Heart (band)

Heart is a rock band which started in Seattle in the 1960s. It became famous with the release of "Dreamboat Annie" in 1976 when the band-members were living in Vancouver.
Heart was started by Steve Fossen and brothers Roger and Mike Fisher in Seattle. Ann Wilson joined the band in Seattle in 1970. Nancy Wilson joined the band in 1974. From then, Ann and Nancy wrote almost all of the band's songs. From 1976, the band was very successful, and sold many millions of records.
Ann Wilson was the lead singer and sometimes played the flute. Roger Fisher played the lead guitar and sang. Steve Fossen played the bass guitar. Nancy Wilson played lots of different types of guitar and sang. Mike Fisher managed the band and also looked after the sound and the lights. In 1975 some extra people joined the band. Michael DeRosier played the drums. Howard Leese played lots of different instruments and stayed with the band until 1998.
The Fisher brothers left the band in 1979. Steve Fossen and Michael DeRosier left the band in 1982. Denny Carmassi played the drums, Mark Andes played the bass guitar, and Nancy Wilson played the lead guitar. The band did not do much in the 1990s, but Ann & Nancy started doing things again in the early 2000s. Since then, the band has made lots of appearances in public and on TV.
Barracuda
Their best known song is called Barracuda. It was written in 1977 by Ann and Nancy Wilson, Michael DeRosier, Sue Ennis (a friend of Ann and Nancy) and Roger Fisher. Some of the places it has been and used are:
2000 - the American TV series "Friends"
2000 - the American movie "Charlie's Angels"
2002 - the American TV series "King of the Hill"
2004 - the American TV series "The Sopranos"
2004 - the American TV series "Reno 911!"
2004 - the computer game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas"
2005 - the live album A Radical Recital by the group "Rasputina"
2007 - the American movie "Shrek the Third" (The song is sung by "Fergie" from the "Black Eyed Peas")
2007 - the video game "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock"
2008 - during a TV commercial for the Honda "Odyssey" car
Records
The band's first album went on sale in 1976. It was given the name "Dreamboat Annie". A lot of people liked the album and more than one million (1,000,000) copies of it were sold. The album had the ballads "How Deep It Goes" and "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your song." In addition it had the songs "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You". After lots of people had bought copies of the "Dreamboat Annie" album, Heart changed to a new record company.
Their second album in 1977 was given the name "Little Queen". It had the hard rock song "Barracuda". "Barracuda" and "Dreamboat Annie" are Heart's best known early songs.
A third album was called "Magazine". It was given to the shops by the old record company before "Little Queen" was made. Heart did not like this, and wanted all copies of "Magazine" to be destroyed. They took the old record company to court. The judge ordered that the old record company must stop selling the album. The judge also ordered that Heart must make a new album for the old record company. This new album was also called "Magazine". It was given to the shops after "Little Queen" was made.
In 1978, the band released "Dog & Butterfly". It was very different in musical style from the first three albums. Sue Ennis was a friend of Ann and Nancy Wilson. She helped write a lot of the songs on "Dog & Butterfly". Two of the songs were named "Straight On" and "Dog & Butterfly". Heart did not sell as many copies of this album. The next two or three albums were not very good. Roger Fisher and Steve Fossen left the band.
In 1985 the band had new people in it, and had a new record company. They made an album called "Heart", and it sold lots of copies. The sort of music that Heart played was different. In the 1970s, the music was hard rock. In the 1980s the music was Top 40 pop. Some of the songs were "How Can I Refuse", "What About Love", "Alone", "Never", "These Dreams" and "All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You".
In the 1990s, as well as performing and touring as Heart, the Wilson sisters started another band with Sue Ennis. They called this band "The LoveMongers". The also set up a recording studio in Seattle which they called "Bad Animals". Bad Animals is also the name of an album they made in 1987
In 1999, Nancy made a solo album called "Live at McCabes Guitar Shop". In 2007, Ann made a solo album called "Hope & Glory".
Roger Fisher also continues to perform, and has recorded and released several albums of his own.