Like any band trying to navigate the music industry and stardom, Heart found itself with a great deal of stress throughout the band’s history. Although going through growing pains and juggling conflicting ideas, the band produced iconic songs like “Barracuda”, “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You” and “What About Love.” Selling over 50 million albums worldwide, the band released its latest album, Beautiful Broken, back in 2016. While Heart prepared to hit the road for their upcoming tour, Nancy Wilson discussed the legacy of the band over the years.
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Discussing Heart’s contributions to the music industry, Nancy admitted the band never tried to be the original lineup. Playing alongside Ann Wilson, Nancy explained how they represented what Heart is. “I think me and Ann [Wilson, Heart singer], we represent what Heart is. The perception of Heart is the two of us. If we were still trying to be the original lineup, we would never still be there.”
Although loving what they produced on and off the stage, Nancy never forgot the drama that surrounded the band. “I always felt lucky to have another girl, not to mention a sister, inside of Heart. It’s like being in the eye of the hurricane, the way it’s felt over the years, because all the eras go by and the dramas go through, and there’s cows flying around and tractors in the air, but at the nucleus of the story is the quiet center where me and Ann exist.”
Nancy Wilson Found A Home With Heart
While Nancy got the chance to share the stage with her sister, she revealed how Heart was always a home for them. “We had our own lives and our husbands and our own choices and roads we took. But [the band] is kind of like coming back to the good old oak tree called Heart. It exists there. The roots are deep and it’s bigger than all the rest of it, because the music and the songs are there in the culture. It’s a lovely, steady pillar of power that just exists on its own.”
Having left their mark in music and in Heart, Nancy insisted that the band went far beyond the two, “Even without me and Ann, it’ll still be there.” Just last year, Heart decided to postpone a few of their shows while on tour as Ann focused on her battle with cancer.
(Photo by Bonnie Schiffman/Getty Images)
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