir and school musicals through high school.

Continuing her classical music training, with a plan to attend Juliard, Pat shocked her family, friends and teachers by deciding to attend college, majoring in health education.

At 19, she dropped out of college after one year, to marry her high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar. Pat worked as a bank teller, while her husband served in the army in Virginia.

In 1973, Pat Benatar got a job as a singing waitress, and joined a lounge band.

After Dennis Benatar's army discharge, the couple returned to New York, and Pat became a regular at a "Catch A Rising Star" in 1975, and sang on various commercial jingles (including Pepsi Cola). She would sing at various New York City clubs, basically as an unknown, until she signed a record contract with Chrysalis Records in 1978.

Pat divorced Dennis Benatar in 1979.

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Back cover, "In The Heat Of The Night," 1979. (Craig Allen photo).
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Pat Benatar recorded her first album "In The Heat Of The Night" in June and July of 1979.

The first 2 releases: "I Need A Lover" (August 1979)...

...and "If You Think You Know How To Love Me" (October 1979) received little attention.

However, third time was the charm! "Heartbreaker" which hit the top-40 charts December 22, 1979 was an immediate hit (#23/1980).

Check out Pat Benatar on "American Bandstand"

Pat had found her voice...and her audience, and the rest is rock history!

"We Live For Love" (#27/1980)

"You Better Run" (#42/1980), followed.

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"Crimes Of Passion," 1980 (Craig Allen photo).
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Benatar's second album, "Crimes Of Passion," hit the record store shelves in August 1980, and gave Pat her signature song "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

This single landed at #9 on the charts (1980), and the album spent 5 weeks at #2 in 1981.

Pat won the "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance of 1980" Grammy for the "Crimes Of Passion" album. Plus an unprecedented 3 more times in a row...for "Fie And Ice" (1981), plus "Shadows Of The Night" (1982), and "Love Is A Battlefield" (1983). She was also Grammy nominated in 1984 and 1986!

Ultimately, Pat Benatar would rack up two R-I-A-A certified multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and three gold albums though the 1980s! 14 Top-40 singles would result! Some of the highlights (and "Jersey's Favorite Hits") include:

"Treat Me Right" (#18/1981).

"Fire And Ice" (#17/1981).

"Shadows Of The Night" (#13/1982).

"Love Is A Battlefield" (#5/1983).

"We Belong" (#5/1985).

"Invincible" (#10/1985).

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"Wide Awake In Dreamland," 1988 (Craig Allen photo).
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"All Fired Up" (#19/1988).

Pat Benatar ROCKED the "decade of decadence!"

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"Best Shots," 1989 (Craig Allen photo).
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"Best Shots," a greatest hits collection was released in 1989.

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"Heartbreaker" Best Of CD, 1996 (Craig Allen photo).
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Other compilations and CD box sets would follow in the 1990's and early 2000's. "Ultimate Collection," a 2 CD compilation of 40 remastered songs, was released in 2008.

Pat Benatar was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall Of Fame in October 2008.

She published her autobiography, "Between A Heart And A Rock Place" in 2010.

In her personal life, Pat married her guitarist and producer Neil Giraldo in 1982 (they had met in 1979, during the recording of Pat's debut album). They have two daughters, Haley and Hana.

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Pat Benatar on vinyl & digital. (Craig Allen photo)
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Pat Benatar has continued to tour through the years, supporting her own albums, and has hit the road as a part of multi-band tours, including: Fleetwood Mac, REO Speedwagon, Steve Miller Band, Blondie, and the Bangles.  In 2012, Pat toured with Loverboy and Journey! She toured last year, as well...

Above: Pat singing "We Live For Love," live in concert earlier this year (5/25/14).

Don't miss Pat Benatar in concert this Thursday, August 28th at 8pm, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, as part of her 35th Anniversary tour! Click here for more ticket information!

What else is Pat up to now (with husband and band mate Neil Giraldo)? Click here!

Check out Pat and Neil on facebook, by clicking here!

 

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