Ann Wilson
Ann Wilson in the early 1970s
Background information
Born	June 19, 1950 (1950-06-19) (age 59)
Genres	Rock, Hard rock, Pop rock, Folk rock
Instruments	Vocals, flute, guitar, bass
Years active	1970–present
Associated acts	Heart, The Lovemongers

Ann Dustin Wilson (born June 19, 1950 in San Diego, California) is the lead singer, flute player and occasional guitar player of Heart.

[edit] Biography

When she was a child, Wilson's family moved around because her father was a Marine Corps colonel. The family eventually settled in Bellevue, then a suburb, and now a city, east of Seattle, Washington. Shy because of a stutter, Wilson turned to music. In the early 1970s she joined a local band, White Heart, which changed its name to Hocus Pocus, and then in 1974, to Heart.

During the seventies, Ann was in a relationship with Michael Fisher, the manager of the band, while her younger sister Nancy was involved with lead guitarist Roger Fisher, Michael's younger brother. Both couples were in control of the band. In 1979, both relationships ended; Ann stated that Michael had fallen in love with another woman and they split. The song Magic Man was written about Michael and contains autobiographical lyrics about the beginning of their relationship.^[1]

Ann adopted her daughter Marie in 1991 and her son Dustin in 1998.

As a child, Ann was teased for her size. She revealed that in the seventies she would starve herself to stay thin. When Heart created a comeback in the mid-eighties, Ann had gained a significant amount of weight. Fearing it would hurt the band's popularity, record company executives and band members began pressuring her to lose weight. In music videos, camera angles and clothes were often used to hide her weight, and more focus was put on her sister Nancy. Ann stated she began suffering from panic attacks due to the stress caused by the negativity surrounding the issue.^[2] She underwent a weight-loss surgery called "adjustable gastric band" in January 2002^[3] after what she calls "a lifelong battle" with her weight.

[edit] Recording career

In 1974 Ann's younger sister Nancy joined Heart, and the band moved to Canada. Heart recorded their first album Dreamboat Annie in Vancouver in 1975; it was released in the United States in 1976. In 1977 Little Queen was released, and in 1978, Dog & Butterfly. Ann also sang the duet "Almost Paradise" with Mike Reno in the movie Footloose, and also had a hit with "Surrender To Me" in 1988, a duet with Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander, which reached number six in the U.S.

In 1992 Ann appeared on Alice in Chains' EP "Sap"; she did vocals for "Brother", "Am I Inside" and "Love Song".

Ann and Nancy started a recording studio, Bad Animals, in Seattle in the mid-1990s. They formed a side band, The Lovemongers, which performed "Battle of Evermore" on the 1992 soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe (Nancy's husband) movie Singles, and later released a four-song EP. The Lovemongers' debut album Whirlygig was released in 1997.

[edit] Solo career

In 2006 Ann began recording her first solo album, Hope & Glory, produced by Ben Mink, and released by the Rounder (Zoe) Music Group on September 11, 2007. Hope & Glory features guest appearances from Elton John, k.d. lang, Alison Krauss, Gretchen Wilson, Shawn Colvin, Rufus Wainwright, Wynonna Judd and Deana Carter. Ann's sister, Nancy, also contributed.

The Hope & Glory version of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" is available on Ann's official MySpace page, and charted as "the #9 most podcasted song of 2007" on the PMC Top10's annual countdown. Ann's powerful, piercing voice led many to refer to her as "the female Robert Plant", (Led Zeppelin's lead vocalist).^[4]

In June 2007 she sang with the group Sed Nove and Ian Gillan in the Festival of Music in Paris.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Heart
• Official Ann Wilson MySpace page
• Ann Wilson at the Internet Movie Database