Katy Perry and new \u2018Divas\u2019 ready to play Miramar<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nHow effectively the Wilsons-led Heart have opened doors is a matter of record.<\/p>\n
Since its inception in 1973, the band has sold 35 million albums worldwide. Heart has had two chart-topping hits, 1986\u2019s \u201cThese Dreams\u201d and 1987\u2019s \u201cAlone,\u201d nine Top 10 songs and 29 Billboard Hot 100 singles, including such perennial fan favorites as \u201cBarracuda,\u201d \u201cCrazy On You,\u201d \u201cMagic Man\u201d and \u201cDog and Butterfly.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors, the Wilson sisters brought Led Zeppelin\u2019s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to tears when Heart performed \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d\u00a0In 2023, Heart received the Recording Academy\u2019s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Awards. That honor came a decade after the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 by Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who died four years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here tonight to induct an amazing band,\u201d Cornell told the audience of more than 5,000 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow, it never occurred to us that Ann and Nancy Wilson were women existing authentically in a world dominated by men,\u201d Cornell said. \u201cHeart was (led by) two Joan of Arcs standing up front, kicking total ass\u2026 Heart was important to us, not just as musicians, but also as proof of the fact that Seattle could produce something beautiful and rocking that the rest of the world might actually care about\u2026 The heart of that band comes from the singular synergy in the sisterhood of Ann and Nancy Wilson.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Heart's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0630_fea_ocr-l-annwilson-03.jpg\")
Heart\u2019s Nancy Wilson and Ann Wilson, from left, are joined by drummer Jason Bonham at a 2013 Los Angeles concert. (Armando Brown \/ For the Orange County Register)
\nFab inspiration<\/p>\n
The sisters grew up in a musical family. But it was a February 1964 TV show that provided the pivotal artistic inspiration that set Ann, who was 13 at the time, and Nancy, who was 9, on their shared musical path.<\/p>\n
It was then that they went to their grandmother Maudie\u2019s apartment in La Jolla to watch The Beatles\u2019 live U.S. television performance debut on \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show.\u201d For the Wilsons, like millions of other young people, the world would never be the same again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a call to the future \u2014 and from the future,\u201d Nancy said, speaking from her Santa Rosa home in Northern California during a recent break on Heart\u2019s summer tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Ann felt like it was our destiny. A lot of musicians say that about the first time they saw The Beatles. It was a cultural moment that just called you to sing, play guitar, form bands, become a songwriter, get on stage and follow your inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
She chuckled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought we would not have success,\u201d Nancy continued, \u201cmaybe because I was young and naive enough to not think that we wouldn\u2019t. Ann being such a gifted singer at such a young age; it was already obvious she had an insanely great voice. And I was hellbent at becoming proficient on guitar, just because it was my purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two things combined were pretty hard to sneeze at. You know, we were pretty good at a young age and we knew it. Then, we got our 10,000 hours of practice and we just figured it would work out. Now, sitting here in my house \u2014 50-ish years later \u2014 apparently it did work out quite well for a couple of wide-eyed rock musicians like us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does music mean something more to the Wilson sisters now than it did when Heart was a young club nicknamed \u201cLittle Led Zeppelin\u201d and was striving to get a record contract?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe love of music is still the same, the incredible feeling of creating art!\u201d Ann replied via email from her Florida home.<\/p>\n
\u201cOoh, that\u2019s a really good question,\u201d Nancy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a music fan, I think it\u2019s still the same for me. When I heard a great new song, or a cool album that just came out, or something I grew up loving, it defines your life. And it\u2019s also your survival technique, to create music and songs that become the soundtrack of your life experience. Music helps you to deal with the curveballs, hardships and losses you have to endure, as well as with the joyful things, love and romance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is there for a bigger purpose than just enjoyment. It\u2019s the fabric of life and survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
The importance of music takes on even more significance now for Ann, who announced in July 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer. The volcanic-voiced singer subsequently underwent surgery and Heart rescheduled a slew of its now-resumed \u201cRoyal Flush\u201d tour dates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling strong and grateful,\u201d Ann said. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed in the healing power of music, and that belief carried me through (having cancer). The love from fans, friends, and family was medicinal.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Singer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0630_fea_ocr-l-annwilson-04.jpg\")
After being treated for cancer in 2024, Ann Wilson is back on tour with Heart this year. (Christine Cotter \/ For The Orange Cunty Register)
\nSiblings, no rivalry<\/p>\n
Prior to Heart\u2019s ascent, there had been a number of talented, all-female American rock bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<\/p>\n
They included Goldie & The Gingerbreads, The Pleasure Seekers, The Enchanted Forest, The Ace of Cups, The Hairem, Fanny, The Sandoval Sisters, The Debutantes, The Untouchable, Birtha and San Diego\u2019s Penelope\u2019s Children. But only The Pleasure Seekers, Fanny and Birtha scored album contracts at the time, and commercial success eluded all of them.<\/p>\n
By coincidence, the lineups of at least two of those bands \u2014 Fanny and The Pleasure Seekers \u2014 each also featured a pair of sisters. That similarity notwithstanding, neither band fared remotely as well as Heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started, there was a lot more proving to do,\u201d said Ann, whose \u201cAfter Dinner Thinks\u201d podcast debuted in February. \u201cAs young women in the male-dominated rock scene, there was an urgency to make space for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m convinced,\u201d Nancy said, \u201cthat Ann and me, as sisters doing it together, was extremely important for us. Because we had each other when we were kind of an anomaly in music. We still are an anomaly. We do real rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. And we\u2019re not pop artists \u2014 we\u2019re singers and songwriters.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of artists, female and male, have in recent years cited mental health issues as the primary reason they canceled or postponed some concerts or entire tours. The list includes Justin Bieber, Summer Walker, Shawn Mendes, Doja Cat, Wet Leg, Lewis Capaldi, Arlo Parks, Sam Fender and Chappell Roan, who used her 2024 Grammy Awards acceptance speech to implore record companies to provide healthcare and more support for young artists.<\/p>\n
Of course, the Wilson sisters have had their own challenges to contend with over the years.<\/p>\n
In 1980s, Heart was dropped by its record company after the group\u2019s sales and popularity dropped. The band\u2019s new label brought in outside songwriters to craft hits for the group. The advent of MTV saw Ann and Nancy recast as video vixens with big hair, lots of makeup and revealing stage attire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe focus shifted from the music to the image-making machinery,\u201d Nancy lamented. \u201cAnd there was a cocaine-driven, ego-driven cultural shift. We had to scrape by to keep some of our artistic integrity intact. All of a sudden we were dinosaurs, then we became cool again. We had to fight for our survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nancy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/RPE-L-JULYUP22-0701-03.jpg\")
Nancy Wilson, guitarist and singer in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Heart, released her first solo album in 2021. (Jeremy Danger)
\nUpheavals and reunions<\/p>\n
Nancy left Heart for three years in 1995 to start a family with her then-husband, San Diego-bred writer and film director Cameron Crowe. In 2015, Ann began touring with her own band, The Ann Wilson Thing. In 2016, Ann\u2019s husband, Dean Wetter, assaulted Nancy\u2019s two teenage sons backstage at a Heart concert and was sentenced as part of a plea deal to 364 days in jail, with all the time suspended. The sisters were estranged for the next three years before coming back together again as Heart.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Nancy began touring as the leader of Nancy Wilson\u2019s Heart, a band that saw Kimberly Nichole, a finalist on season 8 of \u201cThe Voice,\u201d handing Ann\u2019s lead vocal duties In early 2024, Ann underwent knee surgery. A few months later came her announcement that she had cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic has always meant so much to me,\u201d Ann said. \u201cBut with everything I\u2019ve been through, I don\u2019t take anything for granted anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heart\u2019s longevity has been a gift to the Wilson sisters. Both have made solo albums and led their own groups, but have always returned to the Heart fold. And both are well aware that the average shelf life for a rock band is measured in months or years, not decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople ask us: \u2018What advice would you give to young, talented artists starting out?\u2019 \u201d said Nancy, who in 2023 launched her Roadcase Management company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI joke about this \u2014 and Ann says it, too \u2014 because my advice would be to turn back! It\u2019s tigers, lions and bears out there in the music industry. And unless you\u2019ve got a burning desire \u2014 and are willing to withstand the slings, the arrows, all of the disappointments and the ego-melting sieges you have to live through \u2014 unless you are hellbent and can\u2019t live without it, then I would really encourage you not to do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s really not as glamorous as it might appear. I mean, it looks good on paper and it looks good on album covers. But living through it is challenging. It is rewarding, when it works, and when you can survive and rise above the petty schoolyard and high school bulls\u2014t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ann turned 75 on June 15. Nancy turned 71 on March 16. While the road may not go on forever, as Stephen Stills sang in his 1970 hit, \u201cLove The One You\u2019re With,\u201d the path Heart has forged over the past 52 years has yet to reach an end.<\/p>\n
What would prompt either of the Wilson sisters to retire?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ll stop when it stops feeling joyful,\u201d Ann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sweeter than ever to do it,\u201d Nancy said. \u201cBecause with all the setbacks we\u2019ve had, with our family drama in 2016 and then health issues, we were never sure we would be able to keep doing it. Things are really looking good. Right now, we\u2019ve got shows in the works with Heart until next spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can get the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll job \u2014 and keep doing it and keep getting out there \u2014 well, it\u2019s a really good job!\u201d<\/p>\n
Heart, with Todd Rundgren<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13<\/p>\nWhere:<\/strong> Pechanga Arena San Diego, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway District<\/p>\nTickets:<\/strong> $34.50-$114.50<\/p>\nOnline:<\/strong> axs.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart have never served in any…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":115650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,171,1370,5424,3549,3550,7264,1072,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-115649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-music-and-concerts","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-top-stories-sdut","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114964995015189105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Heart](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/LDN-L-HEART-0228-02_8f1c85.jpg\")
Heart is returning to San Diego for a Pechanga Arena concert on Aug. 13., The band\u2019s members are, from left, Ryan Waters, Nancy Wilson, Sean Lane, Ann Wilson, Paul Moak, Tony Lucido, and Ryan Wariner. (Chris Cain)