The Biography of Pat Benatar
She was born “Patricia Mae Andrzejewski” on January 10, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father worked as a supervisor, and her mother was a beautician. As Pat grew up, she attended the Julliard School of Music. Then, after graduation in 1971, she married Dennis Benatar, her high school sweetheart, and the couple moved to Virginia. Dennis was in the military, and Pat worked at a bank. The marriage crumbled soon afterward, and Pat Benatar moved back to New York.
She was discovered by Chrysalis Records while she was singing in a cabaret, and Pat Benatar immediately became a rock ‘n roll hit. Between 1980 and 1983, Benatar sold millions of records, won four Grammy Awards for the “Best Female Rock Vocal Performance”, and she had a Top Five album with “Crimes of Passion” in 1980. She then fired off three hit singles in the next three years: “Fire and Ice” in 1981,”Shadows of the Night” in 1982, and “Love Is A Battlefield” in 1983.
Pat Benatar’s musical career crossed into her personal life when she married her band’s guitarist, Neil Giraldo on February 20, 1982. Benatar and Giraldo had started working together when he wrote “We Live For Love”, one of the songs on her “In The Heat of the Night” album. The marriage proved to be made in “Rock ‘n Roll Heaven” because her fourth album, “Get Nervous”, which was released that same year, spawned the Top 15 hit single, “Shadows of the Night.” The album itself hit number four on the music charts. Neil Giraldo and Peter Coleman produced it.
In 1983, “Love Is A Battlefield” became another chart topping hit, and with it came her fourth Grammy Award.
The sky became the limit for Pat Benatar, as she and her husband continued to create even more Rock ‘n Roll hits year-after-year. 1985 was a particularly busy year for Benatar. She and Giraldo became the parents of daughter, “Haley Egeana Giraldo” on February 16 of that year.
Professionally, the song “We Belong” became a Top Five hit, and the album “Tropico” climbed up to number fourteen in the charts. Pat Benatar also left Chrysalis Records.
In 1986, Pat Benatar’s fans responded positively to her strong, energetic, “in your face” singing style again when she belted out “Sex As A Weapon”, a chart hit from her “Seven the Hard Way” album.
The following year, the husband/wife team released a compilation album titled, “Best Shots” in the United Kingdom. It was a big hit in the UK, climbing up to number six on the charts there. It wasn’t released in the United States until 1989, but it became “gold” when it was.
In the meantime, in 1988, Pat Benatar released the album “Wide Awake in Dreamland” which also became “gold.”
By 1990, Pat Benatar switched her musical gears when she released a blues album titled, “True Love.” The album proved that Benatar could successfully sing most any style. It became a “gold” album as well.
During the 1990’s, with many hit singles and albums under their belts, Benatar and Neil Giraldo continued to write and record even more songs. They toured with the Steve Miller Band, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Fleetwood Mac. Benatar signed on with CMC International, and at the end of the decade, they celebrated their successes with a 20th Anniversary Tour.
On a personal note, Benatar and Giraldo welcomed their second daughter, Hana Juliana Giraldo, into their family on
March 12, 1994.
Today, Pat Benatar is still recognized as being a powerful music icon in the ever-changing world of Rock ‘n Roll. She and her husband Neil Giraldo have proved that “the family who plays together, stays together.” Besides writing songs, playing their music, and raising their daughters, the team is active in raising money for causes, especially to stop child abuse.
