Saturday March 19, 2022 “Alone” Heart (Ann and Nancy Wilson)
Today’s two amazing female rockers, sisters Ann & Nancy Wilson, are the creative spark of Heart, one of the most successful bands thanks to the soaring vocals of Ann, one of the greatest voices in rock and the remarkable harmonies and guitar work of her sister Nancy.
In the early 70s, having a female singer in a heavy rock band was something of a novelty. “It was unusual,” Ann said, “And we were unusual among friends at school in that we wanted to be The Beatles rather than marry them.”
However those kinds of contradictions have always been at the very center of Heart. The band which eventually came under the complete influence of the Wilson sisters has always existed as a series of dichotomies and opposites: the blonde and the brunette, the boys and the girls, the hard rock song and the fragile lullaby.
The sisters would record two albums in the 90s as the Lovemongers, release two Heart Greatest Hits albums, do a holiday Heart Christmas album and release new material in 2013 and an album of collaborations in 2016 Beautiful Broken.
Heart has sold over 35 million records worldwide and they have placed albums in the top 10 of Billboard 200 in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. They were ranked number 57 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and ranked number 49 on Ultimate Classic Rock's Top 100 Classic Rock Artists and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
Today’s song was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, a very successful songwriting team who have written several other number one hits, including Whitney Huston’s "So Emotional," Madonna’s "Like A Virgin" and The Bangles "Eternal Flame."
Stay safe and well...and Heart ends our week celebrating women in music with the caveat that in that short span of time we couldn't possibly recognize all the magic and music that women have brought to our lives through their music.