Ann Wilson Speaks Fiercely From The Heart

Months after the pandemic started, singer Ann Wilson felt the need to be inspired and energized. So she and her husband rented a tour bus and traveled from her Florida home (where she moved from Seattle in 2016) across the U.S. They visited several national parks before driving up to Seattle and down to Los Angeles — a route Wilson has known well over the course of her career as the frontwoman of Heart.

Wilson’s intense wanderlust most likely has its roots in the numerous moves she made with her parents when she was a child. Her father, affectionately nicknamed "Dotes" (as detailed in the Ann and Nancy Wilson autobiography Kicking And Dreaming, co-authored with Charles R. Cross), was a World War II veteran and officer in the Marines, which required numerous moves around the world. While growing up, the Wilson family lived on both the east and west coasts of the U.S., as well as in Taiwan. "There was one English speaking radio station out of the Philippines and that’s where I first heard Little Richard and Elvis and everything that was on the radio," she recalls of that time.

As it turned out, moving around during the pandemic was creatively fruitful for Wilson, who recently turned 72 years old. She recorded several singles in 2021 (including a blistering version of "Rooster" by Alice In Chains) and has followed this up with her just released third solo album Fierce Bliss, which includes original material and covers that include songs by Queen (recorded with Vince Gill), Eurythmics, Robin Trower and Jeff Buckley. 

Around the time she recorded Fierce Bliss, a studio session with Kenny Wayne Shepherd proved so successful that Wilson ended up collaborating with several Nashville studio musicians at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama, among them Tom Bukovac and Tony Lucido. The musicians — now known as "The Amazing Dawgs" — are currently on a national tour with Wilson that runs through September.

During a recent Zoom chat with GRAMMY.com, Wilson talked about a wide range of topics — from Fierce to maintaining her vocal range and her songwriting process, to some notable live appearances and reflections on musicians she’s met along the way. Wilson also discussed whether she and sister Nancy will reform Heart for their 50th anniversary in 2023.

**There’s so much to take in with Fierce Bliss. The single "Greed" is almost like an instant classic and then it’s surprising to see you cover both Queen and Eurythmics. What was your thinking behind some of these?**

Well, those four covers are songs that I just loved so much and spoke to me and I wasn't satisfied until I got inside them. I had to sing them. I had to meld with them, you know, and I was lucky enough to get [guitarist] Kenny Wayne Shepherd to come and play on "Bridge Of Sighs"  and "Missionary Man"  and Vince Gill to sing on "Love Of My Life." 

Was there a reason why you chose those songs to cover?

Yeah, the reason is that I just loved those songs so much and I  couldn't be satisfied until I got to sing them myself. The musicians I'm working with right now have great ideas and they're just great players and fiery and all that. So a song like the Jeff Buckley song "Forget Her" just blossomed into something that was mine, you know? And it was a great experience all around with those four.

It appears that you met the band in Nashville, jammed and just really hit it off. Then you went down to Muscle Shoals Studios.

We actually met in Muscle Shoals at Fame Studios. I had asked Tom Bukovac to be my main guitarist and he  brought with him [bassist] Tony Lucido. [Drummer] Sean Lane is from Seattle, and [guitar and keyboardist] Paul Moak is from Nashville, and we just gelled in this way that rarely happens during a first meeting. It was almost like magic.

How do you define that? When you say "gel" is it because the ideas are flowing and there’s a good feeling amongst all of you? What is it?

That's part of it. The other big part of it is, can you hang out? Is it a great hang? Do you have a sense of humor that meshes? Can you do some shots together and everybody can hang in and be cool and have fun? 

It was almost like meeting old friends. And the songs kept coming and now we’re writing for another album. So yeah, it’s working and we’ve got something really good going on.

Jennifer Hudson recorded at Muscle Shoals recently as well and also recognized the vibe. Did you feel a sense of recorded history there?

You do, you do. And it's a very unassuming place. It’s in the middle of this little kind of nowheresville town, so there's not a bunch of distractions and you just go in there and it's small, funky and vibey. It's just got this sort of welcoming, warm, relaxing, feel about it. It does have the magic that people talk about. There's just an energy there that just makes you wanna open up.  You don't feel inhibited and the ideas just start coming and everyone feels safe. 

The people who run the place are still very down to earth and real. It does give me fresh energy, especially to be out of a corporate type situation. You’re not always looking at yourself in the mirror because your attorney is going to show up or the manager. It’s just you and the musicians. 

**With Fierce Bliss, was there a lyrical theme?**

Well, during the quarantine lockdown period in ‘20 and ‘21,  there was enough peace and quiet around here in the house — just me and my husband. I got to the point where my thoughts got really super loud and I just started writing things down. So the lyrics that I wrote for this record are products of different things that had been inside me for a while. Like the song "Black Wing," I was looking out the window — I live on a river — and all the sea birds are out there free and we're locked in the house.

So I started talking to the birds and that became "Black Wing."  "Greed," I just thought about from checking out the national and world situation. It’s just everywhere. You know, it's just at this high point that I've never seen before in my life. So I just thought, ‘Yeah, there’s a topic’ [Laughs] The words I wrote just all came from my own thoughts.

How is it going on tour now? We’re just leaving COVID and some places are still in it. What precautions do you have to take?

It’s not over, you know, it's just shifting, but to be out on the road, you have to be super careful and I'm guilty of not being careful. We were out on the road last time and I  got too relaxed and  did a meet and greet after a show without a mask. A couple of days later I tested positive.

I'm back — I'm negative now — and I'm feeling good. But just that one little momentary slip and there it was, you know? [Laughs] So we have to be super careful. We have all kinds of protocols. Everyone wears a mask when they’re out amongst the people and are vaccinated and boosted. That’s about the most you can do, really.

With regards to your vocals, how do you keep your voice in such good shape? 

There's no real easy answer to that. I just think that I’m  basically a healthy person and have never smoked or screamed or anything like that. I don't ever mistake  screaming for singing. They're smoking and making their voice do all kinds of really dramatic things and their voice won't be able to take it forever.  

My feeling really is that it's not so much about the skin of the throat. It's about the opening of the soul. If the soul is open, the rest seems to follow because of the mind body connection. I just drink lots of water, try to get sleep, warm up properly before, and then that's it. What I like to do is choose a CD of someone I really like and sing along with before I go on stage. That's a good 40 minutes to warm up right there. Last time out it was Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels On A Gravel Road record. I’ve been known to do Emmylou Harris and U2 – just various things that depend on whatever mood I’m in at the time.

Going back in your career, there’s a reported story that you and Nancy attended the GRAMMYs (Heart was nominated for four GRAMMY Awards, beginning in 1986), but were scared to be there. What happened?

We were, yeah. And it was for the silliest of girly reasons. It was because that particular show you got up from your seat and you had to climb this flight of steps up to the stage if you won the award. And we didn't want people looking at our butts when we climbed the stairs. But of course, if we would've won, we would've been just fine with it. But we were sitting there going, "Oh my God, does this dress make me look fat?" You know, wow [laughs]. And, we didn’t win, so no worries. But, uh…

Are those types of awards and honors important to you?

Oh, to me, they're flattering. It feels good to be recognized and acknowledged for sure, but it would never be the reason why I'd be doing this. The reason that I do this is for the joy of music.

How do you perceive yourself as an artist?

Well, I perceive myself as never being that comfortable with any kind of formula. The minute somebody says, "You should be doing this,"  that's the minute I start to rebel . So I'm probably never going to be very pliable in people's hands when it comes to creativity. 

But there's something in me that just wants to write and wants to do it. That’s an unnameable thing. It’s kind of like a calling. When I have a good period of writing, when everything seems to be clicking, that is just the most satisfying thing for me. And I don't have any concept of what retirement would be like. I just don't. I think that  my great-grandchildren will probably have to come and drag me off stage.

In your autobiography, there are many well known artists who you have encountered. Some are real historical figures in the musical realm. Do you reflect on your time with Queen, The Rolling Stones and others, or is it just another day?

No, it's never another day. I mean, sometimes I look back on some of those experiences and can’t believe that they really happened. Because at the time that you meet someone like Mick Jagger or Bono it’s always a surprise at how human they are. It’s just like you’re talking to another fellow musician. So, at the time I never really got starstruck, but then later I would go "Wow, that was Bono!" [Laughs]

Your vocal performance of  “Stairway To Heaven” in front of members of Led Zeppelin (at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016) now has 80 million views on YouTube. What were your memories of that day and what pressure did you feel?

That was a dream day. You wake up and go to a breakfast and then they take you to the White House where you meet the President and First Lady and, and it's like a cocktail hour type thing. You see all kinds of luminaries just hanging about in the White House. Then, you go back to the Kennedy Center and you do your set or your song. And then you go to a big dinner afterward with all the luminaries again,. It's a day where you don't have time to sit and freak out. It's one thing after another, all timed and planned for you. So you just let yourself be a sack of potatoes and get carried through this day.

When your moment comes on the stage, I felt that it was extremely important for me not to get nervous, but to be completely serene while singing that song. At that point I was learning entry level meditation techniques. So I made myself calm before I went on and just did it.  Later I got nervous after it was over like, Wow, did we just do that? From where we were on the stage, we could not see the Led Zeppelin guys up in the boxes or the President that well. So I didn't know that they had an emotional reaction to it until I saw it on YouTube later, like everyone else.

I thought it was very sweet and our mission that day was to please and honor them. And I think that we did please them. So mission accomplished, you know!

You’ve always done many Led Zeppelin covers but your love of the Beatles has been made clear over the years. Are they neck and neck for you?

Yeah, I guess that the difference would be, I feel really uncomfortable ever doing Beatles covers. You know, this is holy stuff. But I think Led Zeppelin is different. I mean, I think that it's holy — especially "Stairway To Heaven" is just a piece of cultural iconography at this point — but  their songs begged to be covered.

You’ve been asked about being a woman in the music industry many times, so let’s not go down that path. But do you feel that what you’re able to do with music is better today, or do you prefer the expansiveness and how rough it was when you were first starting out?

It's not binary for me.I think that  a lot of the ways we used to do things are good and have carried over into the future and the present. For instance, analog recording where you're all in the same room, looking at each other's eyes is something that I think is timeless. 

Social media is the best outreach you can get at a time when touring is difficult. There's Spotify and all that kind of stuff, but there's no big voice over the land that does your advertising for you. You have to do it yourself. So, that's something that I really prefer. But I think it's also very dangerous because of how it can spread bulls*** and people believe it because they read it, you know?

Do you watch any artists today and think they could use some mentoring? After all, you dealt with so many artists in Seattle, particularly during the city's grunge era. Did you ever pull them aside and say ‘You don’t want to go down this path’?

No. I don't think anybody would have dared say that kind of stuff to them because they had a full head of steam on all those guys. They  wanted to say, "F— you" to everything. 

But what I did do, was at that point in Seattle, I had a house that was centrally located on Capitol Hill, which is where most everything was going on. I opened it up to them many times and there were lots of nights where Soundgarden and Mudhoney and Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains would come and hang out and just intermingle with each other. And guitars would come out and people would go swimming in the pool and sit around on my carpets and drink beer (laughs). 

That was a good thing for them because it was a safe house and  lots of people — quite a few people — from that era didn't make it out alive. So there was a lot of tragedy. The loss of [Alice In Chains lead singer] Layne Staley, for instance, and just the different ones. So there was a lot of grief that went on as a group, as a music community and that’s where we got close.

It sounds like you really love these creative communities where people let the music ideas flow.

Yeah. I think that where the magic happens is when people get together and exchange ideas and bounce off each other.

You’re so prolific right now. You’ve mentioned the possibility of another album already. Do you see this carrying on?

Yeah, I do see it carrying on.  I never make predictions about success. I gave that up a long time ago, trying to predict what song's gonna be the next hit single or whatever. That is just unknowable to me. But what I can do now with these ideas I have is just get 'em down and go in with this group of excellent musicians. I have the “Amazing Dawgs” and shape 'em and what we have is really energized, fiery and sharp. I think it’s working for us right now. It’s real.

Obviously, you have a big anniversary coming up. Do you have plans for that?

Yes we do. I’m not at liberty to say exactly what they are yet because it’s such early days, but sure. It will be next year. And we’re doing a thing. Definitely. We’re still formulating it now.