When Heart first stormed the charts in the 1970s, two sisters from Seattle challenged the idea of what a rock band could look like. Decades later, Ann and Nancy Wilson are still defying expectations, but this time it is with chairs, scars, and stories instead of stage dives.
After years of ups and downs, including a painful family split in 2016 and a triumphant reunion, Heart returned to the road. Sadly, that momentum paused in 2024 when Ann revealed she had cancer. She quietly fought back, underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and beat it. Then, just as the 2025 Royal Flush tour was about to begin, Ann slipped on ice, fell, and shattered her elbow in three places.
The second show of An Evening With Heart was emotional and electrifying
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At the second show of the An Evening With Heart tour on June 1 in Virginia, Ann sat center stage with her arm in a sling and her voice, as always, in full control. She wore a red jacket and ankle boots that said, “I’m still here.” Despite the pain, she filled every song with emotion, starting with “Bébé le Strange” and “Little Queen,” songs that carried echoes of the sexism they faced early on.
Nancy, now 71, still brought energy and grace, with her pink-streaked hair and Flying V guitar. Her soft vocals were perfect on “These Dreams,” the band’s first No. 1 hit, and she offered a tender instrumental tribute to Eddie Van Halen, sharing the story behind it. Together, the Wilson sisters blended their contrasting voices beautifully on “Never and Straight On.”
Ann Wilson is in a chair due to an accident – not cancer – she clarifies
Nancy recently spoke about the tour in an interview, making it clear: Ann isn’t sitting because of cancer — she beat that. She’s sitting because she hurt herself, and staying seated helps her focus on singing without losing her balance. In her own podcast, Ann explained that the pain is still too much to ignore. “It’s not cancer. I just missed a step,” she said plainly.
Despite the setbacks, the sisters are thinking ahead. Nancy hopes Ann will be standing again by the next leg of the tour in summer 2025. But standing or not, the music keeps coming, and the message is unchanged. “We’ve always given people something tough and something tender,” Nancy said. “And we’re still doing that.” And when Ann said to the crowd at the show, “Through all the trials and tribulations, we’re back again,” she wasn’t just introducing a song. She was telling the truth.