What female artist had a hit single with her cover of "I Need A Lover"?

The female artist who had a hit single with her cover of "I Need a Lover" was Pat Benatar. Her version appeared on her 1979 debut album, In the Heat of the Night.

The song was written and first recorded by John Mellencamp, who released it under the stage name Johnny Cougar. Benatar's recording presented the composition as a forceful rock performance and became an important early release in her career. It was issued as her debut single, although its strongest chart impact came outside the United States, including appearances on charts in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Listeners sometimes assume that Benatar wrote the song because her version is so closely associated with it, but the songwriter was Mellencamp. Benatar's breakthrough in the United States followed with later singles such as "Heartbreaker" and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot." Her name is sometimes misspelled "Benetar," but the canonical spelling is Pat Benatar.