How often does a music group’s comeback eclipse
its initial success? Probably not often, but it happened
with the hard rock band Heart, which first found the
charts in the mid-1970s before rocketing to the top
in the following decade.
After spending some time in college, Nancy Wilson and
her sister, Ann, decided to parlay their interest in
music into professional careers. While Nancy began a
career as a folk singer, Ann joined Heart, then an all-male
vocal group based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Nancy
joined the group in 1974, and the band recorded its
debut album, 1975’s “Dreamboat Annie,”
on the Canadian label Mushroom.
The album sold 30,000 copies in Canada before Mushroom
issued it in the U.S. The singles “Magic Man”
and “Crazy on You” propelled the album to
platinum status in the United States. In 1977, Heart
moved to Portrait Records and released “Little
Queen.” The album spawned the hit “Barracuda”
and went platinum.
Eight years and four albums later, Heart was in a slump,
having gone through some internal turmoil and personnel
changes. But the group moved to Capitol Records and
released a hugely successful self-titled album in 1985.
The work sold five million copies and included four
Top Ten hits, including the number one “These
Dreams.”
“Bad Animals” came out in 1987 and continued
Heart’s comeback with hit tracks like the number
one “Alone.” “Brigade” was released
in 1990 and contained the number two hit “All
I Want to Do Is Make Love to You,” along with
a pair of Top 25 singles. The band had reached the pinnacle
of its career, and Heart concert tickets were in demand.
After a brief hiatus, Heart released two more albums,
then went on another break. But the band stayed in the
public eye with a couple of best-of albums and soundtrack
contributions.
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