The first time I heard Pat Benatar sing “Heartbreaker,” I was a lonely Gen X girl who didn’t always feel particularly powerful, and suddenly this extraordinary voice came roaring through my radio with enough strength for both of us. Decades later, Pat is a four-time Grammy winner, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, and still beside guitarist, creative partner, and husband Neil Giraldo, with whom she built one of rock’s most enduring musical and personal partnerships. In the first installment of Ladies of Gen X Rock, I look back at the woman, the music, the love story, and the voice that helped a generation of young women discover a little of our own strength while we were growing up alongside her. And then Pat Benatar sang. ❤️🤘