Nancy Wilson (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
Nancy Lamoureux Wilson (born March 16, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter
, guitarist
and producer
who, with her older sister Ann
and lead guitarist Roger Fisher
, became the core of the Seattle/Vancouver
rock
band Heart
.
, and she and her sister, Ann, grew up in Southern California
and Taiwan
before their Marine Corps
father retired to the Seattle suburb
of Bellevue
. Nancy finished high school, then attended Pacific University
in Oregon and Cornish College of the Arts
in Seattle where she majored in art and German literature. She then played solo gigs until 1974 when she quit college and moved to Canada to join her sister in Heart. She and Heart guitarist Roger Fisher
, brother of Ann's boyfriend/Heart's manager Mike Fisher, lived together for some time.
While Ann is the lead singer on the majority of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on notable tracks like "Treat Me Well
", "These Dreams
", "Stranded", "There's the Girl
" and "Will You Be There (In the Morning)
" and frequently performs background and harmony vocals. Nancy is the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999 Nancy Wilson released the solo live album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop. Wilson also has gone on to release an instrumental album called "Baby Guitars;" an EP to help babies fall asleep.
Nancy married U.S. film director
and former Rolling Stone
writer, Cameron Crowe
, on July 27, 1986, and they have twin sons, William James Crowe and Curtis Wilson Crowe, born January 23, 2000. Wilson filed for divorce from Crowe on September 23, 2010, citing "irreconcilable differences." The divorce filing stated that the former couple had separated on June 15, 2008. The divorce was finalized on December 8, 2010.
Nancy has played a role in composing music for most of Crowe's films including Jerry Maguire
, Almost Famous
, Vanilla Sky
, and Elizabethtown
. She also had cameos
in Crowe's The Wild Life
(1984) as David's wife and Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(1982) credited as "Beautiful Girl in Corvette". In 1989 Wilson contributed to the Say Anything... soundtrack with "All for Love".
In 2000, Nancy was featured in an instructional guitar video for Star Licks Productions
.
Nancy and Ann both took part in 2010's We Are the World 25 for Haiti
, as well as Pandora's "Moms Who Rock," sponsored by Febreze.
In 2011 Nancy recorded a version of Heart's early hit, "Dreamboat Annie
", with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin
for Isbin's album Guitar Passions.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
who, with her older sister Ann
Ann Wilson
Ann Dustin Wilson is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, flute player, songwriter, and occasional guitar player of the rock band Heart.-Personal life:...
and lead guitarist Roger Fisher
Roger Fisher (guitarist)
Roger Fisher is a guitarist primarily known as one of the founding members of the band Heart. His tenure lasted from 1967 until 1980.-Career:...
, became the core of the Seattle/Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
.
Life and career
Wilson was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and she and her sister, Ann, grew up in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
before their Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
father retired to the Seattle suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Bellevue
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
. Nancy finished high school, then attended Pacific University
Pacific University
Pacific University is a private university located in Oregon, United States. The first campus began more than 160 years ago and is located about 38 km west of Portland in Forest Grove...
in Oregon and Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts
-Library:The library at Cornish College specializes in art, dance, design, music, performance production, and theatre. As of 2011 it holds 4700 CDs, 40,000 books, has 2,200 videos, and subscribes to 154 periodicals...
in Seattle where she majored in art and German literature. She then played solo gigs until 1974 when she quit college and moved to Canada to join her sister in Heart. She and Heart guitarist Roger Fisher
Roger Fisher (guitarist)
Roger Fisher is a guitarist primarily known as one of the founding members of the band Heart. His tenure lasted from 1967 until 1980.-Career:...
, brother of Ann's boyfriend/Heart's manager Mike Fisher, lived together for some time.
While Ann is the lead singer on the majority of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on notable tracks like "Treat Me Well
Little Queen
Little Queen is the second album released by Heart. It was released in May 1977 on Portrait Records, and re-released in 2004 with two bonus tracks....
", "These Dreams
These Dreams
"These Dreams" is a song by the rock band Heart released in 1986 from their 1985 self-titled album. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.-Origin of the song:...
", "Stranded", "There's the Girl
There's the Girl
"There's the Girl" is a song recorded by the American rock band, Heart. It was composed by Holly Knight and Heart band member Nancy Wilson. "There's The Girl" was released in a remixed version as the third single from Heart's ninth studio album, Bad Animals...
" and "Will You Be There (In the Morning)
Will You Be There (In the Morning)
"Will You Be There " is a song first recorded by American rock band Heart. It was released as the first single from the band's eleventh studio album Desire Walks On and was the only Top 40 single from the album....
" and frequently performs background and harmony vocals. Nancy is the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999 Nancy Wilson released the solo live album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop. Wilson also has gone on to release an instrumental album called "Baby Guitars;" an EP to help babies fall asleep.
Nancy married U.S. film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and former Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer, Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
, on July 27, 1986, and they have twin sons, William James Crowe and Curtis Wilson Crowe, born January 23, 2000. Wilson filed for divorce from Crowe on September 23, 2010, citing "irreconcilable differences." The divorce filing stated that the former couple had separated on June 15, 2008. The divorce was finalized on December 8, 2010.
Nancy has played a role in composing music for most of Crowe's films including Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. It was written, co-produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe...
, Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
, Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil...
, and Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown (film)
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Alec Baldwin has a small role as a CEO of an athletic shoe company and Susan Sarandon appears as a grieving widow...
. She also had cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in Crowe's The Wild Life
The Wild Life (film)
The Wild Life is a 1984 comedy-drama film, written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Art Linson.The movie was an indirect sequel to the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The film is only available on VHS and Laserdisc in pan and scan with stereo analog tracks. No DVD version has been released due...
(1984) as David's wife and Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
(1982) credited as "Beautiful Girl in Corvette". In 1989 Wilson contributed to the Say Anything... soundtrack with "All for Love".
In 2000, Nancy was featured in an instructional guitar video for Star Licks Productions
Star Licks Productions
Star Licks Productions was an instructional music publishing company conceived by Mark Freed and co-founded by Andrew Cross and Robert Decker...
.
Nancy and Ann both took part in 2010's We Are the World 25 for Haiti
We Are the World 25 for Haiti
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the 1985 hit song "We Are the World", which was written by American musicians Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa to benefit famine relief in...
, as well as Pandora's "Moms Who Rock," sponsored by Febreze.
In 2011 Nancy recorded a version of Heart's early hit, "Dreamboat Annie
Dreamboat Annie (song)
"Dreamboat Annie" is a song written and recorded by the rock band Heart. It is the title track from their debut album Dreamboat Annie and was released as its third single in 1976...
", with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin
Sharon Isbin
Sharon Isbin is a widely-recorded American classical guitarist, recording artist, concertizer, and the founder of the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School.-Early life and education:...
for Isbin's album Guitar Passions.
External links
- Heart website
- More pictures of Nancy, Ann, Heart and the Lovemongers can be found at :Category:Images of Heart (band)
- Nancy Wilson interview in The Believer magazine