Concert in your area for Rock, Folk & Blues, and Pop.
Pat Benetar, born, Patricia Mae Andrzejwski, is originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn in New York City. With a passion for music and theatre early on in life at the age of eight, Benetar began singing lessons, singing in every school production that she could. She later had the opportunity to enrol at one of the best arts schools in the world, Julliard, but decided that she didn’t want to embark on that particular career path, so studied Health Education instead. Through a couple of twists and turns, and entering a talent competition where she sang a rock song and won, she found herself recording commercial jingles for Pepsi, which is where she finally got noticed and went on to record the huge hit album, “In the Heat of the Night” which was released in 1979, and reached #12 in the US. It was only the catalyst of what would turn into a 30 plus year career, seeing her sell upwards of 30 million albums to date, becoming a huge international success, releasing 30 plus singles, fifteen of them being top 40, and maintaining such a stellar reputation to this day.
Her career doesn’t stop at music as her song “We Belong” was part of a $20 million campaign for Sheraton Hotels, and is now a commercial spokeswoman for the Energizer company.
Back in the eighties, there was a market for music that struck a balance between rock and pop, especially in terms of female performers; for those who found Joan Jett a bit much and Kim Wilde a little too soft, Pat Benatar - Patricia Mae Andrzejewski, to give her her birth name - was there to fill the gap. The sheer scale of her commercial viability, too, was proven beyond doubt by no fewer than five platinum records throughout that decade; they spawned some hit singles, too, in the shape of the likes of ‘Hit Me with Your Best Shot’, ‘Love Is a Battlefield’ and ‘Invincible’. Perhaps more impressive still, though, is the fact that Benatar - now sixty-one - has never stopped touring, lining up dates almost every year since she began her career. That continues to this day, with her most recent shows - in celebration of thirty-five years in the business - seeing her play with Cheap Trick and Rick Springfield. It’s been some years, though, since she brought her irrepressibly-energetic band over the pond to the UK; perhaps she doesn’t have the same kind of following over here, but for now, British fans are likely going to have to make do with extensive YouTube footage of recent shows - if she does make it over, expect it to be as part of an all-star eighties lineup in big venues rather than out and out solo gigs.