SANTA ROSA, Calif. — After a half-century of rockin’, Nancy Wilson hasn’t lost the drive or desire to continue performing with her sister Ann.
“We love celebrating and sharing the electric energy of a 100% live, on the spot, real rock show,” she said. “I love my rock job, I get to go to my loud office.”
After a break of a few weeks, Heart is back on the road this weekend in the second leg of their Royal Flush Tour, including a stop in Birmingham next month.
On June 20, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are at the BJCC Legacy Arena. For tickets, click here.
“The first leg of the tour was really spectacular,” Wilson said from her “rehearsal space” in Santa Rosa, Calif., surrounded by guitars. “When we play live, it’s really special. Everything we do is 100% live. No tracks, no prerecorded music.
“It’s such gratification to be able to sing and play a live show … it’s pretty magical. It’s a cool, emotional, rockin’ show.”
Wilson, 71, said the break helped her recover from a “terrible cough” and Ann, 74, broke her elbow in three places from a fall on ice after a rehearsal early in February. In fact, she sang on stage in a wheelchair.
And this came after she announced in July 2024 that she was taking a break from touring to recover from the removal of a cancerous tumor. Ann returned to the tour after chemo treatments.
“She’s really doing great,” Nancy said. “She had to be in a chair with her elbow on a pillow. I don’t think she’ll be in the wheelchair (on this leg of the tour).”
Wilson said the band has a “real diverse, artistic, magical show, including an acoustic “around the campfire” segment that has resonated with fans.
“We sat and we talked about the songs, a little storytelling,” she said. “And we did Heart stuff and we did ‘Goin’ to California’ by Zeppelin.”
In 1975, Heart released their debut LP, “Dreamboat Annie,” which includes “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You.”
Two years later, “Little Queen” was released, featuring “Barracuda.”
The rest, as they say, is music history.
They went on to sell more than 35 million albums worldwide (22 million in the United States) and delivering 20 electrifying Top 40 singles. Heart has released 16 studio albums, 7 live albums, 8 compilation albums and 64 singles, while racking up a well-deserved array of accolades and awards including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honor and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
And it all began when the Beatles showed up on their television in the living room of their home in Bellevue, Wash.
“We saw them on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show,'” Wilson said. “They were ready to change the culture.
“And they were cute.”
The Wilson sisters saw the Fab Four in concert two years later and “that’s where the inspiration started,” she said.
“We had to have a band,” she said. “There was never anything else as to what else we wanted to do.
“We became rabid musicians and became settled on the craft.”
In fact, they became proficient in that craft and are still going strong – a half-century later.
“We’re not really making a statement about it, but it is 50 years since ‘Dreamboat Annie,’ the first album,” she said.
Along the way, Nancy left the band for a couple years for a career change – motherhood.
“As a mom, I had to change my music around … it took me a while to get it accomplished,” she said. “I took a couple years off, waited until they were 2 (twin sons born in 2000). One works on the tour. It’s a beautful thing. It’ve very cool to see family in the business.”
Now, she has a career as a grandmother.
“We’ve got two granddaughters and it’s fantastic,” she said. “One’s 2 years and one’s 5 months.”
As it is with grandparents, you spoil the grandchildren and return them to their parents, or “catch and release,” as Wilson put it.
So, “Grandma” Nancy, sister Ann and the rest of the band (Ryan Wariner, lead and rhythm guitar; Ryan Waters; lead and rhythm guitar; Paul Moak, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, mandolin, banjo andbacking vocals; Tony Lucido, bass and backing vocals; and Sean Lane, drums) are back on the road, aka their “loud office.”
“I’m super proud of how this band is crafting the ongoing tour,” Wilson said. “The show continues expanding with elements ranging from kick ass rock to acoustic campfire jams.
“We love celebrating and sharing the electric energy of a 100% live, on the spot, real rock show.”
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