As Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo thundered through a few immortal rock hits at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in November, they noticed an especially enthusiastic fan. Now super fans are expected at every Benatar & Giraldo performance – the icon and her songwriter/guitarist/producer husband have combined for piles of Grammys, platinum records and an astounding 19 Top 40 hits. But this one stood out because, well, it was Pink.
“I just remember looking down and she was giddy,” Benatar told the Herald of spotting the pop star in the crowd. “I didn’t know her, we’d never met, so it was just so fun to look down and see her having such a great time.”
“She was in the front row and dancing,” Giraldo added. “Then when we were leaving she came up and said, ‘I want you two on the road with me. I want you to play dates with me this summer.’”
True to her word, Pink booked Benatar & Giraldo as support at some of her biggest shows – the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will play Fenway Park with the “Just Give Me a Reason” singer July 31 and Aug. 1.
Pink’s enthusiasm for Benatar acknowledges the trailblazers legacy. Part of a generation of pioneers from Joan Jett to Ann and Nancy Wilson, Benatar came up in an era when music industry executives – almost exclusively male – tried their best to restrict female artists’ freedom. Her partnership, first professional, then romantic, with Giraldo was seen as something dangerous in the late ’70s.
“The record company and especially management started to realize that our alliance was too strong,” Benatar said. “They thought they could control me better if he wasn’t there… That was the sexism that was present. They were thinking that the only reason I was strong was because I had him. I was strong before I had him.”
The two clicked instantly – Benatar remembers she was hooked on Giraldo’s sound from the first chord he played. Not everyone felt the chemistry.
“Disco was still very vibrant (in 1979) and here we come with a girl singer in a rock band and there’s a lot of guitar on the record,” Giraldo said. “We had a very difficult time getting the records played on the radio. They wouldn’t play ‘Heartbreaker’ because they said there was too much guitar on the record.”
There was not too much guitar on the record. And Pat Benatar’s grit and glory won over millions of ears and hearts
After the first two albums, Giraldo took over as producer. The pair married in 1982 and have worked together almost non-stop since. While Benatar hasn’t released an album in 20 years, she and Giraldo have never stopped writing (she estimates the pair have a hundred songs stockpiled).
Will they get to another album? Neither one will commit but don’t rule it out. Life has just been too jam packed (they even debuted a theater production, “Invincible: The Musical,” in 2022, which included old hits and new songs) as they celebrate 44 years of making music together.
“I’m 70, (Giraldo) is going to be 68, and we look at each other every day and go, ‘What the hell?’” Benatar said with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever been busier. It’s crazy… But we’re grateful for that. We love to work. I wish I had a little more time to see my grandchildren but I see them enough.”
For tickets and details, visit benatargiraldo.com.
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