Pat Benatar

She dropped out of the State University in New York after a year of studies to marry her high-school love interest, Dennis Benatar, an army draftee who served with the Army Security Agency at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. In 1979, the couple separated from each other eventually leading to divorce.

Post her divorce from Dennis Benatar, she committed herself to Neil Giraldo, a guitarist and producer. The two went into the wedlock on February 20, 1982. The couple has been blessed with two children - both daughters.

In 2010, she came up with her autobiography titled Between a Heart and a Rock Place, which gave a detailed account of her life and success in the music industry.

Pat Benatar was born as Patricia Mae Andrzejewski to a Polish father, Andrew and Irish mother, Mildred. While her father was a sheet metal worker, he mother worked as a beautician.

From an early age, she developed a fantasy for fine arts, especially theatre. She even attained voice lessons to mould her voice quality.

It was at the age of eight that she gave her first solo performance at Daniel Street Elementary School.

Her involvement with theatre and singing heightened when she got admission at the Linderhurst Senior High School. She not only took part in the musical theatre, but was also seen marching and performing solo.

Since she spent most of her growing up years in Manhattan, her musical talent was limited to classical and theatrical. She had very little knowledge about the rock scene.

Post marriage, she relocated to Virginia along with her soldier husband. Meanwhile, she took up the role of a bank teller and housewife. However, the profile did not suit her taste and in 1973, she quit the same.

Pursuing her singing career, she bagged the job of a singing waitress at The Roaring Twenties, a night club. Next she got a gig for singing at a lounge band Coxon’s Army, which was a regular at various happening clubs of the city.

In 1974, she came up with her first and only single of this period, ‘Day Gig’ which was locally released in Richmond. The song was written and produced by Phil Coxon, the leader of the band.

It was in the following year that she earned her big break at an amateur night at a comedy club, Catch A Rising Star in New York. Her version of Judy Garland’s ‘Rock-a-Bye Your Baby’ was appreciated so much so that she received a call back.

The same year, she received the role of Zephyr in Harry Chapin's futuristic rock musical, The Zinger. The first performance was scheduled to take place at the Performing Art’s Foundation Playhouse in Huntington Station, Long Island.

In the decade of 1980s, she was nominated eight times in the category of Best Female Rock Performance of which she won four consecutive Grammy awards for the album ‘Crimes of Passion’, and the songs ‘Fire and Ice’, ‘Shadows of the Night’ and ‘Love is a Battlefield’.

In addition to her eight nominations in the category of Best Female Rock Performance, she earned two more nominations in the categories, ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance’ in 1984 and ‘Best Rock Vocal Performance, Duo or Group’ in 1986.

Other than Grammy awards, she is the proud recipient of three American Music Awards: Favorite Female Pop/Rock Vocalist of 1981 and 1983, and Favorite Female Pop/Rock Video Artist of 1985

In 2008, she was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame at the Second Induction Award Ceremony and Fundraising Gala.