Nancy Wilson of Heart | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
2/11/20261 hr 37 min
In this candid conversation with Billy Corgan, legendary Heart co-founder Nancy Wilson reflects on a nomadic childhood shaped by military life, seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and falling in love with the guitar. She revisits the Vancouver club grind, the rare alchemy of sibling harmony, and earning credibility in a male-dominated rock world. Nancy also looks back on the 80s era of big hair, outside songwriters, and creative compromise, before turning personal around Ann—her once-in-a-generation gift, what it demands, and the isolation that comes when identity is inseparable from the stage. It’s a sharp, unsentimental look at wh...
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First 90 secondsNancy Wilson· Guest0:00
Nobody knows where they're going at the beginning of their life like that.
Billy Corgan· Host0:03
Yeah.
Nancy Wilson· Guest0:04
I feel s- like, way too lucky.
Billy Corgan· Host0:06
You were really accepted by a, a rock audience wholeheartedly.
Nancy Wilson· Guest0:12
When the sisters sing together, there's this thing that happens.
Billy Corgan· Host0:15
Yeah. There's something- You know? ... magical about when siblings can put their voices together. It's a- It is, really ... it's a, it's a God-given kind of spookiness.
Nancy Wilson· Guest0:22
It's, it is kinda spooky.
Billy Corgan· Host0:23
[laughs] Yeah. It's, it's like- [laughs] That's right ... beauty, charisma- Yeah ... sass, fire- Yeah ... a, a voice. And not just a voice- Yeah ... a voice that means something to people.
Nancy Wilson· Guest0:34
It sounds great on the radio. [laughs] And you just wanna roll down your window, you know, and chew gum or something.
Billy Corgan· Host0:42
Nancy, thank you for being here.
Nancy Wilson· Guest0:46
I'm happy to be here.
Billy Corgan· Host0:47
[laughs] Um, it's such a big story, so I'm gonna start in a very obvious spot. [laughs] [laughs] I'll try to avoid all the obvious, but it, it, it seems such a watershed moment when The Beatles start appearing at Ed Sullivan, how many musicians they inspired to, to say, "I, I wanna do that."
Nancy Wilson· Guest1:05
Completely. That- And you and your sister kinda had that moment ... that was their, the same lightning bolt that hit the planet, you know, w- hit us as well- Yeah ... as musicians.
Billy Corgan· Host1:16
Yeah.
Nancy Wilson· Guest1:17
And we, we were like, we became The Zombies for guitars, you know?
Billy Corgan· Host1:22
Yeah. Were you already playing, or did, did, was, was that- We're a musical family. Yeah.
Nancy Wilson· Guest1:26
Yeah, so kind of the Von Trapps in a lot of ways.