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Fri 7 August 2026 0:00, UK
It’s hardly been kept a secret from their fanbase that the sister duo at the core of Heart, Ann and Nancy Wilson, are massive fans of Led Zeppelin.
If it wasn’t for their existence, Heart probably wouldn’t have ever existed either, and the Wilsons would likely have found another calling in life, but their exposure to the British rock titans at a crucial age was ultimately a huge inspiration for them ever having the impetus to start a band in the first place. They say the music you listen to as a teenager tends to stick with you for the longest time, and in their case, this is absolutely irrefutable.
The founding members of Heart, Roger Fisher and Steve Fossen, had existed in previous incarnations before the sisters arrived. With Ann having entered the fold as a vocalist in 1973 upon their official formation, with Nancy joining a year later on guitar, it was evident that the activity of Led Zeppelin over the past few years had rubbed off on those involved with the genesis of the band, with their style feeling like a logical continuation of the psychedelic and blues rock that these early incarnations had peddled.
Heart may have branched out significantly later on in their career, exploring a greater variety of moods and styles, but according to Nancy Wilson, this Led Zeppelin influence was always likely to be present.
Speaking on the Red Bull Bulletin podcast, Wilson proclaimed that from day one, it was asserted that they were going to be a major influence on their own direction, citing a classic track from their fourth album as one of the first touchstones they established. “One of the main ones in the beginning was ‘Stairway To Heaven’,” she argued, “because of the lyrics and the epic nature of it.”
A much softer song by their usual standards, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ has rightfully earned its reputation as an epic of classic rock, and as one of the greatest songs that Led Zeppelin ever created for the way it builds from a slow ballad and explodes into life in the latter half of its eight-minute runtime.
“It starts out acoustic and gets as big as it can be, and it takes you on a real journey,” Wilson continued. “I love that song. I think it’s timeless and ageless and beautiful. Do I get the lyrics? Yeah, but I don’t think you get it with your cognition; I think it’s a felt thing.”
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Led Zeppelin certainly knew how to take their listeners on a journey, and this became especially apparent as they moved on as a group, with later albums of theirs making more room for similarly expansive songs that meander their way through multiple sections before reaching a climax of epic proportions.
Heart wouldn’t necessarily make their own music anywhere near as progressive, but in terms of the sheer emotive nature of what they did, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and its DNA are practically injected into every fibre of Heart and their being. In fact, it’s in the fibre of rock music, and it’s unlikely to ever go away.
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