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Originally Posted by Macfan4life
You used the correct word "trailblazer." Pat Benatar has achieved things no other rock female has done. During the peak of her career, she recorded a live album during her sold out world "Get Nervous" tour (1982). The live album went platinum and charted #13 on Billboard. I don't believe any female artist, let alone female rock artist ever recorded a live album let alone have that great success with a live album. Also, the tour was so successful that it was recorded for a HBO special and later released on VHS. Just a few months later, she would win a Grammy for best female rock artist.
People get their feelings hurt and bring their personal preferences into who should get into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. I never owned any Benatar music until about 20 years ago, I bought a "best of" CD. In the early/mid 80s, I despised her. I felt her success prevented Stevie from getting recognized at music award shows. As a teen, I had a shrine to Fleetwood Mac and Stevie on my bedroom wall. I would take clippings from Hit Parade magazine that claimed Pat "The Queen of Rock" and post those words over a Stevie Nicks photo. She ruled the female rock/pop charts for half a decade. She is someone who I would think would have gotten in within the first year or two.
There should be a standard to get in. Just because someone is your personal favorite is not enough. They should have to be a trailblazer, successful in touring or music, and even a crossover of different kinds of music. Benatar is every one of those things. Benatar has 4 Grammys for best female rock performance. Over her career, she was nominated 8 times, winning half the time.
Its true that Pat does not have the loyal fan base as Stevie or other artists. But that has no bearing on her achievements. I remember when I lived in West Palm Beach in 1998. Stevie was touring with Enchanted and still in the limelight of The Dance. After dismal showings at Street Angel, Stevie was once again filling arenas and concert halls. Pat was touring too and she was announced at some local club. I was shocked. The show got cancelled too. I was not attending the concert but was so surprised she would play such a small venue.
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probably because she didn't work it as hard as Stevie did. Like it or not, one of Stevie's greatest talents has been networking inside the industry and working her image. She worked to create a visual image so that people who don't know her music well still know her visual image-- the capes, the top hat, the sexy necklines (in the earlier days), the tambourine etc. She herself identifies with this stage image so much it is the logo of her personal stationery. Her tumultuous personal life has made her a regular in the pop culture/gossip columns-- the breakups within FM, drug use, her high profile romances, etc etc etc. Now the 90s saw how much her physical appearance played a role in her career-- when she got heavy a lot of the casual fan base turned on her, and many of the pop pundits. She knew it. And she worked to get back.
Pat went off the radar for a while having a family and all that. She doesn't seem to have the singular or narcissistic drive that Stevie does. Pat seems to pander to her husband's ego by giving him co-billing and that sort of thing, and that has probably hurt her career too.
So there's a hella lot more that goes into success than just talent. One of Stevie's talents has been keeping herself in the news. Important.