Heart

 

Heart is an American rock band which came out of Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington. Going through several lineup changes, the only constant members of the group are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group's music during the 1970s was influenced by hard rock groups like Led Zeppelin, and folk music. In the 1980s, they became a mainstream rock act.  After many one-nighters around their new home of Vancouver, they attracted the attention of Mushroom Records in 1975, a Vancouver-based label run by Shelly Siegel. He had them cut Dreamboat Annie, which upon release in Canada sold 30,000 copies, no doubt benefitting from CRTC Canadian content regulations. In the US Siegel released the album first in Seattle, where it quickly sold another 25,000. With two hit singles - "Crazy on You" (#35, 1976) and "Magic Man" (#9, 1976), - Dreamboat Annie eventually sold over a million copies.  Little Queen, with the hit "Barracuda" (#11, 1977), became Heart's second million-seller; Magazine and the double-platinum Dog and Butterfly followed suit in 1978.  During sessions for Bebe Le Strange the Wilson-Fisher liaison ended. Roger Fisher formed his own band in the Seattle area. Howard Lesse and Nancy took up guitar slack, and her childhood friend Sue Ennis helped out on song collaborations. The group hit the road for a 77-city tour to support Bebe Le Strange, then returned to make Private Audition in 1982.  That album and the following year's Passionworks (featuring new bassist Mark Andes , and drummer Denny Carmassi, failed to go gold, putting the band at a career crossroads.  But the group’s first album for Capitol, simply titled Heart (#1, 1985) sold five million copies on the strength of four Top-10 hits: "What About Love?" (#10, 1985), "Never" (#4, 1985), "These Dreams" (#1, 1986), and "Nothin' at All" (#10, 1986). By that time the group had abandoned their earlier hard-rock aspirations to make slick radio-friendly pop.  In June 1986, Nancy Wilson married journalist, screenwriter, and director Cameron Crowe; she made a cameo appearance in his movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982. Bad Animals (#2, 1987), too, contained a chart-topper, in the power ballad "Alone", as well as "Who Will You Run To?" (#7, 1987), and "There's the Girl" (#12, 1987). In 1989, Ann Wilson and Cheap Trick's Robin Zander had a #6 hit with their duet, "Surrender to Me." Brigade (#3, 1990) became Heart's sixth multi-platinum LP and added three more Top-25 hits to its catalogue, the most notable of which was "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You".  On May 24, 2007 Heart will be an honoree at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis, and ZZ Top.  See Heart LIVE!  Purchase your Heart tickets today!