Along with debut albums from Foreigner and Boston, Heart's Dreamboat Annie ushered in the era of arena rock and Album Oriented Radio. The album sees the band's sister team of Nancy and Ann Wilson shrewdly pulling off a Led Zep role reversal. Lead singer Ann can shift from pop-thrush blandness to piercing shrieks with the stroke of a power chord, as she does on "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man." Little Queen ups the heavy quotient on hits like "Barracuda" with satisfying results, but murky folk-rock filler like "Dream of the Archer" cuts away at the record's overall power. The clunky Dog and Butterfly merely proves that some aspects of Led Zeppelin's legacy are better left alone. Magazine was a rush-job release of demo tapes, perpetrated when Heart skipped from the Canadian label Mushroom over to Epic.
The Wilson sisters grew up in Southern California and Taiwan before their Marine Corps father retired to the Seattle suburbs. After attending college they returned to Seattle, with Nancy working as a folksinger and Ann joining a hitherto-all-male local group in 1970. (This group was formed in 1963 by Steve Fossen and Roger and Mike Fisher as The Army. They later changed their name to White Heart, and shortened it to Heart in 1974.) Upon joining, Ann became Mike Fisher's girlfriend, and when Nancy joined in 1974, she became involved with Fisher's brother, lead guitarist Roger.
The band moved to Canada. After many one-nighters around their new home of Vancouver the group recorded a demo tape with the assistance of producer Mike Flicker and session guitarist and keyboard player Howard Leese. Soon after, Leese became a full time member of the group. The same team then cut the debut album Dreamboat Annie, which attracted the attention of the newly formed Mushroom Records in 1975, a Vancouver-based label run by Shelly Siegel. Upon release in Canada the album sold an impressive 30,000 copies, no doubt benefitting from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (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. Songs of this era can be played on Canadian radio to satisfy CanCon content requirements.
By early 1977, the band was able to return to the United States after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders. By this time Heart had broken its contract with Mushroom Records and signed with CBS' subsidiary Portrait, a move that resulted in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel. In retaliation, he released the partly completed Magazine at the same time that Portrait released Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could remix several tracks and re-do vocals before re-releasing the disc. (They had wanted the album taken off the market completely.)[citation needed]
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. After the 77-city Dog and Butterfly tour the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended; Roger was fired from the band and Mike was no longer their manager. Roger Fisher formed his own band in the Seattle area. Longtime guitarist Howard Leese and Nancy took up guitar slack, and her childhood friend Sue Ennis helped out on song collaborations. The group then released Bebe le Strange in 1980.
Following the release of Private Audition in 1982, Fossen and Derosier left the band. Both Private Audition and 1983's Passionworks, (featuring new bassist Mark Andes and new drummer Denny Carmassi), failed to go gold, putting Heart at a career crossroads.
In 1984, Ann Wilson recorded a duet with Mike Reno of Loverboy called "Almost Paradise". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Footloose and hit number 7 on the pop charts. Then, 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 had made a cameo appearance in his movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, as 'Girl in Corvette'. Bad Animals (#2, 1987), too, contained a chart-topper, in the power ballad "Alone" (#1, 1987), 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".
Following a 1990 tour, the Wilson sisters put together an informal acoustic group called The Lovemongers with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox; a four-song EP that included a version of Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" came out in late 1992, and the quartet performed several times in the Seattle area. The Lovemongers released a full-length album titled Whirlygig in 1997.
When Heart re-emerged with Desire Walks On (#48) in 1993, Mark Andes had left the band and Shuyler Deale played the bass. For the group's subsequent tour, Heart was joined by bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser (replacing Deale and Carmassi). The band offered live acoustic versions of its best-known songs on 1995's The Road Home, which was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.
The pared-down format echoed Heart's low profile in the late 1990s. Of the two sisters, Nancy kept busier, scoring her husband's movies, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, and Elizabethtown, and releasing a solo album ("Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop") in 1999. That same year, she and Ann embarked on a tour of their own, the first time that they had done so.
Nancy and Ann Wilson playing at a charity concert for the Canary Foundation 28 July 2007In 2003, Heart released their critically acclaimed concert DVD "Alive in Seattle" which has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The DVD included such hits as "Alone", "Barracuda", "Crazy on You", "Magic Man", "Straight On", "These Dreams" and many more.
In 2004, the Wilson's released Jupiter's Darling, their first studio album as Heart since 1993. It featured a variety of songs that include a return to Heart's original sound, as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks include "Make Me", "Enough", "Oldest Story In The World" and "Lost Angel".
In 2005, the Wilsons appeared on the CMT Music Awards as a special guest of Gretchen Wilson (no relation), and performed the Heart classic, "Crazy On You" with Gretchen. Heart performed again with Gretchen on VH-1's tribute to the band, Decades Rock Live. The special also featured Alice in Chains, Phil Anselmo, Dave Navarro, Rufus Wainwright and Carrie Underwood.
Heart was honored at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors (24 May 2007), and also performed, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and ZZ Top. This, along with the inclusion of "Crazy on You" in Guitar Hero II and "Barracuda" in the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock video game, renewed interest in the band.
In September 2007, Ann Wilson released her first solo album Hope & Glory. The album features guest appearances by Elton John, Alison Krauss, Nancy Wilson, k d lang, Wynonna, Gretchen Wilson, Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, and Deana Carter, and was produced by Ben Mink (Bare Naked Ladies, k d lang, Feist).
Both Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher are currently writing autobiographies, but no publication dates have yet been mentioned.
Heart appeared on Idol Gives Back on April 9, 2008, with Fergie, who sang Barracuda in harmony with Ann Wilson.
Heart appreared on the Ellen Degeneres show on January 25th, 2008 for her birthday show, and performed "Barracuda". Ellen played an intro to "Barracuda" on Guitar Hero in front of the audience before announcing Heart.
Heart is currently on a U.S. tour with Journey and Cheap Trick.
The Wilson sisters grew up in Southern California and Taiwan before their Marine Corps father retired to the Seattle suburbs. After attending college they returned to Seattle, with Nancy working as a folksinger and Ann joining a hitherto-all-male local group in 1970. (This group was formed in 1963 by Steve Fossen and Roger and Mike Fisher as The Army. They later changed their name to White Heart, and shortened it to Heart in 1974.) Upon joining, Ann became Mike Fisher's girlfriend, and when Nancy joined in 1974, she became involved with Fisher's brother, lead guitarist Roger.
The band moved to Canada. After many one-nighters around their new home of Vancouver the group recorded a demo tape with the assistance of producer Mike Flicker and session guitarist and keyboard player Howard Leese. Soon after, Leese became a full time member of the group. The same team then cut the debut album Dreamboat Annie, which attracted the attention of the newly formed Mushroom Records in 1975, a Vancouver-based label run by Shelly Siegel. Upon release in Canada the album sold an impressive 30,000 copies, no doubt benefitting from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (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. Songs of this era can be played on Canadian radio to satisfy CanCon content requirements.
By early 1977, the band was able to return to the United States after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders. By this time Heart had broken its contract with Mushroom Records and signed with CBS' subsidiary Portrait, a move that resulted in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel. In retaliation, he released the partly completed Magazine at the same time that Portrait released Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could remix several tracks and re-do vocals before re-releasing the disc. (They had wanted the album taken off the market completely.)[citation needed]
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. After the 77-city Dog and Butterfly tour the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended; Roger was fired from the band and Mike was no longer their manager. Roger Fisher formed his own band in the Seattle area. Longtime guitarist Howard Leese and Nancy took up guitar slack, and her childhood friend Sue Ennis helped out on song collaborations. The group then released Bebe le Strange in 1980.
Following the release of Private Audition in 1982, Fossen and Derosier left the band. Both Private Audition and 1983's Passionworks, (featuring new bassist Mark Andes and new drummer Denny Carmassi), failed to go gold, putting Heart at a career crossroads.
In 1984, Ann Wilson recorded a duet with Mike Reno of Loverboy called "Almost Paradise". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Footloose and hit number 7 on the pop charts. Then, 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 had made a cameo appearance in his movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, as 'Girl in Corvette'. Bad Animals (#2, 1987), too, contained a chart-topper, in the power ballad "Alone" (#1, 1987), 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".
Following a 1990 tour, the Wilson sisters put together an informal acoustic group called The Lovemongers with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox; a four-song EP that included a version of Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" came out in late 1992, and the quartet performed several times in the Seattle area. The Lovemongers released a full-length album titled Whirlygig in 1997.
When Heart re-emerged with Desire Walks On (#48) in 1993, Mark Andes had left the band and Shuyler Deale played the bass. For the group's subsequent tour, Heart was joined by bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser (replacing Deale and Carmassi). The band offered live acoustic versions of its best-known songs on 1995's The Road Home, which was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.
The pared-down format echoed Heart's low profile in the late 1990s. Of the two sisters, Nancy kept busier, scoring her husband's movies, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, and Elizabethtown, and releasing a solo album ("Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop") in 1999. That same year, she and Ann embarked on a tour of their own, the first time that they had done so.
Nancy and Ann Wilson playing at a charity concert for the Canary Foundation 28 July 2007In 2003, Heart released their critically acclaimed concert DVD "Alive in Seattle" which has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The DVD included such hits as "Alone", "Barracuda", "Crazy on You", "Magic Man", "Straight On", "These Dreams" and many more.
In 2004, the Wilson's released Jupiter's Darling, their first studio album as Heart since 1993. It featured a variety of songs that include a return to Heart's original sound, as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks include "Make Me", "Enough", "Oldest Story In The World" and "Lost Angel".
In 2005, the Wilsons appeared on the CMT Music Awards as a special guest of Gretchen Wilson (no relation), and performed the Heart classic, "Crazy On You" with Gretchen. Heart performed again with Gretchen on VH-1's tribute to the band, Decades Rock Live. The special also featured Alice in Chains, Phil Anselmo, Dave Navarro, Rufus Wainwright and Carrie Underwood.
Heart was honored at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors (24 May 2007), and also performed, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and ZZ Top. This, along with the inclusion of "Crazy on You" in Guitar Hero II and "Barracuda" in the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock video game, renewed interest in the band.
In September 2007, Ann Wilson released her first solo album Hope & Glory. The album features guest appearances by Elton John, Alison Krauss, Nancy Wilson, k d lang, Wynonna, Gretchen Wilson, Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, and Deana Carter, and was produced by Ben Mink (Bare Naked Ladies, k d lang, Feist).
Both Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher are currently writing autobiographies, but no publication dates have yet been mentioned.
Heart appeared on Idol Gives Back on April 9, 2008, with Fergie, who sang Barracuda in harmony with Ann Wilson.
Heart appreared on the Ellen Degeneres show on January 25th, 2008 for her birthday show, and performed "Barracuda". Ellen played an intro to "Barracuda" on Guitar Hero in front of the audience before announcing Heart.
Heart is currently on a U.S. tour with Journey and Cheap Trick.
Current members
Ann Wilson Vocals (Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Harmony Vocals), Flute 1970–present
Nancy Wilson Guitar (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Lead Guitar), Vocals, Piano 1974–present
Ben Smith Drums 2002–present
Craig Bartock Guitar 2004–present
Debbie Shair Keyboards & Synthesizers 2004–present
Ric Markmann Electric Bass 2006–present
Former Members
Mike Fisher Guitar, 1963–1974
Roger Fisher Guitar (Lead Guitar) 1963–1979
Steve Fossen Electric Bass 1963–1982
John Hannah Keyboards 1970-1974
Brian Johnstone Drums 1970-1974
Michael Derosier Drums 1975–1982
Leese Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals 1975–1997
Mark Andes Electric Bass 1982–1993
Denny Carmassi Drums 1982–1993
Schuyler Deale Electric Bass 1993
John Purdell Keyboards 1993
Denny Fongheiser Drums 1994–1995
Fernando Saunders Electric Bass 1994–1995
Scott Olson Guitar 2002
Tom Kellock Keyboards 2002
Mike Inez Electric Bass 2002–2006
Gilby Clarke Guitar 2003
Darian Sahanaja Keyboards 2003–2004
Discography
Legendary Albums Live: Dreamboat Annie 2007
Love Songs 2006
A Lovemongers' Christmas 2004
Jupiter's Darling 2004
Jupiters Darling 2004
Alive in Seattle 2003
The Essential Heart 2002
Heart Presents A Lovemongers' Christmas 2001
Greatest Hits 1985-1995 2000
Greatest Hits (Sony) 1998
Greatest Hits [1997] 1997
The Road Home 1995
Desire Walks On 1993
Rock the House Live! 1991
Brigade 1990
Bad Animals 1987
Heart 1985
Passion Works 1983
Private Audition 1982
Bebe Le Strange 1980
Greatest Hits: Live 1980
Magazine 1978
Dog And Butterfly 1978
Little Queen 1977
Dreamboat Annie 1976
Official Website: http://www.heart-music.com/
Listen to Heart Music!
Watch Heart Video!
Alone
Never
These Dreams
All I Wanna Do Is Making Love To You
Stranded
You Will You Run Too
There's The Girl
How Can I Refuse
Nothin' At All
What About Love
Barracuda
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