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 (guitar) and Steve Fossen (bass guitar), including The Army (1967–1969), Hocus Pocus (1969–1970), and White Heart (1970–1973). By 1975, the original members Fisher, Fossen, and Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute), along with Nancy Wilson (rhythm guitar, vocals), Michael Derosier (drums), and Howard Leese (guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) formed the lineup for the band's initial mid- to late-1970s success period.^[1] These core members were included in the band's 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[2]

Heart rose to fame with music influenced by hard rock and heavy metal^[3] 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 (bass) and Denny Carmassi (drums). 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.^[4] Heart's US Top 40 singles include "Magic Man" (1975), "Crazy on You" (1976), "Barracuda" (1977), "What About Love" (1985), "Never" (1985), and "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" (1990), along with no. 1 hits "These Dreams" (1986) and "Alone" (1987).^[5]

Heart has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and has sold over 50 million records worldwide, including approximately 22.5 million albums in the United States.^[6] They have placed top-ten albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s.^[6] 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.^[7]

History

1967–1972: Early bands and formation

In 1965,^[8] 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.^[9]^[10] 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 (Gary Ziegelman—former lead singer of Buffalo Clancy—on lead vocals, Fisher on guitar, Fossen on bass, James Cirrello on guitar, Ron Rudge on drums, and Ken Hansen on percussion) and took on a new name, Hocus Pocus.^[9]

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 (without the "e" – a reference to Arthur C. Clarke's Tales from the 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 (keys), and Jeff Johnson (drums).^[1] 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".^[11] One day in 1971 or 1972,^[12] Mike crossed the border to visit family, and by chance met Ann at a Hocus Pocus (or White Heart^[12]) show.^[13] According to Nancy, that meeting was "when she and Michael fell in love"^[11] 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,^[9]^[14] and Roger followed in late 1972 or early 1973. With the addition of Ann, Brian Johnstone (drums), and John Hannah (keyboards), the band Heart was officially formed. Ann's sister Nancy Wilson joined in 1974,^[15]^{[dubious – discuss]} 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.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19]^[20]

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.^[8]^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[22] Siegel soon released the album in the US. Helped by two hit singles in 1976 ("Crazy on You" and "Magic Man", which reached numbers 35 and nine, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100), it reached number seven in the Billboard 200.^[23] It eventually sold over one million copies.^[8]

1977–1979: Mainstream success and band split

Then-members of Heart in a promotional photo, 1977

In 1977, Mushroom Records ran a full-page advertisement showing the bare-shouldered Wilson sisters (as on the Dreamboat Annie album cover) with the suggestive caption, "It was only our first time!"^[18] In a July 1977 Rolling Stone cover story, the sisters cited this advertisement as a key reason for their decision to leave Mushroom Records.^[24] Heart broke its contract with Mushroom and signed a contract with CBS subsidiary Portrait Records, resulting in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel.^[8] Mushroom released the partly completed Magazine in early 1977, just before Portrait released Little Queen.^[8] Each company attempted to prevent the other from releasing any Heart music.^[25] 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.^[15] It peaked at number 17 in the US, generating the single "Heartless", which reached number 24 in the charts.^[26] The album eventually achieved platinum status.^[27]

Little Queen became Heart's second million-seller^[8] and featured the hit "Barracuda" (number 11).^[28] 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.^[25]

In late 1978, the double-platinum Dog & Butterfly peaked at 17 on the Billboard 200 and produced hits with its title song (number 34) and "Straight On" (number 15). In 1979, the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended—Roger Fisher was voted out of the band by the other members,^[8] and his brother Mike left the group’s orbit within a month.^[15]

Heart - Stairway to Heaven