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Heart is a hard-rock group that has been able to rise and fall in every decade since the 1960s with an ever-changing cast of characters that play the same, well-known brand of rock music.
The band formed in British Columbia in 1963 when bassist Steve Fossen and brothers Roger and Mike Fisher formed a group called Army. They soon changed their name to White Heart, and then simply Heart at the beginning of the 1970s.
The true darling of the group, however, was singer Ann Wilson. Wilson and her sister, Nancy, hailed from Seattle. Both had an interest in folk and pop music, although Nancy originally began performing as an independent folk singer.
Ann began dating guitarist Roger, and when Nancy joined the group in 1974, she too began dating a bandmember, forming a romantic relationship with Mike. As the romances budded, the band was approached by Canadian label Mushroom, for whom they released their debut album, called Dreamboat Annie, in 1975.
Their debut sold several thousand copies in Canada before it hit the United States, where it quickly hit platinum status with hits like "Crazy On You" and "Magic Man."
In 1977, the band moved over to the CBS label, Portrait, although Mushroom released 1978's Magazine. The band issued its true follow-up, Little Queen, on Portrait that same year.
Shortly after 1978's Dog and Butterfly came out, all band romances began to die, and Roger left the band. But Heart continued to make music, and released Bebe Le Strange in 1980, followed by an extensive national tour.
Two more albums came out in quick succession, (1982's Private Audition and 1983's Passionwerks,) but neither were received well by critics or fans, and the group moved to Capitol Records.
In 1985, to everyone's surprise, Heart emerged with a self-titled effort which ultimately sold more than five million copies and landed the group four Top 10 hits, including the chart-topping "These Dreams," and "Never." The band continued to deliver and released 1987's Bad Animals to similar success.
In the early 1990s, the Wilson sisters set out on their own and formed an acoustic quartet called the Lovemongers, which also included Sue Ennis and Frank Cox. But the sisters stayed active in Heart and returned for 1993's Desire Walks On and 1995's The Road Home.
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