Nancy Wilson has looked back on the early days of Heart, admitting her band was “so jealous” of Fleetwood Mac.
During an appearance on the Broken Record podcast, Wilson recalled watching Fleetwood Mac’s monumental success in the ‘70s.
“They were happening right before us, kind of as Heart was just starting to tiptoe into the scene, and they already had Rumours out there,” the guitarist remembered. “We were just trying so hard to make an album and get out there and get a tour or whatever, and they were all over the radio.”
As Wilson explained, her envy wasn’t just about commercial success. She also believed Fleetwood Mac’s popularity could hinder Heart’s chances.
READ MORE: 25 Greatest Frontwomen in Rock History
“I felt so jealous of that band because there was two women in it that sounded so good together, and they had the acoustic guitar kind of thing that I felt like I was bringing a lot of into our band,” she noted. “They kind of had it already, you know, like something we were trying to capture. They had already captured it. So I was really like, ‘Damn it! What makes us so different now?’”
‘Lucky for Us, We Had Ann’
As history shows, Wilson’s fears were unnecessary. Heart forged its own path, and despite having two women, was rarely compared to Fleetwood Mac. The guitarist believes her sister, vocalist Ann Wilson, helped set them apart.
“We did sound very different,” Nancy noted. “A lot of it’s Ann’s voice, you know, very signature. The muscle and the power that she possesses and the way she sings is completely its own thing. So lucky for us, we had Ann.”
According to Nancy, Ann’s distinctive vocals allowed Heart to create a more varied sound.
“Not just soft rock. We had hard rock, so we could rock very hard and as quietly as well. So we probably had a lot more versatility or something.”
Heart Albums Ranked
This list of Heart Albums, Ranked Worst To Best, wasn’t an easy one to compile, because unlike many long-running groups, the band has never made a bad record.
Gallery Credit: Annie Zaleski
