Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has been honored with NAMM Music For Life Award at the 2019 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in Anaheim, CA.
Presented by NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond, the award honors pioneering artists who, through their careers and artistic expression, have inspired others to pursue a more musical world.
“She is a guitar pioneer, a songwriting pioneer, a legendary singer, a film composer, a Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee,” says Lamond, “and has done so much to advance the cause of music-making. And for those reasons and many more, we are honored to recognize her today.”
“As a kid, when the Beatles happened,” explains Nancy of her and sister Ann’s original musical inspiration, “it was a lightning bolt that struck us and we were driven to have guitars, to write songs, to be in a band and get up on stage and to just turn it up. We had the work ethic of go get ’em and to not take no. We just went and did it.”
Wilson also fondly remembered her childhood local music shop.
“There was a little music store I could walk to called Band Stand East near Seattle,” recalls the rocker, “it was a mom and pop. They had really good guitars and I got to hang around and play them.”
Among the past recipients of NAMM Music For Life Award are business leaders, public officials, and musicians including Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Yoko Ono, Henry Mancini, Smokey Robertson, Robbie Robertson and, in 2018, Bob Weir.
Nancy and Ann Wilson have gone on to sell 35 million records over the course of their career, with Heart inducted into Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.
This week, the Seattle outfit released “Heart: Live In Atlantic City”, which captures a 2006 performance where they were joined with a number of special guests including Alice In Chains, Duff McKagan, Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction and more.
See also:
VIDEO: Heart rocks Crazy On You with Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro
VIDEO: Ann Wilson of Heart streams Chris Cornell tribute
VIDEO: Heart rocks 1980 classic with Dave Navarro on Atlantic City live package
Heart: Ann Wilson releases You Don’t Own Me video
Search Heart at hennemusic
