Musician Spotlight: Ann and Nancy Wilson, Queens of 1970’s Rock

As I have mentioned numerous times in the past, I am a BIG fan of Sarah McLachlan. But there have been other women in music who have had an impact on my life.

I did a spotlight on the Queen of 1980’s rock Pat Benatar in October, which you can find here, and this time around I’m going back to the 1970’s to shine a spotlight on the two sisters in the rock band Heart.

Ann and Nancy Wilson have been part of the famous rock band Heart since 1975, easily becoming Queens of 1970’s rock. Ann is the lead singer and plays flute while her sister Nancy is on rhythm guitar and also provides vocals.

Among the band’s biggest hits were these top 40 singles: Magic Man in 1975, Crazy on You in 1976, both on their debut album Dreamboat Annie, and Barracuda in 1977, which was on the band’s third album Little Queen.

Here is the video for one of their most memorable hits, Barracuda:

Their legacy continued into the 1980’s – which was when I became a fan of the group and started learning about their music from the previous decade. During the latter part of the 1980’s, they had two top 40 singles and two number 1 hits. Those included the top 40 hits What About Love and Never, which were released in 1985 from their 8th and self-titled album Heart and the number 1 singles These Dreams, from 1986, and Alone, from 1987, which were on their 9th album Bad Animals.

As we reached the 1990s, Heart wasn’t done. They had another top 40 hit in the single All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You from their 10th album Brigade.

It should be noted that Heart started out as a male-only rock band from Seattle, Washington going by several different names and including numerous male members of the band, but once Ann and Nancy joined in the mid-1970’s, the sisters were the only consistent members of Heart until they disbanded in 1998. The band has regrouped and even resumed touring and recording multiple times since then; and the Wilson sisters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September of 2012.

Also, the band – comprised of core members Steven Foseen (bassist), Roger Fisher (guitar), Michael Derosier (drums), Howard Leese (guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) as well as the Wilson sisters – were included in the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. It should be noted that on their Hall of Fame page, the Wilson sisters were described as the first women to front a hard-rock band and are considered pioneers inspiring women to pick up an electric guitar or start a band.

Heart may be considered a hard rock band, but their music has crossed over to many genres ranging from folk to pop to hard rock and even to heavy metal, at times. They have charted singles on Billboard’s Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, Hard Rock Tracks and Adult Contemporary charts. They even landed on the charts on Billboard’s Classical Albums chart in 2016.

The band has sold over 35 million records worldwide, have had 20 top-40 singles and seven top-10 albums and they also earned four Grammy nominations. In fact, the band charted singles and top-10 albums on the Billboard charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s, a four-decade span, which is a record for a female-fronted band.

Among their other accomplishments are being ranked 57 in the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and number 49 in the Top 100 Classic Rock Artists. For Ann and Nancy, they ranked number 40 in the 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll (in 1999), Ann was ranked in the 2006 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time and the sisters were awarded ASCAP’s (otherwise known as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Founders Award in recognition of their songwriting careers.

The Wilson sisters have been active in the Seattle music scene for decades and influenced many musicians from the region, including bands of the grunge era, including the likes of Neil Young, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.

You can check out the Wilson sisters performing Magic Man live with newer members of Heart from 2020 below:

You can learn more about Heart at their official website here.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Theatre World Backdrops