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Heart (band)

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Heart

Heart is an American rock band which came out of Bellevue, Washington, USA. Going through several lineup changes, the only constant members of the group are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group's music during the 1970s was influenced by hard rock groups like Led Zeppelin, as well as folk music. In the 1980s, they became a mainstream rock act, before dropping out of the public consciousness in the late 1990s.

Band history

Origins and early success (1973–1982)

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 a hitherto-all-male local group in 1970. (This 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 Mike Fisher's girlfriend, and when Nancy joined in 1974, she became involved with Fisher's brother, lead guitarist Roger.

The band moved to Canada.[1] After many one-nighters around their new home of Vancouver, they attracted the attention of Mushroom Records in 1975, a Vancouver-based label run by Shelly Siegel. He had them cut Dreamboat Annie, which upon release in Canada sold 30,000 copies, no doubt benefitting from CRTC Canadian content regulations. In the US Siegel released the album first in Seattle, where it quickly sold another 25,000. With two hit singles - "Crazy on You" (#35, 1976) and "Magic Man" (#9, 1976), - Dreamboat Annie eventually sold over a million copies.

By early 1977, Heart had broken its contract with Mushroom Records and signed with CBS' subsidiary Portrait, a move that resulted in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel. In retaliation, he released the partly completed Magazine at the same time that Portrait released Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could re-mix several tracks and re-do vocals before re-releasing 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 Leese 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 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 five 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 in 1982. 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 multi-platinum LP and added three more Top-25 hits to its catalogue, the most notable of which was "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You".

1990–present

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 re-emerged 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 1990s. Of the two sisters, Nancy had kept busier, 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 of their own, the first time that they ever had done so.

In addition to their own recording careers, 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.

In 2004, the Wilsons released Jupiter's Darling, their first studio album as Heart since 1993. It featured a variety of songs that included a return to Heart's original sound, as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks include "Make Me", "Enough", "Oldest Story In The World", and "Lost Angel".

In October 2004, Heart's song "Barracuda" appeared on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas radio station K-DST. Eminem also sampled "Crazy On You" for the song "Crazy In Love" on his 2004 album Encore.

In 2005, the Wilsons appeared on the CMT Music Awards as a special guest of Gretchen Wilson (no relation), who duetted with Gretchen on the Heart classic, "Crazy On You". Heart performed again with Gretchen on VH-1's tribute to the band, Decades Rock Live. The special also featured performances with Alice in Chains, Dave Navarro, Rufus Wainwright, and Carrie Underwood.

On May 24, 2007, Heart was an honoree and performer at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis, and ZZ Top.

The were honered by the band Alice in Chains acomponied by Alice Wilson on guitar

Heart songs in other venues

Members

  • Ann Wilson: Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Harmony Vocals, Flute (1970–present)
  • Nancy Wilson: Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals (1974–present)
  • Roger Fisher: Lead Guitar (1970–1979) (also The Army and White Heart 1963–70)
  • Steve Fossen: Bass Guitar (1970–1982) (also The Army and White Heart 1963–70)
  • Mike Fisher: Guitar (1970–1974)
  • John Hannah: Keyboards (1970–1974)
  • Brian Johnstone: Drums (1970–1974)
  • Howard Leese: Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer (1976–1999)
  • Michael Derosier: Drums (1975–1982)
  • Mark Andes: Bass Guitar (1982–1993)
  • Denny Carmassi: Drums (1982–1993)
  • Schuyler Deale: Bass Guitar (1993)
  • John Purdell: Keyboards (1993)
  • Denny Fongheiser: Drums (1994–1995)
  • Fernando Saunders: Bass Guitar (1994–1995)
  • Ben Smith: Drums (2002–present)
  • Mike Inez: Bass Guitar (2002–2006)
  • Scott Olson: Guitar (2002)
  • Tom Kellock: Keyboards (2002)
  • Gilby Clarke: Guitar (2003)
  • Darian Sahanaja: Keyboards (2003–2004)
  • Craig Bartok: Guitar, Keyboards & Synthesizers (2003–present)
  • Debbie Shair: Keyboards & Synthesizers (2004–present)
  • Ric Markmann: Bass Guitar (2006–present)

Discography

For a complete list of Heart albums and singles, see Heart discography.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia: Heart". Canoe/Jam. Retrieved 2006-09-11.
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