Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1973. The band evolved from previous projects led by the founding members Roger Fisher and Steve Fossen, including The Army, Hocus Pocus, and White Heart. By 1975, the original members Fisher, Fossen, and Ann Wilson, along with Nancy Wilson, Michael Derosier, and Howard Leese formed the lineup for the band's initial mid- to late-1970s success period. These core members were included in the band's 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Heart rose to fame with music influenced by hard rock and heavy metal as well as folk music. The band underwent a major lineup change between the late 1970s and the early 1980s; by 1982 Fisher, Fossen, and Derosier had all left and were replaced by Mark Andes and Denny Carmassi. Though the band's popularity fell off during the initial years with the new lineup, they staged a comeback in the mid-1980s, buoyed by major radio hits that continued into the 1990s. Heart disbanded in 1998, though they have regrouped and resumed touring and recording multiple times since then, with the Wilson sisters being the only consistent members. Heart's US Top 40 singles include "Magic Man", "Crazy on You", "Barracuda", "What About Love", "Never", and "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You", along with no. 1 hits "These Dreams" and "Alone".
Heart has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and has sold over 50million records worldwide, including approximately 22.5million albums in the United States. They have placed top-ten albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s. Heart was ranked number 57 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked number 49 on Ultimate Classic Rock's Top 100 Classic Rock Artists.
History
1967–1972: Early bands and formation
In 1965, bassist Steve Fossen formed The Army, along with Roger Fisher on guitar, Don Wilhelm on guitar, keyboards and lead vocals, and Ray Schaefer on drums. 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. In 1969, the band went through lineup changes and took on a new name, Hocus Pocus.The name White Heart came from a discussion Roger Fisher's brother Mike Fisher had with Michael Munro, who had come up with the name White Hart for a band with Toby Cyr on lead guitar. Fisher asked and received permission to use the name for the Army, added the "e", and the Army became White Heart. For a brief time in 1970, this lineup shortened its name to Heart. The band subsequently went through more personnel changes. In 1971, White Heart consisted of Steve Fossen, Roger Fisher, David Belzer, and Jeff Johnson. The band eventually stuck to the name Heart, which has been their name since 1973.
Mike Fisher was set to be drafted into the army. Nancy Wilson has stated that when he did not report for duty, his home was raided, he slipped out a rear window, escaped to Canada, and became a Vietnam War "draft dodger". One day in 1971 or 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" and Ann decided to follow Mike back to Canada. Steve Fossen finished his college education before he also decided to move to Canada in late 1972, and Roger followed in late 1972 or early 1973. With the addition of Ann, Brian Johnstone, and John Hannah, the band Heart was officially formed. Ann's sister Nancy Wilson joined in 1974, and soon after became romantically involved with Roger.
1975–1976: Commercial breakthrough
The group played numerous shows around their new home in Vancouver, and they 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. Flicker produced the band's first five albums. This team recorded the debut album, Dreamboat Annie, at Can-Base Studios in Vancouver, later known as Mushroom Studios. Mike Derosier eventually joined Heart as full-time drummer. Some of the same Canadian investors who had backed the studio also backed a separate company called Mushroom Records, which was managed by Shelly Siegel.The album was picked up by Siegel and sold 30,000 copies in Canada within the first few months of its release in September 1975. Sales were assisted by the band opening a Rod Stewart concert at the Montreal Forum in October, a gig they were offered a day before the concert when the previously scheduled opening act canceled. The radio success of "Magic Man" led concert organizers to offer the spot to Heart. The band flew from the West Coast of Canada to Montreal overnight for the performance. Siegel soon released the album in the US. Helped by two hit singles in 1976, it reached number seven in the Billboard 200. It eventually sold over one million copies.
1977–1979: Mainstream success and band split
In 1977, Mushroom Records ran a full-page advertisement showing the bare-shouldered Wilson sisters with the suggestive caption, "It was only our first time!" In a July 1977 Rolling Stone cover story, the sisters cited this advertisement as a key reason for their decision to leave Mushroom Records. Heart broke its contract with Mushroom and signed a contract with CBS subsidiary Portrait Records, resulting in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel. Mushroom released the partly completed Magazine in early 1977, just before Portrait released Little Queen. Each company attempted to prevent the other from releasing any Heart music. A Seattle court forced Mushroom Records to recall the album so that Heart could remix tracks and add new vocals, and the album was re-released in 1978. It peaked at number 17 in the US, generating the single "Heartless", which reached number 24 in the charts. The album eventually achieved platinum status.File:Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher - Heart - 1978.jpg|thumb|Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher onstage, 1978
Little Queen became Heart's second million-seller and featured the hit "Barracuda". The song's lyrics were written by an infuriated Ann Wilson in her hotel room after a reporter had suggested that the sisters were lesbian lovers.
In late 1978, the double-platinum Dog & Butterfly peaked at 17 on the Billboard 200 and produced hits with its title song and "Straight On". In 1979, the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended—Roger Fisher was voted out of the band by the other members, and his brother Mike left the group’s orbit within a month.
1980–1984: Commercial decline
Heart released Bebe le Strange in 1980. It became the band's third top-10 album, peaking at number five, and yielded the top-40 hit "Even It Up". The band embarked on a 77-city tour to promote the album. By the end of the year, the band scored its highest-charted single at the time, a version of the ballad "Tell It Like It Is", which peaked at number eight. In November 1980, the double album Greatest Hits/Live was released and reached number twelve on the US chart, eventually achieving double-platinum status. The two-disc set featured studio versions of most of Heart's singles to date, plus a few new studio tracks and six live tracks, among which were versions of "Unchained Melody", Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and the Beatles' "I'm Down".Heart was the first band of the day to appear at the sold-out concert headlined by Queen at Elland Road on May 29, 1982. Their next album, Private Audition, provided the minor hit "This Man Is Mine" and was the first not produced by Mike Flicker. Initially, the band turned to Jimmy Iovine, one of the leading producers of the time, who suggested that the material lacked potential hits, and eventually, the Wilson sisters produced the album themselves. The track "Perfect Stranger" foreshadowed the power ballads that would dominate the band's mid-1980s sound.
At the end of recording, Derosier and Fossen were fired from the band. They were replaced by Denny Carmassi on drums and Mark Andes on bass for Passionworks, while at the record company's insistence, the band turned to established producer Keith Olsen. Both Private Audition and Passionworks had relatively poor sales, failing to reach gold status. Despite the albums' sales, the single "How Can I Refuse" was a success, reaching number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.
1985–1990: Comeback
The band moved to Capitol Records, and their first album for the label was simply titled Heart. The move to Capitol coincided with a glam metal makeover that included minimizing the acoustic and folk sounds characteristic of their early work. The album reached number one, sold five million copies, and launched four top-10 hits: "What About Love", "Never", the chart-topping "These Dreams" and "Nothin' at All". A fifth single, "If Looks Could Kill", also charted, giving the band five hit singles from the same album for the first time.Heart's next album, Bad Animals, continued the move away from the band's folk and acoustic leanings towards a glossier arena rock sound. The lead single, the power ballad "Alone", became Heart's most successful song, spending three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while also hitting number 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Alone" placed as the number 2 song for the year on the Hot 100. It also peaked at number 1 in Canada and number 3 in the UK, made the top 10 in Australia and several countries in northern Europe, and the top 20 in Germany. It is often considered to be Heart's greatest pop song.
The other two singles were the up-tempo rocker "Who Will You Run To", which reached number 7 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and "There's the Girl", with Nancy singing lead, which reached number 12 and 16 on the same charts respectively. They were not as successful in other markets aside from "Who Will You Run To" making the top 20 in Canada and "There's the Girl" peaking in the top 15 in Poland. Bad Animals was a top 3 hit in the US and Canada, being certified 3× and 4× platinum in those countries, respectively. The album also became Heart's first top 10 album on the UK Albums Chart.
The success of UK top-40 singles "Alone", "Who Will You Run To", "There's the Girl" and the Bad Animals album sparked renewed UK interest in the 1985 self-titled album, resulting in the re-release of several singles. When originally released in 1985, the singles "What About Love" and "Never" did not chart, while "These Dreams" and "Nothin' at All" only charted at 68 and 76 respectively. However, in 1988 after the success of Bad Animals a re-released double A-side single of "Never"/"These Dreams" hit number 8, "What About Love" hit number 14, and the re-release of "Nothin' at All" cracked the UK top 40 at number 38. This success in the UK would continue with future albums and help Heart become a major concert attraction in the United Kingdom.
In 1990, Brigade became the band's sixth multi-platinum LP and added three more top-25 Billboard Hot 100 hits. "Stranded" reached number 13 and "I Didn't Want to Need You" peaked at number 23. The lead single, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You", reached number two, and created controversy over whether the song encouraged women to endanger themselves by picking up hitchhikers. Two other album cuts, "Wild Child" and "Tall, Dark Handsome Stranger", were Billboard Mainstream Rock chart hits. Brigade was the band's highest-charting album in the UK, reaching number three.