HEART's ANN WILSON Reflects On Cancer Battle: 'I Never Once Felt Like I Was Falling Into A Black Hole'

In a new interview with Jesse Thorn, creator and host of the NPR show "Bullseye", which airs on more than 100 stations around the country, HEART singer Ann Wilson spoke about her 2024 cancer battle. At the time, the singer shared the news of her diagnosis in an Instagram post, telling fans that she "underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous." Wilson said two years ago that her doctors advised her to "undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy" and also advised her to take a break from performing. As a result, Ann and her sister, Nancy Wilson, postponed HEART's "Royal Flush" to allow Ann enough time to recover.

Asked by Thorn if she was worried, at the time of her diagnosis, that about not "just the regular cancer things" but also the possibility that she could "lose the physical gifts that allow" her to sing and move on stage and be the rock star that she had been for 50 years, Ann responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, of course. I really did worry about my physical self on stage more than I worried about it any other way, which is weird because I spent all my life doing this, so what I would care about the most would be, 'Oh, my God. Will I still be able to sing?' Yeah, I definitely worried about that. But through all that journey, I had this sort of unbreakable idea that, 'Okay, I'm gonna do what I need to do, and I'm gonna get to the other side of it, and hopefully everything will be all right. I think it will be.' So I had this optimism that now looking back on it, I think was probably a really strong tool in not getting all depressed."

She continued: "I know lots of people who get that cancer diagnosis and they go into deep despair, and they're scared they're gonna die, and they worry about, like, what chemo's gonna be like and radiation and all those things that they do. And sure, those things are really tough — they're really rough and they're hard on your body and it takes a long time to recover from them. The recovery from cancer is harder than the cancer, really, in life. But I don't know. I won't say it didn't touch me on a deep level, 'cause it did — it really did — but I never once felt like I was falling into a black hole."

Following surgery and chemotherapy, Wilson, who is turning 76 later this month, returned to the stage in 2025.

In September 2024, Ann shared the news that her chemotherapy treatments were complete, and she was ready to tour in the new year.

"Chemo is no joke," Wilson wrote in an Instagram post at the time." It takes a lot out of a person. And then that two weeks of waiting around for test results, a form of mental torture. Luckily, for me, when the results finally came, they were the good kind!"

Ann's authorized feature documentary, "In My Voice", premiered on May 11 in Wilson's former hometown, Seattle. Told in Ann's own words, "In My Voice" traces her extraordinary 75-year journey, from a nomadic childhood to the stages of the world's biggest arenas, and into a bold new creative chapter. Drawing from an extensive personal archive of home movies, photographs, journals, and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the deeply personal experiences that shaped Wilson's artistry and helped lay the foundation for the rise of HEART. The documentary also features commentary from family members, bandmates, fellow artists, and industry figures who witnessed her singular path.

"In My Voice" is directed by Barbara Hall, a Prime-Time Emmy-nominated producer and director known for her work on immersive music and cultural documentaries. With more than 25 years of experience developing and directing original programming, Hall has built a reputation for uncovering powerful human stories. She is a member of the Producers Guild Of America, the Guild Of Music Supervisors and the Documentary Producers Alliance, and was honored with the 2025 Women In Film/Nashville Alice Award Trailblazer Award.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest voices in the history of rock and roll, Ann is a true icon, known far and wide as lead singer and songwriter of the groundbreaking rock band HEART. Led by Wilson's extraordinary vocal power, HEART has thrilled audiences for five decades, earning sales of more than 35 million and well-deserved induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013. Indeed, as lead singer of the first female-fronted superstar hard rock band, Wilson blazed a trail for generations of women to come, while her songs — including "Barracuda", "Crazy On You", "Straight O" and "Magic Man", to name but a few — have become part of the very fabric of popular culture.

In December 2023, HEART played its first three concerts in more than four years — in Highland, California, at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California, and in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to HEART's December 27, 2023 show in Highland, the band's last performance took place in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years.

HEART's 2013 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame saw Ann and Nancy reunited with the four musicians who helped HEART achieve its initial success in the mid-1970s — guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, drummer Michael DeRosier and longtime guitarist-keyboardist Howard Leese.

The Wilson sisters' reunion with HEART's original lineup at the Rock Hall ceremony marked the first time the group played together in 34 years.

When Ann and Nancy formed HEART, the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1975's "Dreamboat Annie" was released, they became stars. With hits like "Magic Man", "Crazy On You", "Barracuda", "Alone", "What About Love" and "These Dreams", the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the '70s and '80s, selling more than 35 million records. In 2012, their memoir "Kicking & Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll" became a New York Times bestseller.