Pat Benatar

In the 80s, Pat Benatar was a rock chick to be reckoned with. With four Grammys and six platinum albums to her name, she was one of the forces of the rock scene of the day.

Within a short while of being discovered while singing in a New York City comedy club in the late 70s, she had released her first single, “Heartbreaker”. The track found immediate success, reaching No.23 on the Billboard charts. The debut album, In the Heat of the Night (1979) reached No.12 and the follow-up album, Crimes of Passion (1980) bested it, reaching No.2. The second album, which contained her signature hit, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, stayed in the US charts for nearly 100 weeks.

With her third album, Precious Time, she finally hit the No.1 spot in America and charted in the UK at No.30; her first appearance in the British charts. Subsequent albums until the mid-80s continued the success, with her sound diversifying to assume a more pop-oriented slant. This was a successful direction which resulted in another of her well known hits, “Love is a Battlefield”.

As her fortunes in America waned, they increased overseas and she enjoyed particular success in Australia. However, by the end of the decade, the hits were drying up. She chose to take another new direction and released an acclaimed blues album, True Love in 1991. But the sales weren’t good and she returned to rock for 1993’s Gravity’s Rainbow and 1997’s Innamorata. It was clear that her days as a platinum-selling artist were over, and her next album, Go was not released until 2003. Although this was her most recent album, she continues to tour regularly.