Heart (band)

Heart

Sisters Nancy and Ann Wilson in 2007
Background information
Origin (Members from) Seattle,
Washington, USA
(Band based in) Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada (1973-1976)
Genres Hard rock, folk rock
Years active 1973 (1973)–present
Labels Mushroom, Epic, Sony BMG, Portrait, Legacy, EMI, Capitol, Shout! Factory, Sovereign, Sony Legacy
Associated acts The Lovemongers
Website www.heart-music.com
Members
Ann Wilson
Nancy Wilson
Ben Smith
Craig Bartock
Debbie Shair
Kristian Attard
Past members
See: Former members

Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada.[1][2][3] Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music. After diminishing in popularity for a couple of years in the early 1980s, the band enjoyed a comeback in 1985, experiencing further successes with their power ballads and pop hits into the 1990s.

Over their four-decade career, Heart has had chart successes with songs in genres ranging from hard rock and metal to folk rock. With Jupiter's Darling (2004) and Red Velvet Car (2010), Heart made a return to their hard rock/acoustic roots of the late 70s. To date, Heart has sold over 30 million records worldwide.[4] Heart was ranked #57 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".[5]

Contents

History

Origins (1967–1974)

Steve Fossen, Roger Fisher, Mike Fisher

In 1967, bassist Steve Fossen formed The Army along with Roger Fisher on guitar, Don Wilhelm on guitar, keyboards and lead vocals, Ray Schaefer on drums.[6] They played for several years in and around the Bothell, Washington area (northeast of Seattle). They frequently played Bothell High School, Inglemoor High School and Shorecrest High School, as well as many taverns and club venues. They frequented the club "Parker's" on Aurora Avenue in north Seattle during the 1970s when it was known as the "Aquarius Tavern". In 1969 the band went through line-up changes (Gary Ziegelman on lead vocals, Roger on guitar, Steve on bass, James Cirrello on guitar, Ron Rudge on drums, Ken Hansen on percussion,[6] and Debi Cuidon on vocals) and a new name, White Heart[6] (from Tales from the White Hart, a collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke). For a brief time in 1970 this line-up shortened its name to Heart; however, the band went through more personnel changes. In 1971, Heart consisted of Steve Fossen, Roger Fisher, David Belzer (keys) and Jeff Johnson (drums).[7]. When Ann Wilson joined in 1972, the band was named Hocus Pocus. Mike Fisher, Roger's brother, was set to be drafted. Nancy Wilson has stated that when he did not report for duty, his home was raided, but he slipped out a rear window, escaped to Canada and became a Vietnam War draft dodger.[1]

One day in 1972, Mike crossed the border to visit family and, by chance, met Ann at a Hocus Pocus show. According to Nancy, that meeting was "when she and Michael fell in love"[1] and Ann decided to follow Mike back to Canada.[3] Steve Fossen finished his college education before he also decided to move to Canada in late 1972,[6][8] and Roger followed in late 1972 / early 1973, and along with Mike and Ann, the band Heart was officially formed.[3] Nancy joined in 1974, and soon after became involved with Roger. In 1974 the Heart lineup consisted of Ann, Nancy, Roger, Steve, John Hannah (keyboards), and Brian Johnstone (drums).

Ann and Nancy Wilson

The Wilson sisters grew up in Southern California and Taiwan before their Marine Corps father retired to the Seattle suburbs. After Ann graduated from Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Washington, she joined Roger Fisher in the band Hocus Pocus where she met Roger's brother Mike in 1971, and followed him back to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Meanwhile, Nancy finished high school then went to college where she majored in art and German literature.[1] She then played solo gigs until 1974 when she quit college and moved to Canada to join Heart.[1][2]

Success (1975–1981)

Heart's residency in Canada was long enough for the group to gain recognition as "Canadian artists" by the CRTC for broadcasting purposes. This status meant that the group's early recordings qualified as "Canadian content" and therefore would receive increased attention from radio programmers. In this period Ann Wilson told audiences that the group was from Canada,[9] even though all the members of Heart were citizens of the United States and were never permanent Canadian residents.

After many one-night shows around their new home in Vancouver, British Columbia, the group recorded a demo tape with the assistance of producer Mike Flicker and session-guitarist and keyboard player, Howard Leese. Hannah and Johnstone had left by this time, and soon after Leese became a full-time member of the group. The same team then cut the debut album, Dreamboat Annie. The album was recorded at Can-Base Studios in Vancouver (later known as Mushroom Studios.) Some of the same Canadian investors which backed the studio also backed a separate company Mushroom Records, which was managed by Shelly Siegel. As with Flicker, Leese, and the other members of Heart, Siegel was an American who had moved to Vancouver to seek opportunities in the Canadian music industry, which was booming at the time. Drummers Duris Maxwell, Dave Wilson, Kat Hendrikse and Michael Derosier were among those who also played on the sessions for the album. Derosier eventually joined Heart as full-time drummer.

Following Canadian release in late 1975, the album was first picked up for radio airplay by a station in Montreal.[10] Airplay on other Canadian stations soon picked up, helped in part by the album's "Canadian content" status. The album sold an impressive 30,000 copies across Canada in its first few months. In the US, Siegel released the album first in the Seattle area on February 14, 1976 (Valentine's Day) where it quickly sold another 25,000 copies. With two hit singles, "Crazy on You" (#35, 1976) and "Magic Man" (#9, 1976),[11] Dreamboat Annie eventually sold over 1 million copies.

Mike Fisher was able to freely return to the United States with the members of Heart after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers on his first day in office, January 21, 1977. By this time 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. He released the partly completed Magazine just before Portrait released Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom Records had to recall Magazine so that the group could remix several tracks and redo vocals before re-releasing the disc; Heart had wanted the album taken off the market completely. Hence, Magazine was released twice, both before and after Little Queen.

Little Queen, with the hit "Barracuda" (#11, 1977), became Heart's second million-seller. Ann and Nancy appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in July 1977 (issue No. 244).[12]

In 1977, Heart's record label, Mushroom Records, fueled rumors that Ann and Nancy were lesbian lovers by running a full-page ad in Rolling Stone showing the sisters bare-shouldered (as appearing on the "Dreamboat Annie" album cover) and suggestively captioned, "It was only our first time!" When a reporter suggested, backstage after a live appearance, that the sisters were sex partners, the infuriated Ann returned to her hotel room and began writing the lyrics to "Barracuda" to relieve her frustration.[13] The song became one of Heart's biggest hits, charting at #11 in 1977.

There was no denying that sex appeal was a major ingredient in the sisters’ success. In 1988, the sisters told author James L. Dickerson that they would never apologize for exploiting their sex appeal. Ann pointed out that cleavage ran in their family and she saw no reason to deny it. “I’ve always been lucky to know men who have encouraged us for that,” she said, laughing.[14]

Magazine was re-issued in April 1978, with a re-ordered tracklisting and remixed versions of many of the songs. It peaked in the top twenty. It achieved platinum status and gave forth the Top 20 hit single "Heartless".

In late 1978, the double-platinum Dog and Butterfly followed suit garnering ecstatic critical reviews, and yielded top 30 hits with its title song and "Straight On". The album was composed of 8 tracks and divided into two sections, the A-side being "Dog" and featuring more uptempo rock/pop songs, whilst the "Butterfly" B-side featured longer tracks with a more experimental and moody flavour. The closing 7-minute opus "Mistral Wind" became an immediate live favorite and is a staple of all Heart set lists to this day.

After the 77-city "Dog and Butterfly" tour, the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended, as Roger had by then left the band in the fall of 1979 and formed his own band in the Seattle area. Nancy Wilson and longtime guitarist Howard Leese filled in the guitar void, and her childhood friend Sue Ennis helped with song collaborations. Still, the absence of Fisher's guitar work was evident in the band's subsequent albums.

Heart then released Bebe le Strange in 1980. It became the band's second top ten album, peaking at #5 and achieving gold status, and yielded the Top 40 hit "Even It Up". By the end of the year, the band scored their highest charted single at the time; a remake of the ballad "Tell it Like it Is" which peaked at #8.[15]

In November 1980, to mark the significant achievement of their first five studio albums, the double album Greatest Hits Live was released to double platinum success and reached #12 on the US chart, continuing a chart run until spring 1981. Something of a misnomer, the two-disc set actually featured studio versions of most of Heart's singles to date plus a couple of new studio tracks and 6 live tracks, amongst which were covers of "Unchained Melody", Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and The Beatles' "I'm Down". But with a total of only two hit singles in 1980 (five singles were actually released) and a hiatus of almost two years to their next studio album, sales following this greatest hits package were weaker than previous efforts.

Decline (1982–1984)

Following the release of Private Audition in 1982, Fossen and Derosier left the band. Both Private Audition and 1983's Passionworks, (featuring new bassist Mark Andes and new drummer Denny Carmassi), failed to go gold.[16]

Private Audition presented an eclectic range of styles and marked quite a departure in sound from previous Heart releases. The hard rock opener "City's Burning" and Nancy's contribution "The Situation" were the only real connections to the sound of 1980's "Bebe Le Strange"; the rest of the album featured a Supremes-sounding Top 40 hit, "This Man Is Mine", a Ragtime-influenced title track, several gentle pop ballads, (the standout being "Perfect Stranger"), and an intensely dramatic coda in the form of "America".

Passionworks featured the Top 50 hit "How Can I Refuse", and was a definite step towards the power ballad/pop sound which reached its zenith in the three studio albums that followed. This was particularly in evidence with the minor hits "Allies" and "Sleep Alone".

In 1984 Ann Wilson recorded a duet, with Mike Reno of Loverboy, called "Almost Paradise". It was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Footloose. The song was a hit on the pop charts, reaching #7, and was a further foreshadowing of the sound that shaped the band's enormous comeback.

Comeback (1985–1990)

Heart's first album for Capitol, simply titled Heart (#1, 1985), turned out to be the biggest commercial success in the band's history. It 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).[15] A fifth single, the metallic "If Looks Could Kill" also charted.

In June 1986, Nancy Wilson married journalist, screenwriter and director Cameron Crowe. (She had made a cameo appearance in his movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, in a scene where she was driving a Corvette, and was listed in the credits as "Beautiful Girl in Car".)

Heart's next album, Bad Animals (#2, 1987), continued the power ballad theme that defined much of 1980s pop. It also contained a chart-topper, "Alone" (#1, 1987), as well as "Who Will You Run To" (#7, 1987), "There's the Girl" (#12, 1987) and "I Want You So Bad" (#47, 1988),[15] and also became the band's first top 10 album success in the UK, peaking at #7 on the UK Album Chart.[17]

In a 1988 interview with Nine-O-One Network Magazine, Ann Wilson disclosed that the title song from the album, “Bad Animals,” was written about a bad experience at a posh Memphis hotel. “We walked in and people looked at us like we were scum,” she explained. “It was an elegant lobby, with elegant rugs and vases, and we were tired and our hair was wild.” Nancy interrupted, “All the people were dressed to the hilt. They all looked like they were all from Dynasty. It was like a hush fell over the place . . . So, we just looked at each other and said, ‘sore thumb lobby.’” [18]

Completing the comeback was Brigade (#3, 1990) which became Heart's 6th multi-platinum LP and added three more Top-25 hits to its catalogue: "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" (#2 U.S.), "Stranded" (#12 U.S.) and "I Didn't Want to Need You" (#24 U.S.).[15] Three other album cuts, "Secret", "Wild Child" and "Tall, Dark Handsome Stranger" were Rock chart hits and received considerable airplay on US hard rock and heavy metal stations. Brigade was the band's highest charting album ever in the UK, reaching #3.[17]

1991–1995

Following the 1990 tour, Heart released their first complete live album in the autumn of 1991. Rock the House Live! featured highlights of the Brigade world tour, and was a moderate success in the US and UK.

The Wilson sisters then put together an informal acoustic group called The Lovemongers with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox.[19] A four-song EP, that included a live version of Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" and an updated version of the Heart standard "Crazy On You", came out in late 1992, and the quartet performed several times in the Seattle area. The Lovemongers released a full-length album titled Whirlygig in 1997, and a collection of mostly self-penned Christmas songs entitled "Here is Christmas" in 1998. This was later re-released as a Heart album Heart Presents a Lovemongers' Christmas in 2001.

Also in 1992, Ann sang with Alice in Chains on the songs "Brother," "Am I Inside," and "Love Song," from the EP Sap. When Heart re-emerged with Desire Walks On (#48) in 1993, Schuyler Deale played bass on the album's sessions. (Mark Andes had left the band by 1992.) Desire Walks On included the hard rock/metal radio hit "Black on Black II" as well as the Top 40 hit "Will You Be There (In the Morning)" (#39, 1994).[15] For the group's subsequent tour, Heart was joined 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, with Jones also performing with the band on mandolin and other instruments.

In 1995 Nancy decided to take a break from music to concentrate on raising a family with husband Cameron Crowe. Ann toured that year with a band that was alternately called The Ann Wilson Band or Ann Wilson & the Ricola Brothers. This lineup included Leese, Scott Olson (guitars), Jon Bayless (bass), and Scott Adams (sax). Additionally, Lovemongers members Ben Smith (drums) and Frank Cox (guitars, keyboards, percussion) performed in this lineup. They were joined by Nancy for at least one show at The Joint in Las Vegas on October 16, 1995, which was billed as a Heart show and later broadcast by the Westwood One Superstars in Concert series. A videotape of the show was also shown on VH1.

1996–2001

In 1998 Ann toured again without Nancy, this time billed as Ann Wilson and Heart. The lineup was the same as it had been in 1995, but without Scott Adams. This was long term band member Leese's last tour with Heart; he left the band later in the year. Nancy kept busy scoring her husband's movies Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Elizabethtown and Vanilla Sky. She wrote and, along with her husband, produced the song "I Fall Apart" in Vanilla Sky that Cameron Diaz performed, and also composed "Elevator Beat", a non-vocal composition for the film. In 1999 Nancy released a solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop. Also in 1999, Nancy and Ann embarked on a tour of their own, this being the first time that they had done so.

2002–2006

In 2002, Ann and Nancy returned to the road with a brand-new Heart lineup that included Scott Olson, Ben Smith, Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, and keyboardist Tom Kellock. In 2003, Heart released their concert DVD Alive in Seattle which has since been certified Gold - Video Longform by the RIAA.[20] The DVD includes such hits as "Alone", "Barracuda", "Crazy on You", "Magic Man", "Straight On", "These Dreams" and many more.

Also in 2003, Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses) and Darian Sahanaja replaced Olson and Kellock. These two new men didn't stay very long and were succeeded in 2004 by Craig Bartok and Debbie Shair. (Sahanaja's schedule became very busy after he joined Brian Wilson's touring band, but he returned to play with Heart in 2007 for their "Dreamboat Annie Live" show.)

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 hard rock sound, as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks included "Make Me", "Enough", "Oldest Story in the World" (#22 Billboard Rock Airplay, 2004) and "Lost Angel". In 2005 the Wilsons appeared on the CMT Music Awards as a special guest of country singer Gretchen Wilson (no relation) and performed the Heart classic, "Crazy on You", with Gretchen. Also in 2005 Heart appeared in the finale episode of the second season of The L Word on Showtime (broadcast on May 15, 2005), performing "Crazy on You".

Heart performed with Gretchen Wilson on VH-1's 10 March 2006 tribute to the band, "Decades Rock Live".[21] The special also featured Alice in Chains, Phil Anselmo, Dave Navarro, Rufus Wainwright, and Carrie Underwood.[22] Later in the year, bass player Inez left Heart to re-join the reformed Alice in Chains. Ric Markmann then became Heart's new bassist.

2007–2009

Heart was honored at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors (24 May 2007), and also performed along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and ZZ Top. Gretchen Wilson and Alice in Chains honored the group by performing "Barracuda".[23] This, along with the inclusion of "Crazy on You" in Guitar Hero II, "Barracuda" in the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits video game, renewed interest in Heart once again.

In September 2007, Ann Wilson released her first solo album, Hope & Glory. The album features guest appearances by Elton John, Alison Krauss, Nancy Wilson, k d lang, Wynonna Judd, Gretchen Wilson, Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, and Deana Carter, and was produced by Ben Mink (Barenaked Ladies, k d lang, and Feist). Both Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher commenced writing autobiographies, but no publication dates have yet been mentioned.[24]

Heart appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 25, 2008 for Ellen's birthday show, and performed "Barracuda." Ellen played an intro to "Barracuda" on Guitar Hero in front of the audience before announcing Heart. On April 9, 2008, the band appeared on Idol Gives Back with Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, who sang "Barracuda" in harmony with Ann.[25] In mid 2008, Heart made a U.S. tour with Journey and Cheap Trick.

On 31 May 2008, Heart performed at the Artist for the Arts Foundation benefit at Barnum Hall, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, CA. Performing live, along side Jackson Browne (Something Fine), Venice (Crazy on You) and over 70 members of the Santa Monica High School (SaMoHi) Orchestra and Girls Choir (Bohemian Rhapsody),[26] the benefit helped to provide funds for the continuation of Music Education in public schools. The event was filmed and recorded by Touring Video and Post by On the WAVE Productions. The video was produced by Harry Rabin of OTW and can be seen on the AFTA Foundation website.[27]

In July 2009, Heart were special guests on 15 dates of Journey's summer arena tour. They played at a number of venues, including Louisville's Freedom Hall, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Sovereign Center, Reno Events Center, and Taco Bell Arena. Heart also headlined a series of shows, with The Bangles opening for them. Heart also headlined at the Verizon Wireless American Music Festival Labor Day 2009. They also wrote two songs ("Mine," "Civilian") with American female pop rock duo 78violet for their upcoming self titled studio album.[28]

2010 and Heart's return to the Top 10

On August 31, 2010 a long-awaited new studio album entitled Red Velvet Car was released.[29] The album contains 10 tracks, including a new working of the Lovemongers' song "Sand". It marks a stylistic return to Heart's melodic hard rock / acoustic sound, previously featured most prominently on Little Queen and Dog and Butterfly. Red Velvet Car debuted at #10 on the Billboard Album chart for the week of September 11, 2010,[30] making it the highest debut ever for a Heart album and their first top 10 album success in 20 years, after 1990's Brigade. The album also debuted at #3 on Billboard's Rock Album chart. Red Velvet Car spawned two singles, "WTF" aimed at hard rock and classic rock radio and "Hey You" aimed at Adult Contemporary formats. "Hey You" charted at #26 on Billboard's AC chart, while "WTF" charted at #16 on Billboard's Top Selling Rock Singles chart.

Some limited edition versions of the album, sold through U.S. Target stores (also available on the CD in UK, Canada, Japan and Europe as well as on iTunes UK, Europe and Canada) included the bonus track "Closer to the Sun". Additional Bonus tracks include: "In the Cool" (also available through U.S. Target stores and on iTunes UK, Europe and Canada), "Bootful of Beer" (available on the CD in UK, Canada, Japan and Europe as well as on iTunes UK, Europe and Canada) and the track "Listening" - available only on the Japanese CD Import version. The album release was accompanied by a North American tour, which commenced in January and ran until December 2010.[31] On November 4, 2010, it was announced that Heart would do its first cross-Canada tour in thirty years, beginning on January 28, 2011 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.[32] Potential European dates have been pushed to later in 2011 and are expected to be announced in due course.

Heart also played as part of 2010 VH1 Divas Support the Troops, along with Katy Perry, Paramore, Nicki Minaj, Sugarland, Keri Hilson, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. During Heart's set, Grace Potter played keyboards and dueted with Ann on vocals on "Crazy on You". After an initial rollout with multiple airings, this show is currently being aired occasionally on VH1 and affiliated channels, as well as Palladia HD channel. The concert was presented by the USO, hosted by Kathy Griffin, and recorded Friday, December 3, 2010 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California.

Current

A live DVD and Blu-ray disc of the 2010 US tour, A Night at Sky Church, was released on March 8, 2011, the show already having been filmed on March 5, 2010, in their hometown of Seattle.[33]

Coming off their latest Top 10 album and cross country tour of Canada, Heart announced on February 24 that they will be embarking on a 2011 summer tour co-headlining with Def Leppard.[34] According to Ann Wilson, "Nancy and I are really excited to be bringing Heart to the stage this summer with Def Leppard. It's going to be a powerful, monster show. The real thing. The summer of 2011 will be amazing."[35]

Legacy

In addition to their own recording careers, the Wilson sisters have played a 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,[36] Soundgarden and Candlebox.

"Heart's Heart: 20 Years of Rock & Roll" was the first CD-ROM multimedia biography/greatest hits package ever released.

In 2009 the Wilson sisters were also awarded ASCAP's Founders Award in recognition of their 35-year songwriting career.

Heart has achieved Top 10 albums on the Billboard charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and now 2010 with chart singles in each decade. This span of four decades places them among the most commercially enduring hard rock acts of all time.

Heart's diversity in music styles has been evident in their chart successes. The band has had singles chart success on Billboard's Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, and Adult Contemporary charts. Throughout history Heart has been labeled as Hard Rock, Folk, Easy Listening, Heavy Metal, and Hair Metal, many times demonstrating two or more of these styles on the same album. Their album title Dog and Butterfly was a symbol of their sometimes contradictory styles, with the "Dog" side of the album focusing on hard rock tunes and the "Butterfly" side made up of acoustic folk music. Their epic "Mistral Wind" from this album captured both styles in one song, starting as a mellow acoustic ballad and building to a metal crescendo. "Mistral Wind" is considered by many followers of Heart to be the band's finest studio recording.

Members and former members

Artist Instrument(s) Period
Fisher, MikeMike Fisher Manager, engineer, producer, light man, guitar (1973–74)[37] 1973-1979[37]
Fisher, RogerRoger Fisher Lead guitar, backing vocals 1973–1979[38]
Fossen, SteveSteve Fossen Electric bass guitar, percussion 1973–1982[39]
Hannah, JohnJohn Hannah Keyboards 1974
Johnstone, BrianBrian Johnstone Drums 1974
Wilson, AnnAnn Wilson Vocals (Lead vocals, backing vocals), flute, guitar, keyboards, percussion, violin, autoharp 1973–present[40]
Wilson, NancyNancy Wilson Vocals, guitar (acoustic guitars, electric guitars, lead guitar), mandolin, keyboards, synthesizers, harmonica 1975–1995, 2002–present
DeRosier, MichaelMichael DeRosier Drums, percussion 1975–1982
Belzer, DavidDavid Belzer Hammond B-3, Fender Rhodes electric piano 1971
Leese, HowardHoward Leese Guitars, electric lead, acoustic 12 string, acoustic 6 string, bass, keyboards, synthesizers,
mandolin, recorder, orchestra arrangements, autoharp, percussion, backing vocals
1975–1998
Andes, MarkMark Andes Electric bass guitar, backing vocals 1982–1992
Carmassi, DennyDenny Carmassi Drums, percussion 1982–1992
Deale, SchuylerSchuyler Deale Electric bass guitar 1993
Fongheiser, DennyDenny Fongheiser Drums, percussion 1993–1995
Saunders, FernandoFernando Saunders Electric bass guitar 1993–1995
Olson, ScottScott Olson Guitars, electric & acoustics 1995–1998, 2002–2003
Cox, FrankFrank Cox Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals 1995–1998
Adams, ScottScott Adams Sax 1995
Bayless, JonJon Bayless Electric bass guitar 1995–1998
Kellock, TomTom Kellock Keyboards, synthesizers 2002–2003
Smith, BenBen Smith Drums 1995–1998, 2002–present
Morton, KenKen Morton Drums played for one year in the 1970's
Inez, MikeMike Inez Electric bass guitar 2002–2006
Clarke, GilbyGilby Clarke Guitar 2003–2004
Sahanaja, DarianDarian Sahanaja Keyboards, synthesizers 2003–2004, 2007[41]
Bartock, CraigCraig Bartock Guitar 2004–present
Shair, DebbieDebbie Shair Keyboards, synthesizers 2004–present
Markmann, RicRic Markmann Electric bass guitar 2006–2009
Attard, KristianKristian Attard Electric bass guitar 2009–present

Timeline


Discography

See also

References and notes

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Kelly, Maura "Interview with Nancy Wilson", The Believer, August 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  2. ^ a b Bergman, Julie "Guitar Queen of Heart", cover story, Acoustic Guitar, September 1999, No. 81.
  3. ^ a b c Loder, Kurt. "Making Music to the Northern Lights", Circus Magazine. November 1977. Roger Fisher on brother Mike Fisher: Then he moved to Canada, we got Ann, she met my brother, they fell in love, and so we moved up to Canada too, and put the band together up there about six years ago.
  4. ^ Kohn, David Weighty Matters CBS News. Retrieved August 4 2011
  5. ^ VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" - episode 36 of The Greatest (TV series), 2005-08-11.
  6. ^ a b c d Fossen, Steve
  7. ^ http://pnwbands.com/heart.html
  8. ^ Bebe Le Strange Epic Records Press Kit. 1980. Steve Fossen was a founding member of Heart in 1972 and 1973 after completing his music major in college.
  9. ^ In 1976, in speaking to an American audience at KWSU-TV in Pullman, Washington, Ann Wilson stated, "We're from Canada. We're from Vancouver, B.C. ... We're just starting to ooze down across the border now, you see." Heart performs "Magic Man" on the KWSU program "Second Ending" in 1976 at YouTube. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  10. ^ VH1 Behind the Music
  11. ^ According to Hollywood Insider, Feb., 1976, "Magic Man" was written about love interest Herbert L. Becker.
  12. ^ Ann & Nancy Wilson on the cover of Rolling Stone issue No. 244, July 28th, 1977.
  13. ^ Refer to the episode of "VH1 Behind the Music" which follows the career of "The First Sisters of Rock & Roll." More information about this episode can be found at - Heart episode
  14. ^ Dickerson, James L. (2005.).”Go, Girl Go! The Women’s Revolution in Music,” (Schirmer Trade Books), p. 101. ISBN 0-8256-7316-x
  15. ^ a b c d e Heart Album & Song Chart History Billboard. Retrieved August 4 2011
  16. ^ A gold record is 500,000 copies sold.
  17. ^ a b Chart History of Heart UK Chart Stats. Retrieved August 4 2011
  18. ^ Dickerson, James L. (February 1988). “You can’t take sex out of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Nine-O-One Network Magazine, p. 28.
  19. ^ In the liner notes of Heart's Greatest Hits 1985-1995, it is stated that the name "Lovemongers" came in response to the then-forthcoming Persian Gulf War, "Lovemonger" being the opposite of "Warmonger".
  20. ^ Gold - Video Longform requires 50,000+ sales.
  21. ^ Heart - In Concert, 10 March 2006, Decades Rock Live.
  22. ^ Decades Rock, TV Guide, 1–7 May 2006.
  23. ^ "Gretchen Wilson & Alice in Chains - Barracuda". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQkECIn738&feature=related#. Retrieved 2011-04-08. 
  24. ^ Roger Fisher discusses forthcoming autobiographies being written by Nancy Wilson and by himself.
  25. ^ Idol Gives Back, Americanidol.com
  26. ^ Past Events, May 31, 2008, Picture Gallery, aftafoundation.org
  27. ^ Artist for the Arts Foundation, aftafoundation.org
  28. ^ Sophia, Gino (15 November 2009). "Info on the new album". 78violet Reaction. http://www.78-violet.com/music/newalbum.php. Retrieved January 16, 2010. 
  29. ^ Red Velvet Car, Amazon mp3 download
  30. ^ Aesch Tunes music sales figures, September 8, 2010, aeschtunes.wordpress.com, accessed 2011-04-03. Note: This URL is automatically generated and the page number increases with time.
  31. ^ Tour www.heart-music.com
  32. ^ "Heart to tour Canada in 2011". CBC.ca. 2010-11-04. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2010/11/04/heart-tour.html. 
  33. ^ Heart Kicks Off 'Red Velvet Car' Album with Lilith Fair Gigs Billboard July 15, 2010
  34. ^ "Def Leppard & Heart Summer Tour". Jambase. JamBase. http://www.jambase.com/Articles/26308/Def-Leppard-and-Heart-Summer-Tour. Retrieved February 28, 2011. 
  35. ^ "Def Leppard and Heart announce Summer Tour". Heart Website. http://www.heart-music.com/articles.html?n_id=434. 
  36. ^ Interview - Alice in Chains, Alice in Chains speaks about Heart’s influence, Decades Rock Confidential.
  37. ^ a b Roger Fisher's brother and for a period, Ann Wilson's boyfriend, it is difficult to verify Mike Fisher's official role(s) in the band because he did so many things. Prior to Nancy Wilson joining, it has been suggested he was guitarist for Army and White Heart. It appears that Nancy took over his role as guitarist and he ceased his role as a musician, taking on one or more of the roles of engineer, producer, manager and light man. There are no musical credits for him on any of the Heart albums. For example, on the Dreamboat Annie album sleeve, he is credited as "Special Direction". In the "VH1 Behind the Music" interview, Ann refers to him as the group's manager, but there is no other supporting evidence. In an entry dated 22 March 2008 on Roger Fisher's "Questions & Replies" page <http://www.rogerfisher.com/question_answer.html>, in response to the question: "I've often wondered how Ann & Nancy wound up with the name Heart when it was your band in the first place?", Roger replies: "The answer is detailed in my book. In a nutshell, when brother Mike was happily with Ann, and Nance and I were happily together, the Heart Partnership was formed. Mike and I, in our wisdom, insisted the girls be given 51% of the rights in the partnership." However, other than supporting that Mike was part of "the Heart Partnership", it does nothing to confirm Mike's role(s), and the dates he performed those roles.
  38. ^ Member of Army and White Heart 1967–70 and member of Hocus Pocus 1970-71 with Ann Wilson
  39. ^ Member of Army and White Heart 1967–70
  40. ^ Member of Hocus Pocus 1970-71
  41. ^ Darian Sahanaja rejoined the group in 2007 for the "Dreamboat Annie: live" concert.

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