Heart (band)
Heart is an American band formed in
Seattle, 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 '70s was influenced by
hard rock groups like
Led Zeppelin, and
folk music. In the '80s they became a mainstream pop act, before dropping out of the public consciousness in the '90s.
Origins and early success (1950-1982)
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 an all-male local group in
1970. (The group was formed in
1963 by Steve Fossen and Roger and Mike Fisher as the Army. They later changed their name to White Heart, shortened to Heart in
1974.) Upon joining, Ann became lead guitarist Mike Fisher's girlfriend, and when Nancy joined in 1974, she became involved with Fisher's brother Roger.
After many one-nighters in the
Vancouver area, in
1975 they attracted the attention of
Canada's Mushroom label, run by Shelly Siegel. He had them cut
Dreamboat Annie, which upon release in Canada sold 30,000 copies. In the U.S. Siegel released it first in Seattle, where it quickly sold another 25,000. With two hit singles–"
Crazy on You" (#35,
1976) and "
Magic Man" (#9,
1976)–the album eventually sold over a million copies.
By early
1977, Heart had switched to
CBS subsidary
Portrait, a move that resulted in a prolonged legal fight with Siegel. In retaliation he released the partly completed
Magazine at the same time Portrait released
Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could
remix several tracks and redo vocals before rereleasing the disc. (They had wanted the album taken off the market completely.)
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.
Mainstream pop years (1983-1989)
That album and the following year's
Passionworks (featuring new bassist
Mark Andes {
Spirit,
Jo Jo Gunne}, and drummer
Denny Carmassi {
Gamma}) failed to go gold, putting Heart at a career crossroads. But the group's first album for
Capitol, simply titled
Heart (#1, 1985) sold 5 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.
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 multiplatinum
LP and and three more Top 25 hits to its catalogue.
 |
Ann (left) and Nancy Wilson, 1993 |
Low profile (1990-Present Day)
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 in
1997. When Heart reemerged with
Desire Walks On (#48) in
1993, it was without Andes and Carmassi. For the group's subsequent tour, their places were taken by
bassist Fernando Saunders and
drummer Denny Fongheiser. 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 '90s. Of the two sisters, Nancy had kept busiest, scoring her husband's movies,
Jerry Maguire,
Almost Famous, and
Elizabethtown, and releasing a solo album in
1999. That same year, she and Ann embarked on a tour on their own, the first time they had ever done so.
In addition to their own recording career, the Wilson sisters have played a key role on the Seattle music scene. Among the groups who have recorded at their Bad Animals studio are
R.E.M.,
Pearl Jam,
Alice in Chains, and
Soundgarden.
Heart's Heart: 20 Years of Rock & Roll was the first CD-ROM multimedia biography/greatest-hits package ever released.
*
Ann Wilson – Lead Vocals, flute, guitar, bass, autoharp, keyboards (1970-present
*
Nancy Wilson – Guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica, vocals (1974-present)
*
Mike Fisher – Guitar, Vocals (1963-1974, became sound engineer for the group)
*
Roger Fisher – Guitar, mandolin (1974-1979)
*
Howard Leese – Guitar, keyboards, synthesizer (1975-1995)
*
Steve Fossen – Bass Guitar (1975-1982)
*
Michael Derosier – Drums (1975-1982)
*
Mark Andes – Bass Guitar (1983-1993)
*
Denny Carmassi – Drums (1983-1991)
*
Fernando Saunders – Bass Guitar (1993-1995)
*
Denny Fongheiser – Drums (1993-1995)
*
Ben Smith – Drums (2002-present)
*
Mike Inez – Bass Guitar (2002-present)
*
Craig Bartok – Guitar (2003-present)
For a complete list of Heart albums and singles, see Heart discography.*
List of bands from Canada*
List of best-selling music artists*
Roger Fisher*
Heart's official site
