Ann Wilson biography

While performing a gig in upstate Washington, Fisher's older brother Mike, who had been evading the draft in Vancouver, Canada, snuck across the border to see Heart perform. Wilson fell madly in love with him. Within a few months, she succeeded in persuading her bandmates to move to Vancouver, where she could be with Mike and he could serve as their manager. Heart quickly established a reputation as one of the best new bands in Canada. Wilson's younger sister Nancy joined Heart in 1974,

bringing to the band her virtuosic acoustic guitar skills. Their sound morphed into the powerful blend of acoustic and electric hard rock music that became their trademark.

Success With Heart

Heart released their debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1976, on the small Canadian label Mushroom Records. Behind the strength of its iconic lead single "Magic Man" and two more successful singles, "Dreamboat Annie" and "Crazy on You," Dreamboat Annie became an unexpected commercial success, peaking as high as No. 7 on the U.S. albums chart. Heart's 1977 follow-up, Little Queen, which featured the now-classic track "Barracuda," was another enormous commercial and critical success. Other noteworthy early Heart albums include Dog & Butterfly (1978), featuring the singles "Straight On" and "Dog & Butterfly," Bebe le Strange (1980), featuring "Even It Up," and Private Audition (1983), featuring "This Man Is Mine."

Although the full lineup of Heart changed with considerable frequency over the long duration of the band's career, Ann and Nancy Wilson always remained the band's driving force as lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively, as well as primary songwriters. Heart thus enjoys an important place in music history as the first female-driven hard-rock band to achieve widespread popularity.

In 1985, Heart shifted gears stylistically to deploy a more pop-friendly sound on their eighth studio album, Heart. The result was a runaway success. Heart became the band's only album to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts, eventually selling over 5 million copies. The single "These Dreams" reached No 1 on the Billboard singles chart, and three additional singles—"What About Love," "Never" and "Nothin' At All"—cracked the Top 10.

Heart's next record, 1987's Bad Animal, nearly replicated that success, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart and spawning hit singles in "Alone" and "Who Will You Run To." Completing a trio of albums that marked the peak of Heart's success was Brigade (1990), featuring the iconic single "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You."

After their 1993 album Desire Walks On failed to reach the success of their previous efforts, the Wilson sisters briefly disbanded Heart to form a new group called The Lovemongers. The Lovemongers toured briefly in the Pacific Northwest and released one album, Whirlygig, in 1997. The sisters then reformed Heart to release a 2004 comeback album, Jupiters Darling, which received high critical praise but did not sell especially well. Heart's album Red Velvet Car, released in 2010, returned the band to national prominence and commercial success, reaching No.