HEART's ANN WILSON: 'The Music Industry Has Changed As To Be Unrecognizable'

In a new interview with ABC News' Maggie Rulli, HEART's Nancy and Ann Wilson spoke about how they battled sexism during the 1970s and 1980s. Nancy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In the mid-'70s, when we released our first album, in '75, people were kind of jaw dropping. It was, like, 'What?' That doesn't really compute 'cause it's not supposed to really exist at the time. So we were a little bit of an anomaly out there in the culture when we started."

Added Ann: "I don't think people knew what to think of us, because rock and roll was really the province of men; it always was. And they just waited around to see what we do, kind of. So it took several years for us to really catch on."

Continued Nancy: "Our joke was always, like, 'Well, if you give the monkeys some typewriters, eventually they'll type the Gettysburg address.' But we had the typewriters. We typed the address."

Regarding how the music business has evolved in the last five decades, Ann said: "Well, the music industry has changed as to be unrecognizable to what it was then. Music is now pigeonholed into a million little places where you can just check out only the kind of music you wanna hear. Whereas back in those other days, there was a radio station that played it all."

Nancy concurred, saying: "Terrestrial radio was really a connector, a connecting point for everybody, unanimously to kind of hear the same stuff and go to the same shows and hear about stuff on the radio. And now it's all on your phone and stuff."

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals),Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute),Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar),Ryan Waters (guitars),Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals),Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

Last December, 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 will return to the road for the first time in five years this spring on the "Royal Flush" tour. The trek, which will kick off April 20 in Greenville, South Carolina, will feature CHEAP TRICK as support on most of the North American leg, while SQUEEZE will open a handful of HEART's summer European dates. HEART will also join DEF LEPPARD and JOURNEY for summer stadium shows in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston and will make an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival on April 28.

Since HEART's formation in the early 1970s, the band has sold 35 million albums, including seven that made the Top 10, and notched 20 Top 40 singles. The band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.