I first heard of the Gits with the release of the Home Alive CDs in the mid-90s. At the time, I only noticed that this compilation album featured great tunes by Nirvana, Lydia Lunch, Pearl Jam, and others. Only by buying and listening to the album, did I learn of the story of Mia Zapata.
Mia was the lead singer of the punk band the Gits, which achieved some success in the burgeoning Seattle rock scene of the early 90's. While the band did not achieve superstardom right out of the gates like some of the other big Seattle bands, they were a favorite among many of those very bands.
One night, in the summer of 1993, Mia left a bar by herself in Seattle. She was brutally raped and murdered. The Home Alive movement arose out of this tragedy to address continued violence against women. It took ten years, but the authorities finally found her killer in Florida. He was ultimately sentenced to 36 years in jail.
Before her tragic death and the movement that came out of it, the Gits were a very good punk band and Mia Zapata was a powerful force in front of the band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1zbq_diUnM
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