Heart singer Ann Wilson: ‘Success was a Faustian bargain we made’

Ann Wilson vividly remembers Heart’s big break. In October 1975, the fledgling group, then based in Vancouver, were offered their biggest show to date, opening for Rod Stewart at a Montreal arena. Heart happened to be available – in fact, they had just been fired from a Calgary club gig – and were eager to drum up support for their recently released debut LP, Dreamboat Annie. But when the band walked on to the stage, Wilson was taken aback to be greeted with a sea of lit matches held aloft by the audience. “I thought that it was some kind of mistake,” she says. “We started playing Magic Man