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Long Islander Pat Benatar has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Lindenhurst-raised, four-time Grammy Award winner joins Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Eurythmics and Duran Duran in this year’s class of inductees. Judas Priest and Harry Belafonte are also part of the diverse group of honorees.
Benatar, a video music pioneer in the 1980s and, as such, an early MTV phenom, has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide, recording such mega-hits as “Love is a Battlefield,” “Shadows of the Night,” “Heartbreaker,” and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” and “We Belong.”
Below, Benatar, 69, reacts to being inducted into prestigious group.
The honorees — voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals — “each had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture and helped change the course of rock ’n’ roll,” said John Sykes, the chairman of the Rock Hall, in a statement Wednesday.
Parton had gone on social media to “respectfully bow out” of the process, saying she did not want to take votes away from the remaining nominees and had not “earned that right.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation responded by saying ballots had already been sent and it was up to the voters to decide if Parton was elected. Parton later said she would accept an induction.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame indiction concert takes place Nov. 5 in Los Angeles.
With Associated Press reporting.
