Nancy Ann Wilson Heart - P 2012
Getty ImagesHeart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, those pioneers in the female-fueled arena of hard rock, are getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The sisters from the Pacific Northwest will be immortalized during a ceremony Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 6752 Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Musicians Institute, a music school.
“This location is a coveted spot for many rock ’n’ rollers, and these ladies will join the likes of Journey and Motley Crue, who also have stars on that property,” said Ana Martinez, who produces the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
With Nancy, 58, playing guitar and Ann, 62, handling vocals, Heart has sold more than 35 million albums, with the sisters writing many on their songs. The band broke out in 1976 with hit singles “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man,” the latter making the pop Top 10. Both were from Heart’s first album, Dreamboat Annie, which crested at No. 7 and spent 100 weeks on the Billboard chart. They followed with a string of songs that became classic rock staples including “Barracuda,” “Heartless,” “Even It Up and “Straight On.”
The band roared back onto the pop charts with its eponymous 1985 album, which topped the Billboard 200. It spawned three Top 10 singles whose videos played in heavy rotation on MTV: “What About Love?” “Never” and Heart’s first No. 1, “These Dreams.” The album spent 92 weeks on the chart.
Its follow-up, 1987’s Bad Animals, reached No. 2 and contained a second chart-topping single in “Alone” and “Who Will You Run To,” which peaked at No. 7. Brigade (1990) became the band’s third consecutive multiplatinum album.
The Wilson sisters spent much of the next decade focusing on The Lovemongers, an acoustic side band whose output included the popular holiday song “Here Is Christmas,” before reforming Heart with a new lineup in 2002.
On their own, Ann sang the hit “Almost Paradise” — a duet with Loverboy’s Mike Reno — from Footloose (1984), “Best Man in the World” from The Golden Child (1986) and “Surrender to Me” from Tequila Sunrise (1988). Nancy composed and/or performed the scores to five films written and directed by her then-husband, Cameron Crowe: Say Anything … (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), Almost Famous (2000), Vanilla Sky (2001) and Elizabethtown (2005). Nancy also had a cameo in the 1982 stoner classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which was based on Crowe’s book.
Owners of four career Grammy nominations, Heart kicked off a tour of 50-plus cities June 29 and released Strange Euphoria, their first box set, on June 5. Their first book, Kicking & Dreaming, hits stores via HarperCollins on Sept. 18, and a new studio CD, Fanatic, arrives Oct. 2 from Sony Music.
Watch a live version of “Crazy on You” from 1976 below.
E-mail: Mike.Barnes@THR.com
Twitter: @mikebarnes4
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