Sisters of Rock: How Heart Defined a Legacy and Inspired Generations

It was December 2012, and Heart was on the road when they got the unexpected call. The offer? To perform as a surprise guest at the Kennedy Center to honor their rock and roll heroes, Led Zeppelin. No pressure, right? It would be a quick stopover—with giant ripple effects. “We didn’t have more than one rehearsal before the actual day when the show happened,” Heart’s vibrant lead guitarist, Nancy Wilson, tells American Songwriter. During that practice, the chill had set into her bones. Nancy remembers that it was “snow cold” in winter and that their sole rehearsal “didn’t go well for me because my hands were frozen.” The song the band was set to play was “Stairway to Heaven,” perhaps the most iconic rock song of all time for perhaps the most iconic rock band in history. What could go wrong?