Ann Wilson Says ‘Emotional Hardship’ Doomed Original Heart Lineup

Ann
Wilson
has
looked
back
on
the
demise
of

Heart’s
original
lineup,
noting
the
group
was
doomed
by
“emotional
hardship.”

“It’s
hard
to
describe
what
it
was
like
when
that
lineup
disbanded,”
Wilson
explained
during
an
appearance
on
the

Broken
Record
podcast.
“We
couldn’t
get
along
anymore
and
things
got
really
difficult
between
us.”

Though
the
band
had
cycled
through
several
musicians
in
its
early
years,
they
settled
on
a
lineup
in
1973
around
the
same
time
they
adopted
the
name
Heart.
In
addition
to
Ann
Wilson
and
her
sister,

Nancy,
the
band
featured
guitarist
Roger
Fisher,
bassist
Steve
Fossen,
drummer
Michael
Derosier
and
keyboardist
Howard
Leese.
Heart
achieved
multi-platinum
success
in
the
‘70s
with
their
first
four
albums,
but
things
within
the
band
began
falling
apart.

“It
seemed
like
the
thing
that
made
Heart
unusual,
which
was
men
and
women
working
together
as
equals,
was
breaking
down.
And
that
very
thing
was
the
thing
that
was
driving
us
apart
from
each
other,”
Wilson
recalled.
“We
would
just
squabble,
right
down
gender
lines.
It
would
just
be
really
difficult,
the
men
gossiping
about
the
girls
and
the
girls
gossiping
about
the
men.”

READ
MORE:

Why
Heart’s
Biggest
Hit ‘Never
Felt
Like
a
Heart
Song’

The
singer
also
noted
jealousy
as
a
factor, acknowledging
that
the
overwhelming
attention
that
was
heaped
on
the
Wilson
sisters
“really
hurt
the
men’s
feelings
and
made
them
angry.”
There
was
also
the
matter
of
extracurricular
activities
on
the
road.

“It
didn’t
help
that
Nancy
and
I
never
looked
that
fondly
on
the
whole
world
of
groupies,”
Ann
confessed.
“Having
to
explain
to
the
band
wives,
‘No,
nothing
goes
on
out
there,’
you
know,
lie
to
them
all
the
time,
it
just
got
to
be
weird.”

Heart
Has
Endured
Many
Lineup
Changes

Heart
underwent
a
major
lineup
change
in
1979
and
again
in
1982.
With
the
exception
of
the
Wilson
sisters,
the
band’s
personnel
has
routinely been
in
flux
ever
since.

“I
always
go
into
every
new
iteration
of
the
band
totally
optimistic,
because
the
world
is
full
of
good
people
and
just
because
you
play
out
your
relationship
with
some
people
doesn’t
mean
you
don’t
have
one
with
others,”
Wilson
explained,
noting
that
Heart
has
been
“really
fortunate
to
play
with
some
great
musicians
over
the
years.”

Still,
no
lineup
change
has
been
as
difficult
as
the
first
one.

READ
MORE:

25
Greatest
Frontwomen
in
Rock
History

“We
never
again
encountered
the
same
kind
of
emotional
hardship
we
did
with
that
first
lineup,”
the
singer
admitted.
“I
think
it
was
because
we
all
started
out,
we
were
poor
and
destitute,
and
then
we
had
all
the
success
and
there
was
all
this
money
that
came
in,
and
money
changes
everything
and
everybody
gets
kind
of
different.”

On
a
positive
note,
Heart’s
original
members
are
on
good
terms
now,
decades
after
their
breakup. Not
only
did
the
musicians
reunite
for
Heart’s 2013
induction
into
the

Rock
&
Roll
Hall
of
Fame,
but Wilson
confirmed
that
her
former
bandmates “all
showed
up”
at the
group’s
concert
in
Seattle
at
the
start
of
2024.