Heart Kept Themselves Fed On Tour In The Early Days By Stealing Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Food

In the early career days of Heart, the band opened for Randy Bachman’s Bachman-Turner Overdrive who would now be doing the same at the Wilson sisters’ Royal Flush Tour this year. “We opened for them right off the bat, one of our first good gigs,” Ann recalled to Classic Rock.

The BTO group had no idea that they helped keep the upcoming band afloat at those times, particularly by providing them with food. After having spent nearly five decades headlining shows, Heart is set to go on their first tour since 2019, before the pandemic and “family drama” came between the group. However, they are finally back to working together again.

Ann Wilson of Heart recalls stealing food from Bachman-Turner Overdrive

While discussing their past with the outlet, Ann recalled going into BTO’s “dressing room after they had left and it was all OK to go in and pilfer stuff, food out of their dressing room.” She further confessed, “They had a Thanksgiving spread in there every night; they were living the high, those guys, and it impressed us so much ’cause we were just these little starving musicians. We would go in there and eat the turkeys and whatever else we found.”

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Interestingly, BTO never suspected anything at those times and will be joining Ann for their November gigs in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Calgary. Heart recently began their tour in Greenville, North Carolina, and will remain in the U.S. until June, when they will focus on Europe and get back in July. “We’re so excited to announce more tour dates,” their press release stated. “The exceptional talent of the band— Ryan, Ryan, Paul, Tony and Sean, brings a whole new level of energy to Heart’s live performance.”

Aside from BTO, Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening will be supporting, while Heart will be opening on three stadium dates with Def Leppard and Journey. “I am incredibly proud of the show that we have crafted and am looking forward to reconnecting with even more fans. We can’t wait to share our music with everyone and celebrate the big electric energy of a completely live on the spot rock show,” Nancy— who called Cheap Trick “some of the funniest people on the planet” gushed.

For Nancy, the Royal Flush tour is “the coolest possible outcome,” and is “worth every inch of pain you suffer and exhaustion you experience and all the drama that you have to navigate.”

“That’s the coolest possible result of the work that’s put in, which is a lot of work, thousands and thousands of hours of practice and miles,” the 70-year-old echoed. “The playing on stage is worth all of it. That it means so much to people is everything.”