Rock legend Pat Benatar says she stopped singing one of her most famous songs – “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – as a gesture of respect for the victims of mass shootings in the United States. “I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar, 69, told the newspaper USA Today in an interview published on July 21st while referring to the lyrics of the 1980 smash hit.
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Benatar, who is currently on a tour across the country, said that “Hit Me With your best shot” is officially out of the rotation of songs to be played. “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,” Benatar told USA Today.
Benatar reported that she has stated to her fans, “If you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it.” The music icon has told USA Today that the popular single, which features the prominent lyrics “fire away,” is “tongue-in-cheek, but you have to draw the line.”
“I’m not going to go on stage and soapbox – I go to my legislators – but that’s my small contribution to protesting. I’m not going to sing it. Tough,” Benatar said in the interview.
The United States has been shaken recently by a series of deadly mass shootings, including incidents in Buffalo, New York, Uvalde, Texas and Highland Park, Illinois.
The data compiled by Gun Violence Archive shows that the country has had a total of 357 mass shootings so far this year. The nonprofit group is defining mass shootings as the ones with at least four wounded or killed, not including the shooter.
The data analysis by the Marshall Project also showed that mass shootings in the U.S. are becoming more deadly and more common. One expert was quoted as telling Insider that the U.S. is now becoming a “traumatized society” in the midst of rampant gun violence.
The hitmaker “Love Is a Battlefield,” who will shortly be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is joining a long list of celebrities who have been advocating for stricter gun laws, including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Chris Evans and Matthew McConaughey.
Some other stars, including Jane Fonda and Taraji P. Henson, have been voicing their frustration that gun control is being relaxed in the U.S. while bodily autonomy is being restricted.
In fact, Benatar added that she was “concerned” about “fundamental autonomy rights” in the aftermath of the Roe v. Wade reversal, removing federal protection of abortion rights nationwide.
“This is a slippery slope,” she told USA Today. “It’s not about abortion for me. I’m concerned that people are not paying attention to what this actually means.”
When it comes to Jane Fonda, there’s plenty of people who don’t like her as well.