Heart - Sisters act

Heart has always been a rock band. Always been hard rock

(Ann Wilson)

Lightning struck from the sky and hit me and Ann the first time we saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show

(Nancy Wilson)

I really appreciate classic rock and its many radio hits, for keeping our music alive over the years. It's truly great to listen to the radio and hear a Led Zeppelin song go by, then one by Pink Floyd and the Beatles. And then a Heart song comes on. It's just a fantastic feeling. I sit there and think: how did this ever happen?

(Steve Fossen)

Intro – Lucifer and the Magic Man

October 1975. Calgary is a city rising in the southern part of the Canadian province of Alberta, not too far from the imposing Rocky Mountains, one of the largest mountain ranges on Earth. Among the downtown streets there's a nightclub called Lucifer's, which at the end of its summer season hosted a few dates of the Ike & Tina Turner tour. As the autumn season kicks off, in fiery-colored letters, it's announced that the artists who recorded Dreamboat Annie, Heart, will be arriving from Vancouver.

The album has only just come out in limited distribution in the Canadian market alone, thanks to the efforts of a local independent label, Mushroom. The single chosen for radio is "Crazy On You", which earns decent success on Vancouver airwaves, where the band led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson relocated three years earlier in search of the pot of gold at the end of the musical-stardom rainbow. Nicknamed "Magic Man", manager Michael Fisher has a very specific plan that will require sacrifices in the early years, stringing things along before reaching success in the United States. That's why Heart are touring half of Canada chasing any gig they can get, playing taverns, nightclubs, even school dances. Making it in time for the Lucifer's show means over fourteen hours in a van, but it's the only opportunity they have and they can't let it slip. After the show, the nightclub owner complains that the audience didn't spend much and the music was blasted at excessive volume. Fisher suggests playing more covers from the mid-1970s disco scene, to better suit the audience's tastes.

In fact, Heart have already tried slipping in a few Bee Gees covers to win over crowds during their opening sets, but by the end of 1975 the goal is to play the songs from Dreamboat Annie, to prove to the owner of Lucifer's — and to all of Canada — that disco music is simply out of the question. While insiders are quite curious to see a band fronted by two women, sisters no less, management would prefer a style more in step with the times, maybe with less hippie-ish clothing. No drugs, groupies or swearing: for Heart, that means no fun at all.

The Wilson sisters' guiding star is the fire of seventies hard-rock, so much so that they pick up several nicknames like "baby Led Zeppelin" or "Led Zeppelin with tits". Ann and Nancy quickly realize that making it as women in a thoroughly male (and male-chauvinist) world won't be easy at all. One night, after yet another consecutive show at Lucifer's over the span of two weeks, the club owner tears up the contract and fires a band he considers totally unmanageable. On her way back to her hotel room, Ann Wilson is furious and depressed at the same time, dreading the idea of telling her family what happened, especially given the general skepticism about her rock'n'roll life. Then, suddenly, a phone call from Shelley Siegel, promotion manager at Mushroom Records. Siegel is oddly relieved at the news of the early end of the Lucifer's contract, because there's a real chance to open two dates for Rod Stewart in Montreal. In just four days, several hundred miles from Calgary. Of course, no problem. Heart will catch the first available train, toward a waking dream in the most romantic city in Canada.

The Wilson sisters can't believe their eyes when they peek out from behind the curtain and see the crowd waiting with bated breath. Is it really possible they're waiting for a band that just a few days earlier got fired from a nightclub in Calgary? Guitarist Roger Fisher is beaming when he tells the rest of the band that the album Dreamboat Annie is in heavy rotation on local radio. In front of about 18,000 people at the Montreal Forum, Ann Wilson uses French to announce "L'Homme Magique" and the name Heart in the history of popular music.

One – Love at First Sight

The fierce, fighting spirit of sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson comes from far away, very far away indeed. It traces back to the figure of Hannah Dustin, in the family tree of their mother Lois Mary, who in 1697 carried out a massacre after losing her daughter at the hands of a Native American tribe. On their father's side of the family, a long line of US Navy officers, starting with grandfather John Bushrod Wilson Sr, who was the first to arrive in Europe with his unit during World War II. The highly decorated general married Beatrice Lamoureaux, and their first children were born, among them John Bushrod Wilson Jr, born in April 1922 at the military hospital in Bremerton, Washington. Though obviously destined for the same career as his father, John instead had a cheerful disposition and wanted to go to college to become a teacher. The Wilsons originally came from Corvallis, Oregon, where John also nurtured a passion for singing in a choir, where he met Lois Mary and fell head over heels in love. In December 1941, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, John had to face harsh reality after finishing his studies, enlisting in the Marines. Training was long, ending in late 1944 at Quantico, Virginia, the perfect moment to ask Lois Mary to marry him in Fredericksburg, just steps from the famous Civil War battlefield. No sooner had they exchanged wedding vows than John had to leave for war in the Pacific, where he would be seriously wounded a year later by a mine in Guam. Fortunately he survived, being sent back to Pearl Harbor for the necessary medical treatment.

After the war ended, the couple moved together to the Coco Solo base in Panama, where their first daughter, Lynn Wilson, was born in August 1946. Four years later the Wilsons moved again to San Diego, where their second daughter Ann was born on June 19. John shipped out again for Korea, where he was wounded once more, miraculously pulling through yet again. Decorated for valor, he finally managed to land a desk job in San Francisco, where on March 16, 1954 their third daughter, Nancy, was born. A new transfer order sent the growing Wilson family moving once more, to North Carolina.

The Wilsons are a lucky, happy family, fond of reunions with relatives and friends, and of traditional American folk ballads. Music is a source of fun, always playing on the big stereo John bought. Their peaceful stability breaks again in 1956, when father Wilson is recalled to Taiwan due to rising tensions with China. This time Lois has no intention of waiting around in fear, so she decides to bring the girls along to Taiwan too, boarding the departing military ship. Lynn, Ann and Nancy spend three years in the Pacific region, living inside a department store converted into a none-too-temporary home. Back in 1959 at Camp Pendleton, the Wilson family is closer than ever, resigned to a nomadic life without many lasting outside ties. The three sisters attend military school, waiting for the next transfer. But when John has to leave again for Okinawa, Lois decides to stay in the States for the sake of their daughters. In 1960 they move to Bellevue, Washington, the first real home for Ann and Nancy, who share the same bedroom where they spend hours listening to music on the radio. Rock'n'roll is almost the only outlet, especially for Ann, whose soft, curvy figure causes her no small number of social problems at school. As the relationship between Lois and John worsens over certain military-style impositions, the two younger sisters try to carve out as normal an adolescence as possible, between bike rides and Little Richard records.

At 12, Ann grows closer to music, not only listening to blues and rock'n'roll classics, but also starting to practice the flute in a school band. Her social problems worsen when she starts showing signs of a stutter, making her increasingly awkward in class. Her one lifeline is her first record, the soundtrack to Mutiny on the Bounty, starring teen idol Marlon Brando. In 1963 it's time to move again, back to Camp Pendleton, California. It feels like coming home, just before starting junior high school, where the effects of Ann's stutter suddenly worsen, not only at school but at home too. There is, however, a way out, because Ann realizes that when she sings she has no trouble at all, perhaps because singing is controlled by a different part of the brain. Singing becomes a reason to live. Put on a forced diet to shrink her stomach and lose weight — she's under 5 feet tall and weighs over 110 pounds — Ann pours everything into music, becoming first flute in the school band, even conducting the orchestra for one night.

The young lives of sisters Ann and Nancy are turned upside down for good on February 9, 1964, when at grandmother Maudie's house in La Jolla they watch, as they do every week, the Ed Sullivan Show. The episode is watched live by 73 million Americans, an audience never recorded before. On the bill: the performance of four young men from Liverpool in dark suits and mop-top haircuts, who just a few weeks earlier had stormed American radio with their single "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The sexual, provocative charge of the Beatles hits the two sisters' imaginations like an asteroid, used as they are to years of constant moves and rigid military rules. Ann and Nancy talk about nothing else, singing those seemingly innocent pop songs all day, every day. While their classmates dream of being girlfriends to John or Paul, the Wilson sisters want to be John or Paul.

Beatlemania is by now ready to sweep across the United States like a virus, but Ann and Nancy aren't obsessed with kisses and romance, but rather with the new musical structure coming out of Liverpool. They study Beatles songs like school textbooks, note by note. From Ronnie Spector to Aretha Franklin, female power in music is mostly centered on singing, just as in the Supremes, where the instruments are played by men. Ann and Nancy Wilson's dream is different, and provocative, because they want to play guitar as well as sing. Before heading back to Bellevue, grandmother Maudie gives Ann a huge sum (50 dollars) to let her buy an instrument to practice on and chase her dream. She buys a Kent acoustic guitar, and immediately throws herself into learning every Beatles song. Nancy too will get an acoustic guitar shortly after, a gift from their parents so she can play alongside her sister.

The two had by now become regulars at family dinners, expanding their repertoire with traditional folk songs. In the summer of 1964 they attended the premiere of "A Hard Day's Night" – which they watched non-stop for an entire day, hiding under the seats – ever more convinced that their dream wasn't to marry a Beatle. Joined by their friends Sydney Osborne and Bonnie Allen, they formed a vocal quartet with two guitars, an embryonic band called Viewpoints, which of course only performed at home in front of their respective families. For Ann, though, it was still an almost divine feeling, one that took her far away from all her social troubles at school.

Two – A Boy and His Dog

Back in Bellevue, the Wilson family cut all ties with military life for good, as John decided to retire in clear disagreement with the "dirty war" in Vietnam. Lois was finally free to enjoy her own time, getting involved in Catholic volunteer work at the First Congregational Church. John, meanwhile, wanted to go into teaching (an old ambition), but was suffering frequent panic attacks and drinking more and more.

Time moves quickly until the summer of 1966, when the radio announces that the Beatles will play at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Ann books four tickets at 6 dollars each for her band, who simply must go see the four lads from Liverpool. Lennon and co. play a total of eleven songs in under forty minutes, naturally drowned out by the well-known collective hysteria of hundreds of teenagers. The Viewpoints' first public concert takes place at the Vashon Island folk festival in the autumn of 1967, followed by a second performance at the Sunset Drive-In Theater. The girls try to play anywhere they can, even inside car rental offices. At the First Congregational Church, Ann and Nancy give their first performance as a guitar-and-vocal duo. Ann and Nancy open with "The Great Mandala (The Wheel Of Life)", the anti-war song by Peter, Paul and Mary, sparking outrage among the Catholic community that supports the operations in Vietnam. The closing number, the Doors' "When The Music's Over", sends nearly the entire audience fleeing, leading Ann to believe she is indeed on the right path toward social and political change through music.

Fired up by the idea of carrying on with music, the Wilson sisters start dividing up roles more clearly. While Nancy hones her guitar style, Ann devotes herself to singing and develops a passion for the Höfner bass, the same model used by Paul McCartney.

The Summer of Love erupts in June 1967, swept along by psychedelic music and the massive consumption of LSD and marijuana. At 17, Ann Wilson has lost weight and now feels extraordinarily strong. The radio announces the Trips Lansing Festival at the Greenlake Aqua Theater, headlined by Sonny & Cher. The Wilsons want to take part as a group – now calling themselves Rapunzel – and contact the promoter for an audition. The performance is extremely brief: the Wilsons play "The Cruel War" and "Society's Child", and their name isn't even on the poster below Sonny, Cher and Vanilla Fudge. But it doesn't matter, because Ann gets to briefly meet the stunning Cher, another important epiphany for her future as a rock star.

In 1968 the Wilson sisters set off on a short European tour with their school choir, reaching Sweden, the Netherlands and the legendary Hamburg, where their beloved Beatles had taken their first steps. Ann starts dating a boy, Don Smith, with whom she shares a passion for rock and her first experiences with acid. High on a dose of LSD, the two of them hear Led Zeppelin together for the first time at a party, and it blows their minds. Meanwhile, Nancy deepens her passion for songwriting: "Rain Song" is her first original track in a Paul Simon-ish style, written right after the move to Seattle from the Californian desert. Ann isn't standing still either: she meets a young drummer named Chris Blaine, who asks her to sing in his band, White Sail. The repertoire is entirely covers, belted out with energy at the all-male club of the Fort Lawton Army Reserve Base in Seattle. Chris proposes that the band – by now renamed Daybreak – back a country-rocker friend of his at the Audio Recording studios, with the chance to also record a couple of their own original songs, including "Through Eyes And Glass". Kearney Barton, owner of Audio Recording, also runs a record label called Topaz and offers, for a modest fee, to release the track as the B-side of the single "I'm Gonna Drink My Heart Away", credited to Ann Wilson and the Daybreaks. The record is pressed as a 7-inch single in 500 copies, half of which go unsold. Ann never hears it on the radio, despite Barton's promises. But it doesn't matter, because holding an actual record in your hands is a start.

The band changes its name again, to A Boy and His Dog, with Mick Etchoe on guitar and Gary Humphries on second vocals, since Nancy is now just a background vocalist. They become the resident act at the Hatchcover Tavern in Bellevue, playing nothing but covers but earning up to 200 dollars a month. Before long the group splits up, while Ann, for the first time, thinks about getting a job, lasting just two days at KFC before being fired for her bad attitude. Still close friends, Ann and Chris Blaine stay in touch. One day the drummer tips her off about a very interesting ad in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: a band called White Heart is looking for a drummer and a singer. Blaine goes straight to talk to the band's bassist, Steve Fossen, and guitarist Roger Fisher, both already fairly well known on the local music circuit for having played in various bands. The two explain to Chris that they want to change the band's name to Hocus Pocus, and agree to hear Blaine and Wilson audition, who also bring along Gary Humphries and Mick Etchoe from the now-defunct A Boy And His Dog.

Three – Hocus Pocus

Steve Fossen was born in Seattle in November 1949 to Fern and Norman Fossen, she a nurse, he a military man during World War II. He attended Inglemoor High School, where he met his friend Roger Fisher, born in early 1950, whose brother Mike Fisher, an aspiring manager, immediately landed the pair a string of dates around the Washington area. Fossen started playing bass with real skill at 16, when he formed a band called The Army with Roger himself, Don Wilhelm on vocals and Ray Schaefer on drums. The Army spent several years playing around the Seattle area, in taverns, pubs and nightclubs. The band's lineup was later shaken up with the addition of Gary Ziegelman, already the lead singer of Buffalo Clancy, James Cirrello on guitar and Ron Rudge on drums. The name White Heart comes from an Arthur C. Clarke science-fiction story, "Tales From The White Hart". When Ann Wilson shows up for the audition, she launches into a version of "Son Of A Preacherman", followed by the melancholy Beatles tune "The Long And Winding Road". Roger Fisher is captivated by Ann's charisma and decides on the spot that she will be the new voice of the soon-to-be Hocus Pocus.

With the new lineup in place, Hocus Pocus head off to play two straight weeks at the Town Crier in Richland, where Roger Fisher gets to show off all his guitar chops, paying tribute to his idols Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore. Ann Wilson shares vocal duties with her new bandmates, in a repertoire heavily geared toward blues, taken on the road throughout the American Northwest in the early 1970s. As the only woman in a circuit of pubs and taverns full of drunk men, Ann has to assert her presence and adapt to the conventions of macho rock. Although paid fairly well for a bar band, Hocus Pocus still end up broke, prompting Roger to decide to contact his brother Mike for help with the band's management.

In the summer of 1971, Ann Wilson, completely absorbed in her new musical adventure, meets Michael Fisher for the first time: another case of love at first sight, following the one with the Beatles. Mike Fisher has a rather particular personal history, having dodged the draft and fled to Canada for two years. Two years older than Ann, Mike is, to all intents and purposes, a wanted man, but he lives his life with fiery spirit and real intelligence. The two fall in love, caught up in long phone calls between gigs after his return to Canada. Their burning passion leads Ann to want to join him no matter what, even though the decision will mean leaving Hocus Pocus. Roger and Steve are taken aback, but there's nothing they can do about it: Ann Wilson tells her family and boards a Greyhound bus to settle in Vancouver. It's 1972 when Ann Wilson throws herself headlong into Mike Fisher's life, between Zen books and walks in the woods. Their new hippie life in Vancouver starts to worry mom Lois, who at one point begins insisting she come home. Ann writes her a few letters asking for understanding: "He's a magical man, Mom".

While Ann lives out her season of love in Canada, Nancy wants to enroll in college and find a part-time job, setting the guitar aside. However, several of her applications are turned down because of her gender, including one at the Jade East Restaurant, which instead offers her a chance to play there in the evenings. The episode sparks in Nancy the urge to get back into music, establishing herself as a folksinger alongside her guitarist friend Geoff Foubert. The band is simply called Geoff and Nancy, with the addition of a third guitarist, Art Crowder. With the help of a friend who manages them, the band plays several dates at the Keg-n-Cue, performing mostly country & western songs. Their biggest show of 1972 is in Salem, in front of 3,500 people eagerly waiting for Roy Drusky, an artist from the Nashville-style scene.

A devoted fan of Joni Mitchell's work, Nancy Wilson travels to Canada to visit her house, taking the opportunity to stay with Ann, who in the meantime has turned to songwriting in the absence of an actual band. "Here Song" and "How Deep It Goes" are the first songs she writes in this period, marked by a strongly melancholic streak. The relationship between Ann and Mike is in fact taking a turn for the worse, since he is very rigid about certain key issues, like beer and food. Luckily for her, her old bandmates – Fossen and Fisher chief among them – decide to move with their families to Vancouver, putting Mike in charge of promoting a new project.

They all go to live in Roger's brother's cottage, like a genuine hippie commune. Michael's launch plan won't be easy, it will require sacrifices and will only take hold within five years. First, they need to find a name: Hocus Pocus no longer fits, so they settle on Heart, echoing the old White Heart. They also design an official logo, which naturally features a white heart set inside a rounded red-colored font.

Part Four – Stairway to Heaven

Heart's first show takes place at the Cave in Vancouver, following an audition with the club's managers, who agree to pay a total of $60 for the performance. The nightlife scene in the Canadian city is thriving, with dozens of venues hosting live rock every night. Heart play them all, sometimes staying onstage for five hours straight. Their sets generally open with songs by the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple and Yes, followed by rare moments when Ann announces an original song, "Crazy On You". But the part the audience loves most is a roughly 30-minute set of flawlessly executed Led Zeppelin covers, from "Dazed And Confused" to "Whole Lotta Love". Ann Wilson seems particularly at ease channeling Robert Plant's androgynous delivery, nailing even the highest vocal parts. Fisher's guitar recalls Page's, a detail that drives the crowd wild.

Driven by a demanding, almost tyrannical manager, Heart become "the number one cabaret band in Vancouver" over the course of 1974. Thanks to booking agent Barry Samuels, the band plays practically everywhere, from school dances to weddings, while Mike Fisher contacts every record label in the area, eventually leading to the decisive meeting with Rolf Henneman, a sound engineer at Mushroom Studios. Henneman invites Heart to audition for Mike Flicker, the label's producer and owner, but when they show up only his assistant Howard Leese is there. The band plays "Willie And The Hand Jive" (Johnny Otis) and "Sixty Years On" (Elton John), impressing Leese, who remembers them only by the nickname "Little Led Zeppelin". But Mushroom is more interested in Ann than in the rest of Heart, so they offer her a solo contract, which Wilson turns down because it's "all or nothing".

Enrolled at Pacific University in Oregon, Nancy wants to earn a degree in art and literature. She occasionally plays with new guitarist John Farrell, and has saved up enough money to buy a new Gibson J-55 acoustic. During one of her frequent trips to Vancouver, her sister has already asked her to join Heart, which would fulfill their shared dream of playing together. In the autumn of 1973 she transfers to Portland State, clearly struggling both financially and in balancing her studies with folk music. Frustration builds up in Nancy, since her attempts to play with new partners go nowhere. Her family pushes her to make a decision, so one day she writes to Ann: "Should I join the band?" "Yes, yes, yes" comes the emphatic reply. The two Wilson sisters share the idea of using Nancy to add a strong acoustic, folk-rock touch, which will help set them apart from Roger Fisher's macho attitude and from that "Little Led Zeppelin" tag. Nancy is invited to move to Vancouver, into a bigger house on the west side shared with the Fisher brothers' commune and Steve Fossen.

Nancy Wilson joins Heart in mid-1974, moving into the Water Lane apartment in Vancouver. An inveterate sexual predator, Roger Fisher immediately tries to flirt with the new arrival, who is in the meantime dealing with the complicated bureaucracy needed to secure long-term residency. Nancy's introduction into Heart is not welcomed by Roger and Steve, who fear it will soften the band's sound and give the Wilson sisters too much power. Nancy is made to learn the acoustic parts of "The Clap" (Yes) for her audition, which she ultimately passes with flying colors before making her live debut with the band at Starvin' Marvin's Bump City. Up to this point the group has played dance hits and Led Zeppelin covers live, so it's hard to imagine how Nancy's folk sound might fit into the setlist. Ann's vision, however, is different: Heart need to become a band built on original music, and Nancy will be the key to putting together a debut album.

Unable to move to the United States because of his desertion, Mike Fisher tries once again to reach out to Mike Flicker at Mushroom, who after about a year agrees to listen to the band. Flicker is impressed by Ann's voice and Nancy's talent, so he comes back with another unusual offer: the contract will be only for the two of them, plus Roger Fisher, naturally bound by his direct family ties to Mike. Unlike the previous year, Ann doesn't shut the door this time; in fact, she goes into the studio to record the orchestral folk track "How Deep It Goes" with a session drummer and Flicker's assistant Howard Leese handling the string arrangements. The song is released as a single in early 1975, meeting with limited radio success and raising more than a few doubts within Mushroom.

Ann and Nancy keep writing and composing music, though, including "Dreamboat Annie", which becomes the title track of the album, produced by Flicker with arrangements by Leese and released in September 1975. Dreamboat Annie is preceded by the second single "Magic Man", which opens with Fisher's sinuous guitar before veering into syncopated rock and then being torn open by Ann Wilson's powerful voice. The progressive-tinged ending on Leese's synthesizer gives the track an intriguing but not immediately digestible dimension, so much so that the single, played on Vancouver radio, doesn't become an instant hit as hoped. What saves "Magic Man" is Canadian broadcasting law, which requires local radio stations to devote at least 25% of airtime to homegrown artists. Having obtained their residency permits, Heart are now officially a Canadian band, so the single gets more airplay than expected and helps push the album to 30,000 copies sold in Canada by the end of 1975.

The brief acoustic sketch "Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)" introduces another song that will contribute to the band's local success. "Crazy On You" opens with acoustic guitar somewhere between country and folk, before shifting into an intriguing blend of danceable funk, dark riffs and almost pastoral openings. The vocal interplay between Ann and Nancy is flawless, alternating melody with more unleashed vocalizing. The album continues with the evocative "Soul Of The Sea", built on a thoroughly Zeppelin-esque acoustic structure, with Ann Wilson's spine-tingling vocal performance echoing, in female form, the atmospheres so dear to Robert Plant. Fisher's guitar weaves chords that sound like they came straight off "Led Zeppelin III", while Nancy puts her signature on the title track's country-folk sound, complete with banjo played by old friend Geoff Foubert.

The tempo heats up on "White Lightning And Wine", a funky blues number in the style of the Rolling Stones, while the following electro-acoustic ballad "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song" showcases the deep admiration the two Wilson sisters hold for Joni Mitchell. "Sing Child" returns to Zeppelin-esque territory, this time in a harder vein, punctuated by a progressive streak thanks to a flute part that sounds as if it were played by Ian Anderson himself.

Closed out by a new soul-ballad rendition of the title track, Dreamboat Annie is a powerful, evocative record, perhaps limited by excessive referencing, but still a striking achievement for a band still being called "Little Led Zeppelin".

Part Five – The Mushroom

The popularity of the single "Magic Man" in Canada spurs Heart to keep going, playing as much as possible around British Columbia. Mushroom is a small label and can only ship a handful of copies to the American market, the biggest and most attractive in the world. The band agrees to play two straight weeks at Lucifer's in Calgary, but gets fired for behavior deemed too provocative, especially on Ann's part, who openly criticizes the venue's food in front of everyone. On their way home, news arrives of two support dates in Montreal for Rod Stewart, following the album's strong success on local radio. Having realized that radio airplay is the key to popularity, the band travels in person together with Mushroom promoter Shelley Siegel, landing several spins on KSHE in St. Louis, WLUP in Chicago and WMMS in Cleveland. Heart tour for a month with ZZ Top, then play alongside Jefferson Starship and the Bee Gees, gaining ever greater live exposure. Their conquest of the States starts in cities like Detroit, Seattle and Buffalo, but playing on such a large scale demands a major sacrifice: after years in hiding, Mike Fisher decides to turn himself in to the American authorities, for the love of Ann and his brother Roger. Remarkably, the one who helps him is none other than John Bushrod Wilson Jr., who despite his loyal military career writes a letter to the judge on his behalf, at least allowing him to avoid prison. The "dirty war" in Vietnam deserved a response like Mike Fisher's.

Heart leave Vancouver with great reluctance, but the United States – where by mid-1976 "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You" both chart on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album goes on to sell over 2 million copies over the following two years – is home, the promised land for becoming a successful band.

After the release of Dreamboat Annie, Nancy Wilson gives in to Roger Fisher's prolonged advances, further cementing the ties within the band, also known intimately as the Wil-Shers. While on tour in 1976 with the Beach Boys, the Wil-Shers discover that Mushroom is trying to build a small empire by signing other bands, cutting into Heart's royalty payments in the process. There is in fact a full-page ad in the prestigious Rolling Stone, describing how the small Canadian label went from nothing to selling millions of copies. What truly enrages the band, though, is a small caption at the bottom, next to the cover of Dreamboat Annie and a studio photo of Ann and Nancy with their backs bare, reading: "Heart's Wilson sisters confess: 'It was only our first time!'". A massive lapse of taste on the label's part, one that leads the public to assume a homosexual relationship between the two sisters, proof of just how hard it is for a woman to break through in the music scene. Ann immediately calls Shelley Siegel, demanding an explanation. A habitual cocaine user, Siegel tries to dodge the issue, dismissing it as "just ink" and pointing out that no one ever credited him for those millions of copies sold.

Sexism and the demeaning of women aside, the Rolling Stone ad does contain a grain of truth: there's a new album on the horizon, which Heart are rushing to finish in order to ride the wave of Dreamboat Annie's success. The first five songs for Magazine are in fact already done, an album that in Ann Wilson's mind will be more structured – almost a concept album – than their debut. Back in the States, Mike Fisher decides to step aside for the good of the group, replaced at the helm of management by Ken Kinnear, whose first task is renegotiating royalties with Mushroom after the chaos caused by the magazine ad. But Mike Flicker's hands are tied, since his superiors are convinced Heart are a one-hit wonder. While Flicker – whom many consider the band's seventh member following the arrival of new drummer Michael Derosier – will leave Mushroom to stay with Heart, the Canadian label itself will be taken to federal court. The battle over royalties is handed off to the lawyers, as the band moves to Portrait, a division of CBS Records.

There's a major problem: Mushroom is demanding the release of a second album, as stipulated in the contract. Heart respond that without Flicker the deal is no longer valid, but the label threatens to release the record regardless. And that's exactly what it does in the spring of 1977, having cobbled together several still-rough songs and spliced in live excerpts without any authorization from the band. Except for the sturdy Tulsa sound-style hard-boogie of "Heartless", the version of the album forced out by Mushroom bears almost no resemblance to the new sonic directions the band had envisioned. The cover of the tear-jerking Badfinger ballad "Without You" is a blatant filler track, while the orchestral folk of "Just The Wine" feels unfinished beneath the heavy arrangements tacked on at the end without permission.

While the ideas behind the record are plain to see – the fabric of the powerful title track sounds like it could have come straight out of Elton John's songbook – Mushroom's move turns Magazine into more of an EP than an actual album. Hence the inclusion of the live medley made up of "Mother Earth" (Memphis Slim) and a Zeppelin-esque version of "You Shook Me" (Willie Dixon), followed by the wild soul-pop romp "I've Got The Music In Me", a hit for the Kiki Dee Band some three years earlier. These are obviously impressive performances, showcasing Fisher's blues guitar and Ann Wilson's vocal power, but they have nothing to do with an album of original material and would certainly never have been included willingly by the band. Magazine is therefore an unfinished record, as is "Devil Delight", which opens with a riff in the style of "When The Levee Breaks" before unfurling into pop-flavored harmonic passages.

Having slapped Magazine together, Mushroom rushes to distribute it in both Canada and the United States, effectively trying to get ahead of the release of Heart's actual second album on Portrait. On the back cover the label slaps a notice reading roughly: "We are sorry that contractual difficulties have made it necessary to complete this album without the help and authorization of Heart. We did not feel it was right that a legal dispute should deprive the public of hearing these incredible songs and recordings." The album sells around 50,000 copies in the New York and Los Angeles areas alone, thanks to increasingly heavy radio play: the single "Heartless" in particular goes into heavy rotation. The band is furious, to the point of contacting radio stations themselves to explain the situation and ask them not to play their own songs. Meanwhile they win the first round in federal court and can officially sign with Portrait, but will still have to grant Mushroom one damn second album. Rather than record a brand new one, Heart propose to the label that they finish Magazine, reconvening at a Seattle studio with a bodyguard posted at the doors out of fear of retaliation.

The album is reissued in the spring of 1978, naturally with a revised tracklist and roughly two minutes less overall running time. The substance doesn't change all that much, and not through any fault of Heart, who at least polish up the pulsing bassline of "Heartless" and sharpen the murky "Devil Delight", among the most slapdash tracks on the first edition of the album. Despite everything, Magazine goes platinum in the US market, with a million copies sold in just three weeks. A great success for Mushroom, who will nevertheless have to spend most of that money on the ongoing legal costs against the very band that earned it for them. The Canadian label will never again find a band as successful as Heart, that one-hit-wonder stroke of luck that will drive it into bankruptcy two years later.

Six – Barracuda

Right after Mushroom's advert appears in Rolling Stone, Ann Wilson meets a radio promoter named Tony, also known in the business as Tone-Knee. Like many others before him, Tony opens with his first sexist jibe, asking where her "lover" Nancy has got to. Ann is frozen with rage and tells the story to her sister in the dressing room. As Heart's success grows, the rampant sexism of the music business becomes ever more blatant, leading Ann to feel the need to write a song about it, about the million Tone-Knees out there among radio stations and promotion companies. ⟦Q1⟧. Ann Wilson has never written a lyric so fast, and her anger blends with Nancy's as she adds melodies and a bridge. The song is honed with Michael Derosier's drum groove and, above all, Roger Fisher's killer riff, as he begins his first studio experiments with feedback and wah-wah effects.

Thus is born the single "Barracuda", a heavy-metal storm topped by Ann Wilson's valkyrie-like vocal, which climbs the Billboard Hot 100 just a few weeks after the May 1977 release of Little Queen, the first album of the new era with Portrait. Produced by ex-Mushroom man Mike Flicker, the album sends Heart up the charts in both Canada and the United States, eventually going triple platinum with over three million copies sold. Thanks to Mushroom's forced release, the fact that it coincides with Magazine gives the band a hold on most of the radio airwaves across North America.

Starting with the cover – where the Wilson sisters stand before the listener dressed in something between Renaissance garb and a Tolkien fairy tale – Little Queen pushes further down the Zeppelin-esque path, beginning with the hypnotic folk-ballad "Love Alive", masterfully steered between blues shadings and Eastern percussion. While the hard-glam rock'n'roll approach of "Kick It Out" might suggest a hardening of the sound after Dreamboat Annie, the rest of the album instead shows a newfound maturity in crafting almost ancestral folk pieces, such as the mandolin of "Sylvan Song", which directly echoes "The Battle Of Evermore" as it opens into the gypsy atmosphere of "Dream Of The Archer", with the two Wilson sisters' vocal performances chasing each other like clouds, between Robert Plant-style peaks and ethereal, enchanted-forest harmonies.

The second half of the album opens with the title track, a reworking of "Magic Man" set to a funky midtempo groove that provides the springboard for another soaring, heartfelt vocal performance, followed by the orchestral romanticism of "Treat Me Well". With the playful "Say Hello", Heart continue down their new path as gypsy musicians, latter-day troubadours of the folk sound heard on "Cry To Me". The Zeppelin-esque echo resounds in the intro of "Go On Cry", a rock operetta that moves from a hard-rock foundation into structures somewhere between psychedelia and progressive rock, built on the screaming, almost endless vocals of a wild Ann Wilson, before slowing down and fading into the distance, accompanied by Derosier's tubular bells.

In July, buoyed by no fewer than three albums in heavy rotation, Heart return to the cover of Rolling Stone, this time as the main attraction. The famous American magazine, however, uses a photo of only the Wilson sisters, sparking the first grumblings among the band's other male members. Roger and Steve would rather work than talk to journalists, but it's clear that the national press has eyes and column space only for Ann and Nancy. Two strong women with remarkable vocal talent, in a music scene dominated by guitar heroes and frontmen. But above all, it is on the two of them that most of the band's creative effort is focused, while Fisher and Fossen prefer jamming and the live dimension.

Heart's live dates multiply by the day, to the point that the band's management leases a private jet. Between late 1977 and early 1978, a number of shows are organized alongside some of the biggest names on the southern-rock scene, starting with the Marshall Tucker Band, with whom they play at Denver's Mile High Stadium in front of 50,000 people. While Ann Wilson is in the middle of "Crazy On You", someone cuts the sound system controlling the stage audio, leaving her without a voice. A deliberate act by someone – reportedly from within the Marshall Tucker Band itself – who doesn't care for women on stage. Things don't go much better on the dates with Lynyrd Skynyrd, when Ann is persistently hit on by their drummer Artimus Pyle. By a strange twist of fate, Pyle will manage to survive just a few months later, the fatal plane crash that will claim the lives of Ronnie Van Zant's band. Heart then continue on to Europe, touring alongside Queen, who are promoting their latest album, "News Of The World".

Given the huge success of Little Queen, Portrait asks Heart to release a new album as soon as possible. Ann and Nancy head to Berkeley, where their friend Sue Ennis lives, to ask her to become their songwriting partner. Ennis is working on her PhD when the Wilsons show up armed with guitars to nurture a fledgling acoustic ditty, played and replayed until it becomes the intro to "Mistral Wind". They then move to a hotel in San Francisco, where they shut themselves away for several days working on the songs meant to make up the follow-up to Little Queen. The fairy-tale intro of "Mistral Wind" is entrusted to Nancy's acoustic guitar, before it explodes into Fisher's electric guitar, which tears through the stillness with a grandiose hard-rock riff lifted by Ann's almost desperate vocal. The second song Heart bring into the studio is the funky "Straight On", built on a basline reminiscent of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", over which a warm, Eagles-style sound is then developed.

Next comes "Dog And Butterfly", a melancholy, gorgeous folk-pop ballad that sounds like it could have come straight from the pen of the Bernie Taupin-Elton John duo. The single lends its name to the entire album Dog And Butterfly, released by Portrait in the autumn of 1978, selling over a million copies in its first month. Opened by the sturdy blues of "Cook With Fire" – which features a fake live audience dubbed in – the album doesn't betray fans' expectations, even though it offers few truly memorable songs. The energetic pop-rock of "High Time" is, of course, carried by Ann's vocals and Fisher's ringing guitar, while the soft-funk of "Hijinx" is too flat and one-note. The pairing of ballads "Lighter Touch" and "Nada One" continues to sail Zeppelin-esque waters, certainly with grace and intensity, though without reaching the particular creative heights achieved on the first two records. Except, that is, for the masterpiece "Mistral Wind", which could easily sit within Page and co.'s own later catalogue.

Seven – Break

Dog And Butterfly is another sales triumph, buoyed in particular by the single "Mistral Wind", which is especially well received by critics. While riding the wave of success through a long tour in 1979, the Wilson sisters learn that their father is in hospital after suffering a stroke. John survives, but loses the use of his legs and is forced to live in a wheelchair. Their problems aren't limited to their father's health, though, because Nancy's relationship with Roger Fisher has reached its end, due to his chronic infidelity and, above all, his drug use. On top of that, Nancy has fallen for drummer Michael Derosier, and tells Roger as much, who is hardly in a position to argue back. Fisher, however, is furious; he can't accept that his Nancy might be with another man, let alone his own drummer. But romantic entanglements aren't the only thing causing tension in the studio: the guitarist's chaotic approach to studio production is rejected by the rest of Heart, who are increasingly under pressure between endless touring and the need to churn out new hits. During a show in Oregon, Roger, having had too much to drink and taken too many drugs, sends his guitar completely out of tune. At the end of the show he smashes the instrument on stage, then hurls a piece of it in Nancy's direction. It's clear to everyone that things can't go on like this. In October 1979, following an internal band meeting and a unanimous decision, Roger Fisher is removed from Heart.

After weighing the "promotion" of Nancy herself to lead guitar, Heart decide that Fisher's natural replacement is already in the house: Howard Leese. An accomplished musician, Leese is also named co-producer alongside Flicker when the band returns to the studio to record Bébé le Strange. Plenty of observers already turn up their noses, convinced that the power of Fisher's sound can't be replicated, to the detriment of the band's entire sonic framework. The pressure on Ann Wilson increases after Michael Fisher's betrayal, which ends a relationship that had lasted almost ten years. It's the end of the so-called Wil-Shers, a story told in the new track "Break", a short, howled rock'n'roll number sung by Ann. Released on Valentine's Day 1980, the new Lp Bébé le Strange secures Heart another commercial success, reaching No. 5 on the Us Billboard 200 and selling half a million copies. Opened by the bouncy rock of the title track, the record does indeed suffer from the lack of a sound like the one created by Roger Fisher's guitar, with Leese relegated to a role closer to sessionman than guitar-hero. With "Break", Heart try to reshape their sonic framework, moving towards styles closer to punk and new wave, but the result doesn't convince.

In the soul urgency of "Down On Me" there's a vocal delivery similar to Janis Joplin's, but Leese's Beatles-esque guitar fails to give the song strength or depth. The album is decidedly more honest when it tackles the hard-blues of "Rockin' Heaven Down", which recalls the earlier style with the lead guitar more central and free to roam without restraint. From this point of view, the track might be emblematic, proof that Heart are a band that excels at choral arrangements led by Ann Wilson's voice, but currently unconvinced about how to push beyond their own boundaries.

Opened by the solid, Bowie-esque horn-driven glam-boogie of "Even It Up", the second half of the record tries to give Heart's sound a new skin – the tribal punk-wave of "Strange Night" and the emphatic funky-pop of "Raised On You" – but ends up falling back on well-trodden country paths ("Pilot") and romantic ballads like "Sweet Darlin'". Ultimately, it's an album of good songs that makes for pleasant listening, but caught between old sounds and new compositional attempts.

Back on the cover of Rolling Stone – after a turbulent photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz, later ending up in court over forced topless shots – the Wilson sisters are now at the center of the jet-set, invited to one of the exclusive birthday parties thrown by Elton John. It's there that Nancy meets Elton's lyricist Bernie Taupin for the first time, who tries every trick to seduce her, inviting her to do cocaine in the bathroom. A few nights later, Heart fly to Los Angeles to kick off the massive world tour for Bébé le Strange, which will see countless sold-out shows across the globe, running through all of 1981. Over two hundred concerts, including a return to Canada, a tribute to the country that launched them into the music world. They even play on the same bill as the Rolling Stones in Colorado, in front of the biggest crowd of their entire career, with Mick Jagger's blessing, who showers them with compliments at the end of their opening set.

Some tracks from that last tour are thus pulled together for the release of Greatest Hits/Live, put out by Epic Records in November 1980. Initially released only in the US market, the record is split into two halves, each spanning two sides. The first focuses on the band's hits, from "Barracuda" to "Magic Man", in the most classic operation for compilations by groups who sell millions of copies. The second is packed with treats for diehard fans, from the live version of "Bébé le Strange" at the Los Angeles Forum to a faithful cover of "Rock And Roll" with a flawless Ann Wilson at the Seattle Coliseum. In between, the sugary soul-pop of "Tell It Like It Is" (Aaron Neville) and the disco-funky "Strange Euphoria" are the unreleased studio tracks, while the rest of the space is given over to the band's live dimension. The version of "Mistral Wind" at the Phoenix Coliseum is spine-tingling, taking on an even more extreme metaphysical quality live.

Heart return to the studio at the end of 1981, after an exceedingly long world tour, to begin work on Private Audition with the usual Mike Flicker, who's meant to be joined by Bob Ezrin, later replaced by Jimmy Iovine, who in turn leaves after just a few sessions. The omens aren't great, then, and indeed the record suffers from the band's deep internal exhaustion. Aside from the robust hard rock of "City's Burning" – which indeed manages to reach No. 15 on Billboard's Top Tracks – Private Audition marks a turning point in Heart's sound, leaning more towards radio-friendly pop. On tracks like "Bright Light Girl" the blues framework gives way to a more melodic vocal style, while on the ballad "Perfect Stranger" the old Zeppelin-esque echoes are now reduced to orchestral romanticism.

The saloon rhythm of the title track lacks verve, while the commercial failure of the single "This Man Is Mine" is explained by the flatness of its own hazy midtempo groove. Room for an aggressive sound is visibly reduced – just the riff of "The Situation" – while room for limp ballads like "Hey Darlin Darlin" and "One Word" grows. The attempt that is "Fast Times" is clearly aimed at the newborn Mtv, pushing Heart towards a more commercially flavored, universal arena-rock.

Eight – The Capitol Years

Released in June 1982, Private Audition sells only 400,000 copies, a commercial flop by the standards Heart are used to. Things go decidedly better on the live circuit, with continuous sold-out shows on the tour that kicks off the following autumn. But the band is on the edge of the abyss, increasingly torn apart by internal conflicts after the failure of Private Audition. Ann and Nancy decide to let Derosier and Fossen go, leaving Leese in charge of recruiting a new rhythm section. In 1983, Mark Andes (Spirit) comes in on bass and Denny Carmassi (Montrose) on drums, and they immediately get to work on the new album Passionworks with producer Keith Olsen, who had already worked with Ozzy Osbourne and Scorpions. The record cements Heart's definitive transformation into an Album/Adult-Oriented Rock (Aor) band, starting with the single chosen to launch it, "How Can I Refuse?". Tracks like "Sleep Alone", "Blue Guitar" and "Ambush" perfectly embody the concept of hard rock morphing into arena-rock in the classic '80s interpretation. In other words, songs that aren't even that bad, but shrink-wrapped in plastic to please the mainstream audience. "Allies", a cover of Jonathan Cain (Journey), could have been a perfect hit for Heart's pastoral-folk period, but is now rendered in the new power-ballad format. The bigger problem is that on this Aor scaffolding, Ann Wilson's extraordinary vocal talent fails to break through, remaining boxed in, almost caged, on otherwise charming numbers like "Johnny Moon" and "(Beat By) Jealousy".

Passionworks is another commercial flop, sunk by the single "Allies", which doesn't climb past No. 83 on the US chart. Ann Wilson starts to have doubts reading the various negative reviews: have Heart already passed their expiry date? The tour for the record is obviously a success, but after more than 12 million records sold, Cbs Records has grown tired of the recent results. Without a record label, Heart fire their manager Ken Kinnear, determined to turn their career around with the American company Hk Management and a new manager, Trudy Green. Despite being a tough-as-nails woman, Green can't immediately land Heart a new deal, until Capitol Records comes along – though with particular conditions attached: the band will have to be available to record covers or otherwise collaborate with other artists managed by the same label. The Wilsons aren't at all convinced, but they accept, having no other decent offers on the table.

Capitol's first move is appointing Ron Nevison as producer, given his track record with numerous pop hits and, above all, his work as sound engineer on "Physical Graffiti". The relationship between the Wilsons and Nevison isn't among the best, but Ann and Nancy agree to put themselves in his hands for a new album meant to relaunch the band after two commercially underwhelming records. After a guest appearance on the tear-jerking ballad "Almost Paradise" – a duet with Mike Reno for the "Footloose" soundtrack – Ann Wilson gets to work on the first songs at Record Plant studios in Los Angeles.

The power-rock track "Never" is written with American songwriter Holly Knight, one of several singles driving Heart, released by Capitol in June 1985. The record marks the band's return to success, dominating Mtv thanks to an effective mainstream sound honed by Nevison in production. The conditions set by the American label ultimately pay off, because Heart, clearly struggling on their recent albums, open up to outside collaborators like Holly Knight, who also pens the catchy "All Eyes". Starting with the fast hard-rock of "If Looks Could Kill", among the singles that climb the charts, Heart's sound keeps a distinctly mainstream flavor, but, unlike their most recent work, it's Aor decidedly above average.

The album is a massive hit, becoming the band's biggest commercial success, topping the Billboard 200 and going five-times platinum according to Riaa sales figures. The record's real smash is the grand power-ballad "What About Love", previously recorded by Canadian band Toronto and now immortalized by Ann Wilson's rediscovered voice, with a contribution from muse Grace Slick. The track is perhaps one of the defining anthems of the American Aor style and boosts the standing of a band now undergoing a deep transformation. Nevison proves he knows his craft, handing the romantic ballad "These Dreams" – written by Bernie Taupin with Martin Page – to Nancy's voice.

There's also, however, a tougher audience not to be entirely abandoned, so the glam-metal of "The Wolf" and "Shell Shock" arrives to soften the sonic transition. The rest is pure eighties-style, from the cinematic effects of "Nobody Home" to the power-pop of "Nothin' At All", written by Mark Mueller.

Usually reserved for debut albums, the record's self-titled title represents a brilliant new beginning for the band, which, however, is in reality just a short step away from being swept aside by the music business. The change in direction also comes through the aesthetics dictated by the tastes of the era, amid mountains of hair defying gravity and hours spent posing to shoot videos for heavy rotation on Mtv. The Wilsons thus strike their own personal deal with the devil, putting their bodies front and center despite all their efforts to fight against a sexist system. Velvet flats give way to high heels and latex outfits, which seem mandatory to stay clinging to success. As Prince had already shown the music industry in the video for "Purple Rain", television format is now at the center of the stage, leading Capitol to pour thousands of dollars into pushing the group. The Wilsons are furious over increasingly frequent comments about their bodies – if only Ann had Nancy's perfect figure, if only Nancy had Ann's alluring face – and the stress of touring and video shoots does the rest. Capitol is more concerned with how to make its star singer look thin than with Heart's next steps as recording artists.

The world tour promoting the new album is understandably massive: nearly two hundred shows from America to Japan. The excessive media exposure makes the Wilson sisters extremely recognisable, hounded by hundreds of fans at every show. They're forced to live like recluses, holed up in a different hotel room every night. Ten years after their desperate attempts to get American radio to play their first singles, Ann and Nancy now seem crushed by the weight of their own popularity. Between dates, in July 1986, Nancy Wilson marries Californian writer and screenwriter Cameron Crowe, whom she met at a private party. It's just a pleasant pause in an endless rush, followed by a return to the studio in early 1987 with Ron Nevison to work on the new album Bad Animals, out in May. Unsurprisingly, the album stays firmly on the mainstream rock path, starting with the radio-ready hard rock of "Who Will You Run To", written by Diane Warren and all but guaranteed a spot near the top of the Billboard chart. In a surreal setting somewhere between apocalyptic and ancient Egyptian, the driving power pop of "There's The Girl" marks another successful collaboration with Holly Knight, delivering yet another over-the-top vocal performance that confirms the band as one of the standard-bearers of the new American-made AOR.

Heart, however, seem almost barred from writing songs on their own, aside from a handful of tracks like the title track – an intense moment of reclaiming their status as an independent band, carried by Ann Wilson's desperate vocal – the rock-pop blend of "Easy Target" and the dark, choral folk ballad "RSVP". The rest of the album, then, finds the band busy turning other people's songs into instant classics, like the romantic "Alone" (written by the duo Kelly-Steinberg) and the synth-driven "Wait For An Answer", the result of a new collaboration between the Wilsons and Canadian singer-songwriter lisa dal bello. While some of Ann's vocal performances still deserve applause, as on the midtempo "I Want You So Bad", tracks like "You Ain't So Tough" are flattened by a sound that's now churned out like an assembly line for MTV viewers. But as long as the sales keep coming – triple platinum in the US – everything seems fine.

Nine – The Devil on MTV

The European tour for Bad Animals kicks off right after the album's release, with sold-out shows piling up. Heart are a machine running wild, fuelled by that astonishing fuel called cocaine, which leads Ann Wilson to suffer several panic attacks on stage. The singer uses it to curb her appetite and avoid gaining more weight, but it also pushes her into increasingly paranoid thinking. Having relocated to the States, the new, grueling tour wraps up at the end of 1988, when Ann decides it's time to stop and get clean. But it's only a vague intention, quickly undone by the various Seattle dealers who keep supplying her with drugs to pair with a bottle of champagne. Luckily for her, Ann is closely watched by her sister Nancy, who steps in forcefully to at least halt the spiral of abuse and avoid worse trouble.

The '80s are drawing to a close when Heart return to the studio with new producer Richie Zito, who had already worked with Elton John, Cher and Giorgio Moroder. Despite the change behind the desk, Brigade doesn't stray an inch from the approach of the band's previous two Capitol records; if anything, it doubles down, both in length and in the number of covers. Thirteen tracks that open with the glossy hard rock of "Wild Child" and close with the Beatles-esque ballad "I Love You". In between, this time, there's a batch of even more polished songs, from the new AOR hit "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" to "Stranded", yet another midtempo melody tailor-made for yet another video to spin endlessly on MTV. Nothing of the old sound survives, except for the bluesy "Call Of The Wild", which, again not by chance, is one of the few opportunities Zito leaves for Heart to be themselves.

Brigade is the final stage of the band's pact with Capitol for global success, but by now the repetitiveness of the sound is good for little beyond sales figures. Tracks like "Secret" and "I Didn't Want To Need You" are among the last examples of a mainstream rock sound already starting to show its age, though that hardly matters to the band's many new fans, who push Brigade to third place on the Billboard chart and to double platinum status in the US.

Setting off on yet another sold-out world tour, Ann and Nancy begin to question themselves, having sold off their own talent to perform other people's songs in exchange for renewed success. The tour kicks off in Germany, but the band is already exhausted, especially the two Wilson sisters, who desperately need to stop – and not just physically. Always attentive to emerging musical trends, Ann and Nancy start gravitating toward the nascent grunge scene, which, as it happens, is taking shape right there in Seattle. One venue in particular, RKCNDY, wants to put on a "Heart Tribute Night" featuring a dozen local bands who would jump at the chance to play in front of the real Heart. Ann and Nancy agree to attend the night, but when they see young aspiring rockers performing their old songs live, something sparks: have Heart really fallen this low, artistically speaking? Are they already a band relegated to the attic of memories for kids wanting a new approach to rock'n'roll? The tragic death of Andy Wood of Mother Love Bone drives the point home, with an entire community gathering in the spring of 1990 to mourn the frontman of what would later become Pearl Jam. Ann's house in Seattle becomes a kind of spiritual refuge for people like Chris Cornell and Jerry Cantrell, who come seeking advice and platonic affection.

Between one wild party and the next, the new generation of grunge musicians speak their minds openly: they loved the band's work in the '70s, but they just don't get the videos and the style of the '80s. Ann reflects on the pact struck with the devil, but her thoughts are interrupted when she gets a call from the hospital announcing the imminent birth of her daughter, Marie Lamoureaux Wilson. The baby is born to a mysterious sixteen-year-old girl and given up for adoption to Ann, who had learned from doctors that she was largely infertile and at high risk of complications were she ever to become pregnant. In effect, Marie's birth saves Ann Wilson, who stops using cocaine. Her new status as a mother obviously brings her a sense of responsibility, but above all it gives her fresh energy to write songs. In the United States, political debate over the Gulf War is raging, and the Red Cross is organising a benefit concert in Seattle in support of the troops. Heart are invited too, but Heart no longer exist, since the Wilson sisters had decided to let the whole band go at the end of the Brigade tour. Ann and Nancy don't want to perform as a duo, so they call up their old friend Sue Ennis and singer Frank Cox, with the idea of putting together an acoustic vocal group. In doing so, they rediscover the joy of playing old material, like songs by Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and a mandolin version of their beloved "The Battle Of Evermore". Nancy Wilson switches to lead guitar, thrilled at the idea of fronting a band with no commercial ambitions whatsoever, just for the sheer joy of making music.

To take part in the benefit concert in Seattle, the four of them decide to give themselves a name too: The Lovemongers. The new group performs at the Paramount Theatre right after Alice in Chains, playing a total of six acoustic songs that electrify both the crowd and the Lovemongers themselves. By now, the Wilson sisters are convinced they need to leave behind the major-label calculations and the prepackaged songs, get back to their roots, and start over with renewed enthusiasm.

In September 1991, Heart release their second live album, titled Rock The House Live!. Recorded live at the Centrum in Worcester in November 1990, the album doesn't come close to representing the band's nearly two-decade career, focusing entirely on material recorded in the studio for Capitol. The only exception comes at the end, with a glam-metal version of "Barracuda"; otherwise, the selection leans toward arena-rock tracks ("Wild Child", "If Looks Could Kill") to avoid too direct a link with the format that had come to dominate – namely, the power ballad tailored for music video. Ann and Nancy then decide to set Heart aside for a year, devoting themselves to the Lovemongers project, which involves a series of live dates in front of small audiences, in little clubs like the New Melody Tavern, where one night they host singer Chris Cornell as a guest.

The Wilson sisters return to work with returning members Leese and Carmassi around the middle of 1992, in the new Studio X, recently purchased as an investment in the Seattle area. This time, Capitol has to give a lot of ground, since Heart want to come back with their own material and keep outside songs to a minimum. Third-party songs are thus kept to a minimum on the new Desire Walks On, from the usual power pop of "Will You Be There (In The Morning)" to the ballad "The Woman in Me", already recorded back in 1982 by Donna Summer. Aside from the heartfelt cover of "Ring Them Bells" (Bob Dylan) featuring Layne Staley on vocals, the rest of the album sees the Wilsons back in charge of their own songs. The pop-metal drive of "Black On Black II" is a promising sign, especially thanks to Ann Wilson's singing, while the rediscovered electro-acoustic folk of "Back To Avalon" is a very welcome return to the band's original sound.

The album, however, doesn't quite manage to shake off a mainstream-leaning sound entirely, as on the dark "Rage" or the power ballad "In Walks The Night", which at least has the merit of being more structured, with layered guitar parts, lead vocals and backing vocals. In essence, the AOR sound here is updated in a more considered way, less obsessed with chart domination – which, in fact, won't come this time around, unlike the golden eggs hatched by the previous three albums – as in the hypnotic keyboards of "Voodoo Doll". There's even a return to certain Zeppelin-esque atmospheres, as on the closing title track, which builds grandly between riffs and apocalyptic orchestral passages. Despite Capitol's enthusiasm, the album comes nowhere close to matching the success of Brigade, in a musical landscape that is once again shifting with the explosion of "Nevermind" and the entire Seattle scene.

Ten – The Road Home

To offset the poor sales of Desire Walks On, there's of course the new world tour, boosted by various appearances on MTV and popular American late-night shows. The band's line-up changes: in come bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser. The Spanish-language version of "Will You Be There", insisted upon by Capitol, allows Heart to perform in Latin America, including a memorable sold-out date in Mexico City. The tour then moves straight on to Chile, while Ann finds it increasingly hard going, now that she's travelling with a small child. After the more intimate experience of the Lovemongers, the Wilsons feel an ever-growing need to play for smaller crowds, which is how the idea for an acoustic, unplugged concert is born, meant to cover the first of the last two albums left on their Capitol contract. For the occasion, the Backstage Club in Seattle is booked for three nights, from 12 to 16 August 1994.

Intent on continuing their career in a more acoustic direction, Ann and Nancy want the perfect sound and decide to reach out to one of the best in the world, John Paul Jones. Acting as producer and arranger, the former Zeppelin member polishes up even the band's more recent material, alongside the classic songs that form the heart of The Road Home, released in the summer of 1995. The album's magic kicks in from the very first melancholy chords of "Dreamboat Annie", sung with immense sincerity by Ann and Nancy. After the frenetic 1980s, the Wilson sisters needed to return to a more human scale, to the pure intimacy of folk songs like "Dog And Butterfly". The album also offers the previously unreleased gospel-soul track "(Up On) Cherry Blossom Road", followed by John Paul Jones's esoteric mandolin work, which manages to turn more conventional songs like "Back To Avalon", "Alone" and "These Dreams" into precious gems somewhere between acoustic and orchestral.

The show flows like a jam session in someone's living room, with Ann kicking off the first verse of “Love Hurts”, a desperate rendition of the hit originally released by Scottish hard-rock band Nazareth, before launching into the acoustic funk of “Straight On” and then back into gospel territory with “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You”. The atmosphere is red hot by now, the crowd goes wild over the orchestral intro of “Crazy On You”, with Ann's a cappella vocal leading into an arrangement that would appeal to grunge's new fanbase. The pastoral cover of “River” (Joni Mitchell) is suitably atmospheric, while the hard-folk version of “Barracuda” sends the audience into complete frenzy.

The Road Home is the live set that reconciles the Wilson sisters with the music world, a return to their roots after years spent living at full speed chasing stardom and six-figure sales.

The release of The Road Home also marks the end of Heart's relationship with Capitol, after roughly 20 million records sold worldwide. Nancy Wilson calls her sister and they meet at her home in Seattle: she wants to step away from Heart for a while and focus on supporting her husband Cameron Crowe, who needs a partner for his film soundtracks. Ann begs Nancy to reconsider, unable to imagine such a split. Heart is going through a rough patch, buried in bills and pending lawsuits, and the sales of The Road Home won't help matters (around half a million copies in the US). Initially reluctant, Ann Wilson eventually thinks of her sister's wellbeing and accepts her decision. Thus the Ann Wilson Band is born, with trusty Leese on guitar, Jon Bayless on bass and Ben Smith on drums. The repertoire is completely different from Heart's sound, an R&B set full of covers – “It's A Man's World”, “Gimme Shelter” – featuring a different horn section at every live show. Without the Heart name, the Ann Wilson Band struggles to land paying gigs, playing mostly fairs, military bases and gaming halls. Travel is by bus, for hundreds of miles, taking Ann back twenty years in time.

After working on the soundtrack for the film "Jerry Maguire", Nancy Wilson performs for the first time as a solo artist in March 1997, during an evening at a musical instrument store in Santa Monica. While desperately trying to have a child, Nancy goes back to working with Ann on the debut album by Lovemongers, released by the small label Will Records in December 1997. Titled Whirlygig, the album opens with the synth-pop of “City On The Hill”, followed by the breezy “Miracle Girl”. Together with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox, the Wilson sisters work in particular on vocal textures far removed from Heart's desperate ones, as on the funeral march “Two Black Lambs”. The introduction of electronic elements – “No School Today” – attempts to refresh the sound, pushed even toward jazz-lounge territory on “The Vegas Gene”. The pop-blues of “Kiss” is interesting, followed by the Eastern inflections of “Elysian” and the harmonic rock of “Heavy Sedation”. A sincere work, with no commercial ambitions whatsoever, made just for the pleasure of playing well together, but with little appeal for either Heart fans or newcomers.

After the release of Whirlygig, Ann and Nancy go back on tour for a total of twelve dates in late 1997, starting from the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. After adopting a second son, Ann goes back to performing without Nancy during 1998, this time under the name Heart featuring Ann Wilson. Audiences grow considerably, but music critics don't spare the singer, who is none too subtly mocked for having "eaten her sister". Weight is a serious issue for Ann, who eventually decides to undergo stomach-reduction surgery. At the end of 2001, a strange maneuver by Beyond Music leads to the release, under the Heart name, of the Christmas album Heart Presents A Lovemongers' Christmas, already released in 1998 under the name Lovemongers as Here Is Christmas. Once the holidays are over, Nancy opens up to the idea of touring again with Heart, mainly for financial reasons. A short summer tour of about two months follows, with Mike Inez of Alice in Chains on bass, somewhat wistfully billed as the Summer of Love Tour.

From the show on August 8, 2002 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle comes the double album Alive In Seattle, opening with a muscular version of “Crazy On You”. Inez's bass breathes new life into the band's sound, which launches into the unreleased hard-pop of “Sister Wild Rose” and the beat of “The Witch” (Sonics). Backed by a fantastic rhythm section – Ben Smith on drums – the Wilson sisters rediscover their lost chemistry, having more fun than ever on the irresistible funk of “Straight On” and coming close to tears when the acoustic intro of the epic “Mistral Wind” kicks in.

The acoustic experience of The Road Home brings new maturity to the magical classic “Dog And Butterfly” in its duo version, followed by the ballad “Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters” (Elton John) and, above all, by the legendary “Battle of Evermore”, led by Nancy's mandolin not far from John Paul Jones's own path.

The second disc lights up again with the three guitars on “Magic Man”, once more with a great Inez on bass, before a moving rendition of the Zeppelin-esque ode “Love Alive”. Heart give their longtime fans a great gift, proving they're still standing strong despite the years and the many upheavals: when the riff of “Barracuda” kicks in, it's a pure return to the sacred fire of hard rock. It all closes with the scratch of “Black Dog” and the caress of “Dreamboat Annie”. Simply, Heart.

Eleven – Move On

After the happy experience of the latest summer tour, Ann and Nancy Wilson find themselves back in the studio in fall 2003, together with new producer Craig Bartock, added as lead guitarist to Heart's lineup. Jupiters Darling – released the following June – marks the band's return after more than ten years since Desire Walks On, with a renewed compositional streak and an approach closer to classic rock. Opening with the bright country-pop of “Make Me”, the album surprises with its freshness and variety of styles, which make the over hour-long listen flow more smoothly. Thanks to the powerful rhythm section of Mike Inez and Ben Smith, tracks like “Oldest Story In The World” and “Move On” take on harder edges, pleasantly interspersed with the usual Zeppelin-esque moments, as on the stomp-folk of “Things”. Heart nail several ballads with a more energetic touch, from the Beatles-esque “Enough” to the Renaissance mandolin of “I Need The Rain”. “Vainglorious” ventures into grunge territory, while the romantic “No Other Love” is the only cover, taken from the catalogue of Californian singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet.

Jupiters Darling later features a contribution from Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) on the hypnotic drive of “Led To One”, followed by the blues of “Down The Nile” and the distorted funk of “I'm Fine”. Also valuable is Jerry Cantrell's classic grunge-style guitar on the excellent “Fallen Ones”, while Ann Wilson's voice shines on the folk ballad “Lost Angel”. A surprising album, not quite resounding enough to put Heart back at the center of the music scene, but one that sounds fresh and above all modern.

Jupiters Darling sells around 100,000 copies and reaches the Billboard Top 100, particularly well received by critics, who describe it as one of the band's best works. Heart embark on a new summer tour, totaling 60 dates across Europe and the United States, before taking a long break for most of 2005. They return to the stage in early 2006, for a tribute evening organized by VH1 titled "Decades Rock Live", featuring Rufus Wainwright, Dave Navarro and a reunited Alice in Chains. The result is Live In Atlantic City, which would be released by earMUSIC a full 13 years later. Like a sort of Hearts & Friends, the Atlantic City concert initially features Dave Navarro's guitar on the classic-repertoire triptych “Bèbè Le Strange”, “Straight On” and “Crazy On You”. Then it's the turn of American country's new star Gretchen Wilson, who tears into “Even It Up” and a cover of “Rock And Roll”. The hard-rock approach is softened by Rufus Wainwright's unmistakable voice on the crystalline melody of “Dog And Butterfly”, followed on stage by Phil Anselmo and the reunited Alice in Chains for a heavy version of “Would?”. Chills run during “Rooster”, sung by William DuVall with both Wilsons contributing, who then return to their own turf with “Magic Man” and “Misty Mountain Hop” before the final apotheosis: a choral “Barracuda” joined by all the special guests, with Duff McKagan, in an orgy of electric guitars.

Busy with their children, Ann and Nancy Wilson focus on short summer tours, often alongside bands like Cheap Trick and Journey. On April 17, 2007 they perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles for a special concert, playing the entire debut album Dreamboat Annie live in full. Dreamboat Annie Live also makes room for new versions of “Goodbye Blue Sky” (Roger Waters) and “Love, Reign o'er Me” (Townshend).

A few months later comes Hope & Glory, Ann Wilson's first solo album, released on the Rounder label. Produced by Canadian Ben Mink, a longtime collaborator of K.D. Lang, the album is made up entirely of covers of other people's songs, with the help of several guests and friends. From the orchestral pop of “Where To Now St. Peter?” (featuring Elton John himself) to the country-rock of “War Of Man” (with Alison Krauss), the album feels more like an excuse to play together than a true debut statement. The performances are pleasant and well-crafted, like the building version of “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” (with Rufus Wainwright) or the bluegrass-flavored take on “Bad Moon Rising” with country singer Gretchen Wilson. In between, yet another tribute to Led Zeppelin, in an electro-folk reinterpretation of “Immigrant Song”. But in the end, Hope & Glory is an album only true fans of the American rocker will appreciate.

After the death of both of their parents, Nancy Wilson has to go through a painful divorce from Cameron Crowe in 2008, after almost 30 years of marriage. For Ann, meanwhile, there are health problems, particularly liver issues following decades of alcohol abuse in the absence of drugs. The two sisters thus reunite in the studio, driven by the need to put their demons into music, with new producer Ben Mink. The result is Red Velvet Car, released in summer 2010 after the arrival of new bassist Ric Markmann and Mink himself on lead guitar. Six years on from the excellent Jupiters Darling, there's considerable anticipation to see whether Heart are still riding high, at least in the United States. The opening is entrusted to the acoustic blues of “There You Go”, followed by the Pearl Jam-style number “WTF”, not coincidentally chosen as the album's lead single. Ann Wilson warms up her voice on the orchestral ballad that gives the album its title, launching into the bittersweet pop-folk of “Queen City” before the country of “Hey You”, sung by Nancy. The band speeds up again to a dobro rhythm on “Safronia's Mark”, picking the grunge sound back up on tracks like “Death Valley”.

Red Velvet Car doesn't have the same explosive force as the previous Jupiters Darling, but it offers a set of well-crafted songs, softer yet intimately sincere.

Surprisingly, though, Red Velvet Car reaches number ten on the Billboard chart, propelled by a fanbase that never went dormant over the years. While pointing out the loss of that old magic touch, critics appreciate the album and give a boost to the subsequent Canadian tour nicknamed Zamboni, in tribute to the old days. The shows all sell out, ranking among the most followed of the year after Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

In the summer of 2011, Heart agree to open for Def Leppard on their world tour, going as far as Australia, where they've never performed before. In the fall they receive a nomination for the coveted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while preparations are underway for the new album, Fanatic, due out in 2012. Produced once again by Ben Mink, the record is pieced together after nearly two years of rehearsals squeezed in between live shows.

The title track returns to a blues-tinged hard rock, while the following "Dear Old America" features an effective mix of slide guitars and classical instruments straddling hard rock and psychedelia. The album's only collaboration is with Sarah McLachlan on the soft orchestral ballad "Walkin' Good", followed by the interesting blend of blues-rock and electronic sampling on "Skin And Bones". Heart deliver a muscular rock sound on "A Million Miles", returning to pay tribute to Zeppelin on the exotic "Mashallah!". "59 Crunch" is built on hard-psych scaffolding, while the closing "Corduroy Road" creatively blends guitar reverb, outer-space atmospheres and North African arrangements.

Fanatic is thus an album that succeeds in the ambitious goal of bringing the band's old sound into a more hybrid, contemporary setting.

Twelve – A Strange Euphoria

Having resumed studio work with excellent results, Ann and Nancy Wilson complete what is perhaps the project of a lifetime after roughly ten years of assembling, recording and painstaking compilation work. With over three hours of music, Strange Euphoria is a retrospective of a long and satisfying career, spread across four discs plus an Amazon-exclusive bonus disc. The box-set is effectively a godsend for fans and for newcomers alike wanting to get into the Heart sound. The musical epic opens with "Through Eyes & Glass", a pastoral piece whispered by Ann Wilson with her Daybreaks band back in 1969. The recording debut Dreamboat Annie is told through demo versions of "Magic Man" (acoustic) and "Crazy On You", along with the live rendition of the funky "White Lightning & Wine" at the Aquarius Tavern in Seattle in June 1976. From the following Little Queen come the magical, Zeppelin-esque ode "Love Alive" and the thunderous version of "Barracuda" at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles (1977). The first disc of this massive compilation closes with the bright demo of "Heartless" – among the freshest tracks on the much-maligned Magazine – and the touching acoustic version of "Dog And Butterfly".

The second disc of Strange Euphoria includes the demo of the previously unreleased "Lucky Day", in the classic power-ballad style aimed at the MTV audience of the mid-80s. With special guest John Paul Jones, there's the live acoustic version of "Never", followed by two unreleased tracks – the funky groove of "Unconditional Love" and the pop-ballad "High Romance" – and the beach demo of "Desire Walks On".

The selection for the third disc is interesting, opening with Nancy Wilson's acoustic folk in a solo live performance at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Los Angeles. Joined by Ann, it continues with the melancholy ballad "She Still Believes", recorded live at a vineyard on Saratoga Mountain, while the following "Any Woman's Blues" features the local band Seattle Blues Revue Horns. There's room for other hidden gems too, from the glittering folk of "Boppy's Back" to the bluesy harmonica of "Love Or Madness", drawn from Ann and Nancy's summer 1999 tour.

The fourth disc instead offers an entire live set from 1976 recorded for the Kwsu television station, while the Amazon bonus-disc is titled "Heart Zeppish", featuring five covers from the Zeppelin catalogue. Special mention goes to the brilliant live rendition of "Going To California", as well as "What Is And What Should Never Be" featuring John Paul Jones himself.

In December 2012, Ann and Nancy Wilson perform at the Kennedy Center Honors for the tribute organized by CBS to Led Zeppelin. The rendition of "Stairway To Heaven" with John Bonham's son sends the audience into raptures, with a tearful Robert Plant looking on. The video's viral spread on YouTube leads to the single's release on iTunes, reaching the top of the Rock Singles chart and number 20 on Billboard within a few weeks. In April 2013, Heart's induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place, a unique occasion that reunites the Wilson sisters with Roger Fisher and Steve Fossen to perform "Crazy On You" live.

The following year sees the release of the new live album Fanatic Live from Caesar's Colosseum, which achieves great commercial success with its mix of old classics like "Barracuda" and the new original compositions from their latest studio work.

In the summer of 2016, on the Concord label, the new album Beautiful Broken is released, produced by Nancy Wilson together with Dan Rotchild. The original material consists of just two tracks, the emotional pop midtempo "Two" – a cover of R&B songwriter Ne-Yo – and yet another (successful) homage to Led Zeppelin, "I Jump". The rest of the album features a series of re-interpretations of songs already written and released by Heart, starting with the heavy-metal hit single "Beautiful Broken" featuring James Hetfield on vocals. From Bèbè le Strange comes the orchestral revisiting of "Sweet Darlin'" with an Elton John-style arrangement by Paul Buckmaster, and the gospel-soul of "Down On Me". From Passionworks come "Johnny Moon", with its Pink Floyd-esque atmospheres, and the commercial ballad "Language Of Love". Special mention for the blend of mystical folk, new age and Eastern sound on "Heaven", already featured on the excellent Alive In Seattle. The album confirms the good vibes of the work since Jupiters Darling, cementing the band's now well-established standing among the greats.

Beautiful Broken achieves solid commercial success, reaching the Top 10 of Billboard's Rock Albums chart for the year. A new US tour follows alongside Joan Jett and Cheap Trick, for a total of thirty dates.

Everything seems to be going smoothly, but life's pitfalls are always lurking around the corner: on the morning of August 27, 2016, right after a show at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington, Ann Wilson's new husband, Dean Wetter, is arrested on charges of assaulting Nancy's twin sons, over a camper door left open. The incident leads to an unexpected rift between the two sisters, who finish out the 2016 tour only to honor their commitments to the promoters.

Throughout 2017, Ann and Nancy publicly admit that the Heart project is temporarily on hold, while continuing to perform solo with their respective bands.

Ann Wilson returns to covers in 2018 with Immortal, a selection that includes a folk-ballad version of “I Am The Highway” (Audioslave), the bluesy “Luna” (Tom Petty) and the oriental-tinged heavy-metal of “I’m Afraid Of Americans” (Bowie). Her third work came out in 2022, titled Fierce Bliss, introduced by the hard-AOR single “Greed”. The album is a successful mix of covers – the Hendrix-esque “Bridge Of Signs” by Robin Trower and the poignant “Love Of My Life” (Queen) sung as a duet with Vince Gill – and original tracks such as the Zeppelin-esque “Angel’s Blues”.

After two years, the Love Alive Tour brings about a reunion between Ann and Nancy, starting with a first performance at the Love Rock NYC benefit concert, though the band backing them is actually Ann's. Activity remains sporadic and doesn't include any studio work, with Nancy Wilson announcing in 2022 her own project, Nancy Wilson's Heart, without her sister, built on tons of songs that have carved out a small piece of American history.

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