With the new documentary on the life and times of Ann Wilson set to land on streaming services later this month, the Heart vocalist has explained why her sister, guitarist Nancy Wilson, doesn’t feature.
In My Voice premiered in the rock band’s hometown of Seattle back in May, and will now launch for home viewing via Amazon Prime and Apple (iTunes & Apple TV) on November 25. The film features many notable music figures spanning generations, with interviews with the likes of Paul Stanley, Chapelle Roan, and David Letterman bandleader, Paul Shaffer, interspersed between Ann Wilson’s own contributions.
There being nothing from Nancy Wilson in the documentary has raised eyebrows, but now her reasoning has been revealed in an interview with Classic Rock.
“I asked her to come and speak, but she wanted to wait for her own documentary,” Ann Wilson explains. “She’s got her own life, you know? She didn’t want to forever be known as the two of us joined at the hip.”
It’s an understandable reasoning, with the Wilson sisters clearly set on identifying themselves as individuals, rather than two halves of a double act. Yet, Nancy wasn’t part of Heart at first. She had to audition for the gig – and wowed her future bandmates with a Yes cover.
Her older sister had co-founded the band a year earlier, and was intended to be their acoustic guitar player, before she recognized her sister’s skills were far superior.
Wilson has also been talking to Guitar World about how Heart survived the excesses of the 1980s to redefine their sound, and sell more records than ever before.
In other Heart news, the band’s US tour last year was blighted by the theft of the Nancy’s cherished baritone Tele. The custom-made six-string and a vintage Gibson mandolin were swiped from the stage at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, where they were due to begin their tour.
Thankfully, the Tele was eventually recovered, with the perpetrator reprimanded, and the guitar got its belated live debut alongside Chapelle Roan. Together, they ripped through a Heart classic.
