Pat Benatar no longer singing Hit Me With Your Best Shot in protest

Pat Benatar no longer singing hit song Hit Me With Your Best Shot out of respect to victims of mass shootings: ‘That’s my small contribution to protesting’

  • The rocker revealed she won’t be playing Hit Me With You Best Shot while on tour as a form of protest and respect to the victims and their families 
  • She said: ‘I’m sorry, in deference to the victims of the families of these mass shootings, I’m not singing it. I tell them, if you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it’
  • Released as a single off of her second studio album, Crimes of Passion (1980), the song went on to become Benatar’s first Top 10 hit in the U.S. 
  • While the lyrics talk about a man who is a heart-breaker and a potential love interest who challenges him to ‘take your best shot’, Benatar’s protest seems to be mainly focused on the lines in the catchy chorus 
  • Despite it being just over six months into the calendar year of 2022, there have already been 356 mass shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive
  •  Overall, 24,551 people have been killed by gun violence this year 

Pat Benatar is taking stand against gun violence in the U.S., most notably mass shootings, by eliminating arguably her most famous song from her setlist.

In a new interview with USA Today, the rocker revealed she won’t be playing Hit Me With You Best Shot while on tour as a form of protest and respect to the victims and their families.

‘We’re not doing Hit Me With Your Best Shot and fans are having a heart attack and I’m like, I’m sorry, in deference to the victims of the families of these mass shootings, I’m not singing it,’ she told the publication, adding, ‘I tell them, if you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it.’

Taking a stand: Pat Benatar, 69, announced she’s not singing her hit song Hit Me With You Best Shot while on tour this summer as a form of protest and respect to victims of mass shootings; the rocker is seen playing live in Indiana in June 2022

Released as a single off of her second studio album, Crimes of Passion (1980), the song went on to become Benatar’s first Top 10 hit in the U.S.

While the lyrics talk about a man who is a heart-breaker and a potential love interest who challenges him to ‘take your best shot’, Benatar’s protest seems to be mainly focused on the lines in the catchy chorus.

‘Hit me with your best shot – Why don’t you hit me with your best shot – Hit me with your best shot – Fire away,’ she defiantly sings in three parts of the song.

‘[The title] is tongue in cheek, but you have to draw the line. I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar, 69, explained.  

‘I’m not going to go on stage and soap box — I go to my legislators — but that’s my small contribution to protesting. I’m not going to sing it. Tough.’

Bonafide hit: Released as a single off of her second studio album, Crimes of Passion (1980), Hit Me With Your Best Shot went on to become Benatar’s first Top 10 hit in the U.S. 

Despite it being just over six months into the calendar year of 2022, there have already been 356 mass shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive. 

Overall, 24,551 people have been killed by gun violence this year. 

Several of those victims were gunned down during recent mass shootings that made headlines across the country, and the world, which includes the seven killed during a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois and the 19 children and two teachers killed during the rampage at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee moved a bill banning assault weapons forward, but at this point it’s unclear whether the legislation has enough support to pass a floor vote. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0JRgHol94Xc%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

While the lyrics talk about a man who is a heart-breaker, Benatar’s protest seems to be mainly focused on the lines of the catchy chorus: ‘Hit me with your best shot – Why don’t you hit me with your best shot – Hit me with your best shot – Fire away’: Benatar and husband Neil Giraldo are pictured playing live in London, England in October 1980

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2021, sponsored by Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, was advanced in a 25-18 vote, despite every Republican present voting no, as reported by The Hill. It’s the first markup of the assault weapons ban since 1994.

In a statement, Cicilline said the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was associated with a 25 percent drop in gun massacres and a 40 percent drop in fatalities. 

So far a date for a vote on the House floor has not been set. 

Benatar and her husband Neil Neil Giraldo are currently on tour through the rest of the summer that ends with a show in Las Vegas on September 23.

Invincible, a jukebox musical reimagining of Romeo and Juliet that she and Giraldo have long had in the works, is set to premiere at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles on November 22, and runs through December 17, as reported by Playbill.

Also in November, Benatar will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Honored: Benatar will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November: she is pictured with her guitarist and husband of 40 years Neil Giraldo in 2019

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