Official Birthday Star : Pat Benatar

 

Pat Benatar (born Patricia Mae Giraldo - January 10, 1953) is an American singer / songwriter. A four-time Grammy Award winner, the singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. 

   Benatar's debut studio album, In the Heat of the Night, was released August 27, 1979 through Chrysalis Records. The album peaked at No.12 on the Billboard 200 chart in the year 1980. It also reached No.25 on the Australian Albums chart, No.3 on the Canada Top Albums/CDs list, No.8 on the New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) chart. The album would later reach a peak of No.98 on the UK Albums (OCC) chart. Billboard ranked it an No.7 on the year-end list in 1980 and at No.68 the year after. It has also been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It contained the singles : "I Need a Lover" (a cover version of Johnny Cougar's 1978 single), "If You Think You Know How to Love Me" (IRE #2, SA #2, UK #3, US #96), "Heartbreaker" (US #23, CAN #16, NZ #14), "Rated X" and "We Live for Love". 

   Crimes of Passion, her sophomore album, was released August 5, 1980 via the same record label as her debut. It peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200, holding at the runner-up spot for five weeks. The set reached No. 2 on the Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) list, No.16 in Australia, and No.6 on the New Zealand Albums (RMNZ). Billboard ranked it at No.5 on the year-end list of 1981. It contained the singles - "You Better Run" (AUS #31, US #42), "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" (US #9, AUS #33, CAN #10), and "Treat Me Right"(CAN #12, US #18). The album earned Benatar her first Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1981. 

  

   Her third album, Precious Time, released July 6, 1981, reached No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking her first and only album to reach the chart's summit. It peaked at No.2 on the US Rock Albums (Billboard) chart, while reaching No.8 in Australia, No.2 in Canada and New Zealand, No.9 in Sweden and No.30 in the UK. It has been certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA. The album saw the singles - "Fire and Ice" (US #17, CAN #4, AUS #30 - t won her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1982), and "Promises in the Dark". 

   Get Nervous (her 4th set), was released October 29, 1982. It peaked at No.4 on the US Billboard 200 chart, No.3 on the equivalent Rock Albums chart. It reached No.15 in Australia and No.16 in Canada. Billboard ranked it at No.16 at the year-end in 1983. It features the singles - "Shadows of the Night" (US #13, CAN #12 - earned Benatar her third Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance), "Little Too Late", "Looking for a Stranger" and "Anxiety (Get Nervous)". 

Her first live album Live from Earth, was released in October 1983 and contained two studio tracks - "Love Is a Battlefield" (AUS #1, CAN 2, US 35), and "Lipstick Lies". The album peaked at No.13 on the Billboard 200, reaching No.2 in Australia, and No.60 in the UK. 

Her fifth album, Tropico, was released November 1, 1984 - and would peak at No.14 on the Billboard 200, while peaking at No.9 n Australia, No.7 in New Zealand and No.31 in the UK. Its lead single "We Belong" was a success reaching No.5 in the US, No.22 in the UK, No.8 in Canada and Ireland. It was ranked at No.39 in the US at the Billboard year end list of 1985. Other singles were - "Painted Desert", "Ooh Ooh Song" and "Temporary Heroes". 

Seven the Hard Way, the 6th album, was released October 30, 1985  reaching No.26 in the US, No.19 in Australia,  and No.2 in New Zealand. It featured the singles - "Invincible" (CAN #6, UK #53, US #10), "Sex as a Weapon" and "Le Bel Age".  

   Best Shots - the singer's greatest hits album was released October 26, 1987, containing formerly released songs off her previous efforts. The album would reach No.6 in the UK and peak at No.67 in the US. Her seventh, Wide Awake in Dreamland, was out July 4, 1988, and peaked at No.11 on the Billboard 200 list, a spot shy of the top-ten. It also reached No.13 in Australia, No.11 in Canada and the UK, as well as No.15 in New Zealand. It featured the singles - "All Fired Up" (AUS #2, CAN #19, IRE #23, NZ #20, UK #19, US #19), "Don't Walk Away" (AUS #61, UK #42), "Let's Stay Together" and "One Love". 

Her 8th album, True Love, was released April 9, 1991 - it peaked at No.37 in the US while reaching No.53 in Australia, No.22 in Canada and No.40 in the UK. It had the singles "True Love", "Payin' the Cost to Be the Boss" and "So Long". Gravity's Rainbow (her 9th set), was released May 24, 1993, which marked her last album with Chrysalis Records. While the record peaked at number 85 in the US, it contained the singles - "Everybody Lay Down", "Somebody's Baby" (UK #48), and "Crazy"'. 

 Benatar's 10th studio set, Innamorata, was released June 3, 1997 - peaking at No.171 in the US and contained the singles "Strawberry Wine (Life Is Sweet)", "At This Time" and "Papa's Roses". She released a compilation album, Synchronistic Wanderings, on October 5, 1999. 

Her 11th and 12th overall album, Go, was released August 12, 2003, via Bel Chiasso Records. It peaked at #187 in the US. Later she'd release the compilations : Greatest Hits (2005, Billboard 200 - #47), and Ultimate Collection (2008).