Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson reunited Heart on stage in 2019 for the first time since 2016. As a warmup of sorts to their highly successful “Love Alive” tour, which began four months later on July 9, the sisters shared the stage on March 7, at New York’s Beacon Theatre for the third annual all-star fundraiser, Love Rocks NYC.
The Wilson sisters performed “Crazy on You” and “These Dreams.” (Watch them perform, below.)
The musical lineup also included Robert Plant (“Black Dog” and others), ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons (“Foxy Lady” and others), blues legend Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Sheryl Crow (“All I Wanna Do” and others), Jimmie Vaughan and more, spanning rock, pop, blues and soul.
The lineup was led by musical director Will Lee (The CBS Orchestra), and also included: Hozier (“Take Me to Church”), Grace Potter, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal, Lukas Nelson, Doyle Bramhall II, Bernie Williams, Ivan Neville, Marcus King, Larkin Poe, Alice Smith, Mike Flanigin and more.
Ann Wilson and friend during rehearsals…
Look who I found…. #LoveRocksNYC pic.twitter.com/yJi6vX7i10
— Ann Wilson (@AnnWilson) March 7, 2019
The event also drew actors Bill Murray, Martin Short and Kevin Bacon.
Watch Bill Murray introduce Ann and Nancy Wilson, who first perform “These Dreams”
Watch the Wilson sisters play “Crazy on You”
The onstage reunion was believed to be the Wilsons’ first public performance since Oct. 22, 2016.
Watch Murray as he stalls the audience as only he can
The stellar house band included Paul Shaffer (The CBS Orchestra), Steve Gadd (James Taylor, Eric Clapton), Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live), Eric Krasno (Soulive, Phil Lesh & Friends), Larry Campbell (Levon Helm, Bob Dylan) and Jeff Young (Jackson Browne).
Watch Robert Plant sing Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” while backed by the house band
Related: When the Wilson sisters moved Led Zeppelin to tears
Ann and Nancy Wilson and others joined Plant for a cover of Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”
The concert benefits God’s Love We Deliver, which prepares and delivers 35,000 nutritious, high-quality meals each week to people who, because of illness, are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves.
Watch Buddy Guy perform “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues”
ZZ Top celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2019. Billy F. Gibbons took time out to perform several songs at the benefit concert including “Foxey Lady.”
Check out the evening’s complete setlist here.
Watch Sheryl Crow and Lukas Nelson perform “Midnight Rider” with the house band
The evening’s all-star finale was a cover of Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright.”
Thanks to sgibson818 for many of the great videos.
Nancy Wilson was born March 16, 1954. Sister Ann was born June 19, 1950. In our extensive interview with Nancy in 2021, she told Best Classic Bands that she anticipated that the sisters would tour as Heart again in 2022. “That will be a really fun thing to look forward to! Ann and I are both up for it,” she said at the time. It took a while but they’ve announced their “Royal Flush Tour” for 2024. Tickets are available here and here.
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
