Heart

Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson ignited the creative force of Heart, a rock ensemble that first captured audiences in the mid-1970s with guitar-driven radio successes such as “Magic Man” and “Barracuda,” before scaling even higher peaks through a deliberate pop resurgence ten years afterward. Blending progressive rock, hard rock, and folk influences, the group’s 1976 debut Dreamboat Annie and its 1977 follow-up Little Queen cemented Heart’s reputation as a potent chart contender equipped with memorable hooks and a defiant edge. Their eighth studio album, the self-titled 1985 release Heart, attained quintuple-platinum certification through more radio-friendly tracks including “Alone,” “What About Love?,” and “These Dreams,” the last of which delivered the band’s inaugural number-one single. Heart secured Top Ten albums across each of four consecutive decades, even after pausing activities in the late 1990s to explore separate ventures—the Wilsons issued two roots-focused records as the Lovemongers in 1997 and 1998. Reassembling in 2004 for Jupiters Darling, the band produced a series of well-received albums that led to their 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Daughters of a Marine Corps captain, Ann (born June 19, 1950) and Nancy Wilson (born March 16, 1954) spent their early years in Southern California and Taiwan before the family established roots in Seattle, Washington. During childhood, both gravitated toward folk and pop; while Ann bypassed formal instruction as a youngster yet later mastered multiple instruments, Nancy pursued guitar and flute. Following brief college stints, the sisters opted for professional music careers, with Nancy initially performing as a folksinger and Ann entering the all-male vocal collective Heart.

Formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1963 by bassist Steve Fossen along with brothers Roger Fisher and Mike Fisher, the ensemble began as the Army, later adopted the name White Heart, and finally simplified to Heart at the start of the 1970s. Upon joining, Ann entered a romantic relationship with guitarist Mike Fisher; when Nancy arrived in 1974, she likewise connected with guitarist Roger Fisher. Mike Fisher soon stepped back from performing to serve as the band’s sound engineer. After building a local following in Vancouver, Heart attracted the attention of Mushroom Records owner Shelly Siegel and, with keyboardist Howard Leese and drummer Michael Derosier added, tracked their debut album Dreamboat Annie in 1975.

Having sold more than 30,000 copies in Canada, Mushroom released the album stateside, where it rapidly earned platinum status propelled by the singles “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man.” In 1977 Heart switched to the CBS subsidiary Portrait, triggering extended litigation with Siegel, who issued the incomplete Magazine on Mushroom in 1978 shortly after the band delivered its authentic successor Little Queen on Portrait. The single “Barracuda” became another major success, and Little Queen likewise surpassed one million copies sold. Following 1978’s Dog & Butterfly, the Wilson/Fisher relationships dissolved and Roger Fisher departed. Heart released Bebe le Strange in 1980; after an extensive U.S. tour, both Fossen and Derosier exited, replaced by bassist Mark Andes (formerly of Spirit and Firefall) and drummer Denny Carmassi (ex-Gamma). When 1982’s Private Audition and 1983’s Passionworks underperformed, observers largely dismissed the group, prompting a move to Capitol Records.

Yet 1985 brought the self-titled Heart album, which ultimately moved more than five million units and spawned four Top Ten singles: “What About Love?,” “Never,” the chart-topping “These Dreams,” and “Nothin’ at All.” The 1987 follow-up Bad Animals sustained the momentum; “Alone” scored another number-one hit, while “Who Will You Run To” and “There’s the Girl” received substantial airplay. Brigade, released in 1990, included the number-two single “All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You” plus the Top 25 entries “I Didn’t Want to Need You” and “Stranded.” In the early 1990s the Wilson sisters briefly stepped away from Heart to create the Lovemongers, an acoustic quartet completed by Sue Ennis and Frank Cox; their 1992 four-song EP featured a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “The Battle of Evermore.” Heart resurfaced in 1993 with Desire Walks On, substituting bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser for Andes and Carmassi. On 1995’s The Road Home the band enlisted former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones to produce a live acoustic collection revisiting classics such as “Dreamboat Annie,” “Crazy on You,” and “Barracuda.”

By the late 1990s Heart had entered another hiatus while the Wilson sisters focused on the Lovemongers, releasing Whirlygig in 1997 and Here Is Christmas in 1998. Nevertheless the group remained visible: they appeared in a notable VH1 Behind the Music episode, two career-spanning compilations emerged (1998’s Greatest Hits highlighted early material, while 2000’s Greatest Hits: 1985-1995 spotlighted later work), and their songs surfaced on film soundtracks including 2000’s The Virgin Suicides. Nancy issued her debut solo effort Live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in 1999 and composed the score for husband Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film Almost Famous; Ann continued guest performances, joining the 2001 A Walk Down Abbey Road Beatles tribute tour alongside Todd Rundgren, John Entwistle, and Alan Parsons. Heart resumed recording with Jupiters Darling on Sovereign Artists in 2004, followed three years later by Dreamboat Annie Live, a 2007 Los Angeles performance of the debut album. Red Velvet Car, a fresh set of original songs, arrived in August 2010.

Heart accelerated activity in 2012. Legacy issued the retrospective box set Strange Euphoria in June, the Wilson sisters published their memoir Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll in September, and the new studio album Fanatic appeared in October. A holiday collection, Home for the Holidays, surfaced in 2014. The Wilson sisters and additional musicians finished tracking a new album in early 2016; titled Beautiful Broken after a bonus track from Fanatic, it contained ten selections balancing fresh material with re-recordings of earlier songs from 1980–1984 that the band felt had been inadequately captured initially. The project also included a guest vocal from Metallica’s James Hetfield on the title track and was released by Concord in July.