Heart

In a time when rock was dominated by testosterone, Heart managed to carve their own niche - even though the band was fronted by two women.

Throughout the long life of the band, Ann and Nancy Wilson remain the most famous members of Heart although the remainder of the line-up has seen many fluctuations. Heart had been formed in the 1960s but took off when the Wilson sisters joined and the band changed its name to Heart in 1974. A move to Canada precipitated their being signed to Mushroom Records in 1975 whereupon they released Dreamboat Annie in Canada and America, selling over a million copies.

A wrangle with record labels resulted in Magazine and Little Queen being released in the same year (1977), though Magazine was re-called and re-issued in 1978 along with the next release Dog and Butterfly. “Barracuda” from the Little Queen album became one of the band’s seminal hits.

In 1982 Heart released Private Audition followed swiftly by Passionworks in 1983, but neither sold particularly well. However 1985’s Heart revised their fortunes, spawning four Top-10 hits; power ballad, radio friendly musical monoliths which came to personify them. They continued their success with Bad Animals in 1987 and Brigade in 1990, sticking to the formula which had made them stars.

After the Wilson sisters indulged in an acoustic side project called The Lovemongers, they returned to Heart and released Desire Walks On in 1993. For their next album in 1995, The Road Home, Heart reprised some of their earlier hits in acoustic versions and by 1999 Nancy had released a solo album Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop and the sisters went on a solo tour.

It was not until 2004 that Heart released another album Jupiter's Darling. This marked a return to the trademark Heart sound although they hadn’t been lazy in the meantime; infact the sisters have continued to make music before, during and after the release of this album, touring and guesting with fellow musicians, to much acclaim.

In late 2007, Heart re-visited their debut album, Dreamboat Annie Live, recorded live in its entirety in front of an audience of the Heartmongers, the dedicated band of fans who have followed them from the start.