Heart, the Band That Proved Women Could Rock Hard, Reunite for a World Tour and a New Song

Nancy and Ann Wilson of the classic rock band Heart perform in concert at the American Music Theater on Monday, March 24, 2014, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP)
Nancy and Ann Wilson of the classic rock band Heart perform in concert at the American Music Theater on Monday, March 24, 2014, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP)
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Heart, the Band That Proved Women Could Rock Hard, Reunite for a World Tour and a New Song

Nancy and Ann Wilson of the classic rock band Heart perform in concert at the American Music Theater on Monday, March 24, 2014, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP)
Nancy and Ann Wilson of the classic rock band Heart perform in concert at the American Music Theater on Monday, March 24, 2014, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP)

Heart — the pioneering band that melds Nancy Wilson’s shredding guitar with her sister Ann’s powerhouse vocals — is hitting the road this spring and fall for a world tour that Nancy Wilson describes as “the full-on rocker size.”

“I’ve been strengthening. I’ve got my trainer,” she says. “You go one day at a time and you strengthen one workout session at a time. It’s a lot of work, but it’s the only job I know how to do.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers who gave us classic tracks like “Magic Man,” “Crazy on You” and “Alone” will be playing all the hits, some tracks from of their solo albums — like Ann Wilson's “Miss One and Only” and Nancy Wilson's “Love Mistake” — and a new song called “Roll the Dice.”

“I like to say we have really good problems because the problem we have is to choose between a bunch of different, really cool songs that people love already,” says Nancy Wilson.

Like “Barracuda,” a sonic burst which first appeared on the band’s second album, “Little Queen” and is one of the band’s most memorable songs.

“You can’t mess with ‘Barracuda.’ It’s just the way it is. It is great. You get on the horse and you ride. It’s a galloping steed of a ride to go on. And for everybody, including the band."

The tour kicks off Saturday at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, and will hit cities including Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. International dates include stops in London, Oslo, Berlin, Stockholm, Montreal and Glasgow.

The band's Royal Flush Tour will have Cheap Trick as the opening act for many stops, but Def Leppard and Journey will join for three stadium dates in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston this summer.

Ann and Nancy Wilson will be filled out by Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar), Ryan Waters (guitars), Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals), Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean T. Lane (drums).

The tour is the first in several years for Heart, which was rocked by a body blow in 2016 when Ann Wilson’s husband was arrested for assaulting Nancy’s 16-year-old twin sons. Nancy Wilson says that's all in the past.

“We can take any kind of turbulence, me and Ann, and we’ve always been OK together,” she says. “We’re still steering the ship and happy to do it together. So we’re tight.”

The new tour will take them to Canada, which was warm to the band when they were starting out as what Nancy Wilson calls “a couple of chicks from Seattle.” She recalls Vancouver embracing Heart, and touring in one van across Canada in the dead of winter on two lane highways.

The Wilson sisters broke rock's glass ceiling in the '70s and Nancy Wilson says they only had male influences to look to, like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Moody Blues.

Now she says she looks out and loves seeing generations of female rockers. “You have boygenius and you have Billie Eilish and you have Olivia Rodrigo and so many amazing women — Maggie Rogers and Sheryl Crow, who calls us her big influence. And then Billie Eilish might have Sheryl Crow as her influence. So it’s a really nice legacy to pass along. I like to say we’re the OG — the original gangsters — of women and rock.”

Heart has made it into the Rock Hall, won Grammys, sold millions of albums and rocked hundreds of thousands of fans but Nancy Wilson has one place she'd still like to shine.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of their debut album, “Dreamboat Annie,” which was the same year that “Saturday Night Live” started. “So we’re actually kind of putting it out there — Heart never played on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ But what about the 50th birthday party with Heart?”



Kim Kardashian Will Testify at Paris Jewellery Theft Trial, Says Lawyer 

Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Kim Kardashian Will Testify at Paris Jewellery Theft Trial, Says Lawyer 

Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Kim Kardashian attends the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

US reality television star Kim Kardashian is to testify in person at an upcoming French trial over an armed robbery of her jewellery in Paris in 2016, her US lawyer Michael Rhodes said Monday.

A French court is from April 28 to try six people over the gem heist in October 2016 that saw masked men walk away from Kardashian's luxurious Paris apartment with millions of dollars worth of jewels, including a diamond ring gifted by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West.

The trial is to run until May 23, and Kardashian is to appear on May 13, according to a provisional schedule.

In what has been called the biggest French holdup targeting an individual in 20 years, Kardashian was robbed of jewellery worth an estimated six million euros ($6.8 million at current rates) while she was staying at a luxury residence during Paris fashion week.

Among the suspects arrested four months later in Paris and in the south of France is Aomar Ait Khedache, known as "Old Omar", who is thought to be the ringleader of the gang.

Two investigating magistrates ordered the suspects to stand trial by jury -- which in France is reserved for the most serious crimes -- on charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and membership of a criminal gang.

In the night of October 2-3, 2016, several men, some impersonating police officers, entered the hotel where Kardashian, who was then 36, was staying.

Two of the intruders put guns to her head, and one, Kardashian later told detectives, addressed her "with a very strong French accent" in English, telling her to hand over a ring she was wearing.

They then tied her up, gagged her and carried her into the bathroom.

Three men meanwhile kept watch at the reception, and one was waiting at the wheel of a getaway car.

In addition to the ring, which featured an 18.88-carat near-flawless diamond, the group made off with several more pieces of gold and diamond jewellery.

One of the alleged robbers, Yunice Abbas, fleeing the scene on a bicycle, dropped a diamond-encrusted cross worth 30,000 euros, which was found by a passer-by a few hours later.

The thieves lost a few more items while on the run, but the bulk of the bounty has never been found and is believed to have been sold in Belgium.