Quote Of The Day By Ann Wilson: '... We Didn't Really Take Into Account ...'

Though Ann and Nancy Wilson are the heart of Heart, Ann is the voice. It only took one listen for music producer Mike Flicker at one of Heart's early club gigs to know that he was onto something special. Heart had been on the club circuit for some time by then, before their 1975 debut, "Dreamboat Annie," but they still had to keep at it from there.

With 29 Billboard Hot 100 songs, two No. 1s, four Grammy nominations, some 26 million records sold, nearly 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, and a hit song that proves 1977 was the decade's best year for women in rock, the sisters of Heart have nothing to prove anymore. This wasn't always the case, though. Back in the '70s, as Ann told Yahoo Entertainment in 2017, "You could either be a folk singer or you could be a disco diva, or you could be a secretary or maybe a disc jockey, but there was no room for anything alternative yet." The "alternative" in question was, of course, being a woman in rock.

Nonetheless, with grit, hard work, and natural talent, Heart made it. Nancy had a harder time than Ann proving herself in the music industry, even to Flicker, and remained a criminally underrated guitarist of the '80s no matter her guitar chops. But the two sisters stuck together and got the success they strove for, and that's why Ann Wilson gets our quote of the day.

"Nancy and I just got together and had a vision of playing music and we didn't really take into account the fact that we were women."

Ann Wilson said this to The Aquarian in 2017, and her message comes into full relief with what she immediately added. "At the beginning, we just wanted to do it. I think that's the thing that I would say to people now ... they will have to sacrifice a lot and they will have to be super focused and understand that they may get some slack. But if they work hard and if they're good, they can do it. No reason why not," Wilson explained. 

After a first wave of success in the '70s, Heart hit a creative roadblock when the '70s rolled into the '80s, culminating in 1990's "I All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You," which the Wilsons didn't write and Ann despised for transforming its female protagonist into a sexual predator. It took until 1993 — 18 years after their debut — for Ann and Nancy to write their own music again, with "Desire Walks On." From there, Heart's reputation, authenticity, and dare we say heart, won out. The band could have easily died in the interim, but Ann and Nancy's resolve never wavered, which is a lesson we could all learn from.

There's a lot of depth to unpack in Ann Wilson's quote. Nowadays, rather than half a century ago when Ann and Nancy debuted, it can come across as a bit condescending to applaud "women rockers," as though anyone but the prejudicially minded would disbelieve such a thing is possible. On the other hand, figures like Ann and Nancy Wilson have no doubt been aspirational and inspirational for other young women. 

Speaking of inspiration, Ann told the Professor of Rock that her lightbulb moment regarding her life and career came from seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964, like many other people. Growing up, she looked to people like Neil Young, Elton John, and Jimmy Page (Heart would eventually do a spectacular "Stairway to Heaven" cover in 2012 at the Kennedy Center Honors, legendary guitar solo a la Jimmy Page and all). That these role models tended to be male was a non-issue for Ann, which is where the final part of Ann's statement comes into play: "But if they [people who want to do something] work hard and if they're good, they can do it. No reason why not."

Ann and Nancy did exactly that. They simply looked inside, knew themselves, and followed their goals heedless of externalities, stereotypes, judgments, etc. Few things are more admirable, especially in an early 21st century characterized by an absolute obsession with appearance and public opinion. Ann's no-nonsense, no-fuss, no-excuses, clear-minded example is exactly what many people need to hear.  

• "Why do you have to go sulk off in some corner because you are a girl? What's the big deal?"

• "We didn't just want to be the girlfriends of the Beatles. We wanted to go out and be the Beatles."

• "We had always been a real band; Heart was never a construct."

• "When you become famous, people can have a powerful yet illusory idea of who you are. You want to live your life, but still, you don't want to let anyone down."

• "It ['80s MTV] was just so completely fake and phony, and that was the whole point of it ... It was stilettos, shiny stretchy pants, corsets, fake nails, fake hair, fake lashes, everything fake."

• "Rock evolved out of rebellion, so when you turn on the Billboard Awards or something like the Grammys and there's no rock on there, that's a good sign — because that means that rock is not welcome inside of a pop format."