NANCY WILSON Says HEART Performs '100% Live': 'There's No Pre-Record Going On'

In the latest edition of "Newsmaker", FOX 10 Phoenix's John Hook caught up with Nancy Wilson of HEART. She talked about the band's current tour, her musical impact and the legacy of HEART. Asked if she still feels the buzz, the thrill, the excitement, even nerves when she goes out on that stage, Nancy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, absolutely, I do. If I did not feel nervous, I always want to check the pulse, or if I don't feel nervous, I feel like, 'Oh, no…' I'm scared to not feel nervous because it's an important exchange that you have that's a live experience, 100% live, on a big rock stage that only happens one time. There's no pre-record going on, so it's edgy and it's happening once only that particular night… We're 100% skin in the game… [And] if you're not a little bit nervous, you're phoning it in, and it's not authentic."

She continued: "We're passionate and we're kind of put on the earth to do what we do. We're musicians since we were really young kids. Even before we had any kind of sexual identity attached to anything, we were like already good as young kids. So, we just thought, 'Why not? We're just gonna barge right in and be proficient and do the 10,000 hours of homework.' And somehow, 50 years later, it actually pretty obviously worked."

After Hook noted that HEART's songs have stood the test of time, Nancy said: "Oh, well, you just hit it on the head. Since we started going back out in 2024, and now we're out until 2026, it's really a great… The most exciting and rewarding part of it is to see the little kids that are showing up and their parents and college-age kids are coming to the HEART shows. A lot of people just started hearing us in the '80s; they didn't even know about the mid-to-late-'70s version of this band. So it's a multi-generational experience. And the band HEART being called HEART, it lives up to its namesake because we have a lot of heart with what we do, and we bring the family together for these rock shows. And that, to me, is the most important thing that could happen with something you put into the world that, it translates, it echoes forward into new generations and all of the rest."

The 2025 leg of HEART tour saw Nancy's sister, HEART singer Ann Wilson, performing while seated in a wheelchair.

HEART's "Royal Flush" tour kicked off on February 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The trek made stops in cities including Milwaukee, Montreal, Toronto, Boston and more before wrapping April 16 in New York City.

This past March, the 75-year-old Ann explained on an episode of her "After Dinner Thinks" podcast why she has been performing in a wheelchair: "I think some people thought that I was in a wheelchair because of cancer, which I just kicked its ass and I'm nice and clear now. It's not about cancer. It's about me being a klutz and missing a step and falling into a parking lot and busting my elbow in three places and then having to have it pinned back together with screws and all that kind of stuff."

Ann added that she doesn't "have the use of my left arm right now," which has proven difficult as she tries to sing while one of her arms is "in a sling. You don't have the same balance," she explained. "So, I had to get used to that. And singing on stage, I really think that the pain level is still way too high for me to take it out of the sling. So I chose to sit because then I can just concentrate on singing and not on keeping my balance and having somebody out there catching me when I reel to the side."

Earlier in March, HEART announced the "An Evening With Heart" spring/summer 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which saw the band performing two separate sets each night, kicked off May 31 at the Hard Rock in Atlantic City and concluded on June 28 in Hollywood, Florida.

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).

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.