Heart emerged from many projects carried out at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s by Steve Fossen and Roger Fisher. When the group moved from Seattle to Vancouver to avoid being drafted into the military, the musicians joined the band first Annand later Nancy. The former became the main vocalist, and the latter took over the guitar reins. Both sisters also became the most important composers of most of the material of the group, which changed its name to Heart, and in the following years they became the undisputed leaders of the band.
Their debut album “Dreamboat Annie” turned out to be an unexpected success, mainly due to the single “Magic Man”. The song began to become a radio hit, not only in Canada, where the group resided, but especially in the United States. One of the reasons that American radio DJs willingly chose this song was the prosaic fact of the need to comply with licensing provisions regarding presenting music from outside America. This mainly concerned Canadian artists, and Heart was considered such at the time.
Throughout the 1970s, the band successfully toured and released subsequent albums which, although they did not reach the top, were regularly in the TOP 10 of the American and Canadian charts. The group’s popularity grew. The Wilson sisters became a duo that not only attracted attention with their stage behavior, but were behind the creation of most of Heart’s material. Everything was going perfectly, until suddenly in the early 1980s the album “Private Audition” turned out to be a big failure, and the next one “Passionworks” was a failure. Something is jammed in the smoothly running rock machine.
It was then that, at the urging of their producer, Ann and Nancy Wilson opened up to the compositions of other artists. This cooperation resulted in huge commercial success. The next three albums became some of the most important and best-selling albums of the decade. “Heart”, “Bad Animals” and “Brigade” gave the group icon status in American music and became timeless suppliers of hits.
Over the next few years, members Heart They had ups and downs along the way, but even when their albums didn’t shine on the charts, the Wilson sisters were able to find a way for themselves. They bought an old recording studio in Seattle, named it after their hit album “Bad Animals” and created a perfect place on the musical map of the cradle of grunge. This is where they recorded their albums Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Hole Whether Neil Young.
Both sisters weathered storms related to conflicts with their record label, personal problems and family squabbles, as well as incompatible visions as to where Heart’s career was to go. They always came back stronger after a break, and subsequent albums and concert tours ensured that the group’s legend was still present in American pop culture.
On the occasion of birthday Nancy Wilson we will recall the most important songs that built the strength of the Heart band.
The Wilson sisters had been waiting for their first American number one for over a decade. They turned out to be the fathers of success MartinPagewhich was then basking in the success of the hit “We Built This City” groups Starship and Bernie Taupinwho is on artistic vacation as part of his long-term cooperation with Elton John. The song changed the group’s sound by adding electronic instruments to its rock character and defined them for years to come. This is also one of the few examples when Nancy stood behind the microphone as the lead vocalist. Apparently, when she heard the demo version of the recording, she felt that she knew how to interpret the song so that its message would appeal to the listeners.
The breakup with the Mushroom Records record label, which released Heart’s first albums, was famous. To promote the band’s music, the company published an advertisement that suggested that the Wilson sisters were in an incestuous relationship. The case ended in court, and the recording was a sharp response to the rumors circulated by radio journalists at that time. The recording debuted at number 11 on the charts and was the group’s most famous single hit for many years.
This song signaled Heart’s rebirth after several years of failure. The first single from the breakthrough album “Heart” reached number 10 in America and was also the group’s first major success in the UK. A hit by the Canadian band Toronto, rearranged by the producer Ron Nevison was a signal of Heart’s departure from the hard rock sound towards strong and majestic ballads, which became the group’s artistic showcase in the following years.
Heart’s second and last number one song came a long way before it became a hit for the Seattle band. Before volume Kelly i Billy Steinbergan original duo, became known thanks to the hits written for Cyndi Lauper “True Colors” and Madonna “Like a Virgin”, operated under the banner i-Ten and even released one album, which unfortunately was lost. However, one of the recordings included on this release had a lot of potential, which was discovered thanks to the version by Heart. The sonically refined rock ballad led to sales of the “Bad Animals” album and became the group’s next big hit.
In the early 1990s, the group Heart once again marked its position on the charts around the world thanks to a composition written by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. This South African producer and composer has had successful collaborations with many stars, including Foreigner, Def Leppard or The Cars. Initially, the song, written in the 1970s, was intended for Don Henleybut was ultimately recorded by Dobie Gray.
Released on the album, “Drift Away” went completely unnoticed. Only when it came to the Wilson sisters, with changed lyrics, did it turn out to be one of the biggest worldwide hits in 1990. Ann Wilson from the beginning she felt aversion to the composition, mainly because of the lyrics, but she was aware of the recording’s enormous potential. “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You” made the Heart group loud again. For years, the artist refused to sing it at concerts. She only broke her rule in 2017, when she said she realized that for many of the group’s fans, it was the most important song in the sister band’s discography.