LEGACY
RECORDINGS RELEASING FANATIC,
THE
HARD-ROCK SUCCESSOR TO 2010's TOP 10 DEBUT RED
VELVET CAR,
ON
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2
"Kicking
and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll,"
The
Revelatory Memoir by Ann & Nancy Wilson On Sale Tuesday, September 18
June 27, 2012 (New York, NY) - With
Heart's Fanatic, a new studio album, and Kicking
and Dreaming, an insiders'
memoir, arriving this fall, 2012 is shaping up as a banner year for the iconic
American band who--beginning with hits like "Crazy on You,"
"Magic Man," and "Barracuda" in the mid-1970s running
through 2010's Red Velvet Car--have created an enduring catalog of
bona fide stadium rock classics and power ballads while establishing a lasting
template for women in rock.
Fanatic, Heart's 14th studio album, arrives
Tuesday, October 2. The group's second
full-length studio album for Legacy, Fanatic premieres 10 new essential performances from sisters Ann
Wilson and Nancy Wilson on songs including "Fanatic," "Dear Old
America," "Walkin' Good" (featuring Sarah McLachlan), "Skin
and Bones," "Million Miles," "Pennsylvania,"
"Mashallah," "Rock Deep (Vancouver)," "59
Crunch," and "Corduroy Road."
The first album
of new music from Ann and Nancy Wilson since 2010's Red
Velvet Car had its Top 10
debut in 2010, Fanatic was recorded in hotel rooms and studios up and down the
West Coast, with Grammy-winning producer Ben Mink back at the helm with the
Wilson sisters drawing from their own lives and personal experiences as
inspiration for their music. "Dear
Old America" comes from memories of a military household and is written
from the point of view of their father, a Marine Corps officer, returning from
war ("When I get home, I'm going to own this town/Shine this medal/Wear
that crown…."); "Rock Deep (Vancouver)" harkens back to the city
where Dreamboat Annie
was written; and "Walkin' Good" (a duet with Vancouver resident Sarah
McLachlan) captures the joy of finding new life in a new love.
The title song
is a celebration of the Wilson's life spirit: Ann and Nancy are fanatics about
love, art, truth, and the belief that they can do anything together they set
their minds to. Fans looking for a first
taste of Fanatic can check out the title track
on YouTube.
"What a
crazy year we are having," said Ann Wilson. "Our box set, Strange
Euphoria, and our book, Kicking
and Dreaming, each tell the
story of our lives so far, personally and musically. Our new album, Fanatic, tells our story as it is now and brings
it all up-to-the-minute. What a thrill to have worked with both Charles Cross
and Ben Mink respectively on these, and of course to touch the musical magic
Nancy and I have always shared together. Anybody want to RAWK??"
Released in 2010, Fanatic's predecessor, Red
Velvet Car (the first new
studio album in six years from the groundbreaking Seattle-based band) entered
the Billboard 200 best-selling album charts at #10, becoming the seventh Top 10
album of Heart's career. Heart's
critically-acclaimed first album for Legacy Recordings marked the return of
Heart to the Sony Music Entertainment family, reaching #1 in sales on
Amazon.com on Sunday, September 5.
On June 5, Epic Records/Legacy Recordings
released Strange Euphoria,
the first definitive career-spanning, multi-label boxed set retrospective
chronicling the seminal American rock band Heart, personally curated by Ann
Wilson and Nancy Wilson.
A carefully-considered anthology of
biggest hits and best-loved songs set alongside deep catalog treasures,
rarities, demos and live performances, Strange Euphoria includes three compact discs and one DVD
in a deluxe box.
Ann Wilson and her younger sister, Nancy
Wilson, first showed the world that women can rock when their band Heart
stormed the charts in the '70s with hits like "Crazy on You,"
"Magic Man," "Barracuda," "Straight On,"
"Even It Up," "Kick It Out" and many more. Not only
did the Wilson sisters lead the band, they wrote the songs and played the
instruments, making them the first women in rock to do so. Heart
continued topping the charts through the '80s and into the '90s with huge hits
like "These Dreams," "Alone," "Never," and a
string of other hits that showcased the sisters' enormous talents as both
musicians and singers. Along the way, Heart sold more than 35 million records,
had 21 top 40 hits, sold out arenas worldwide, and profoundly influenced the
sound and direction of American rock music while inspiring women (and guys
too!) around the world to rock out in bands of their own.
Heart were 2008 recipients of VH1 Rock
Honors, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northwest Grammy
Foundation, and received ASCAP's award for Excellence in Songwriting in
2009.
What's made Heart endure across four
decades and 14 studio albums, from Dreamboat Annie (1976) through 2012's Strange
Euphoria and Fanatic is simply the quality of the music and
the Wilsons' deep connection to the emotions, psyches and experiences of their
fans.
Heart will be touring throughout the
summer and fall (June 29-November 17). Alejandro Escovedo and Shawn
Colvin will be supporting in October and November respectively. Later
this year, Ann and Nancy Wilson will be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame (followed by a live concert webcast).
Tuesday, September 18 marks the
publication of the HarperCollins hardcover edition of Kicking
and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll, the avidly-awaited insider's memoir
penned by Ann & Nancy Wilson with noted Seattle-based author Charles R.
Cross ("Room Full of Mirrors - A Biography of Jimi Hendrix";
"Heavier Than Heaven" - a biography of Kurt Cobain).
Since finding their love of music and
performing as teenagers in Seattle, Washington, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson
have been an influential part of the rock music landscape. From 70s classics
like "Magic Man" and "Barracuda" to chart- topping 80s
ballads like "Alone" up to 2012's Fanatic, Heart continues as an ongoing force in
pop culture, inspiring women and men alike with the power and beauty of their
music.
Despite their massive success, Ann and
Nancy have always faced a different kind of scrutiny than their male
counterparts in hard-rock and metal band, and had to face questions that no
male rock star ever would be asked. Kicking and Dreaming allows Ann and Nancy to communicate as
directly with the reader as their songs do with fans. A first-hand chronicle of tumultuous inter-band
relationships, thirty years of roller-coaster fame and continual reinvention,
and, of course, the kind of excess that can comes from the surreal, and
hyper-real demands of life on the road, Kicking and Dreaming is an intimate, honest, and a uniquely female
take on rock and roll life.
For more information on the band Heart,
please visit their official website at
http://heart-music.com.
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