ASCAP Founders Award

The ASCAP Founders Award is given to Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, whose passionate songwriting and indomitable spirit continue to inspire generations

The recipients of the 2009 ASCAP Founders Award are Ann and Nancy Wilson, who have helmed the legendary Pacific Coast band, Heart, for over three decades. During that time, they have sold more than 30 million records, launched a slew of albums and singles into the Top Ten, and kicked down the barriers that once held back women in Rock & Roll. Contemporary with the 1970s breakthroughs of Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie was the success of the Wilson Sisters of Heart, as they established themselves as songwriters, instrumentalists and bandleaders. As musical catalysts with enduring worldwide popularity and a long list of instantly recognizable hits like "Magic Man," "Barracuda," "Crazy on You," "Dog and Butterfly," "Even It Up," and "Dreamboat Annie," Ann and Nancy Wilson are most deserving of the ASCAP Founders Award.

The band that eventually became known as Heart had its origins in the late 1960s Seattle-area rock scene. Ann joined the group in 1970 when it was called Hocus Pocus. Her younger sister, Nancy, quit her college studies in 1974 to become a member of Heart, which had relocated north of the border in Western Canada. The group's demos attracted the attention of the Canadian Mushroom label and with the release of Heart's debut, Dreamboat Annie in 1976, the group was on the map – with modest numbers at first and then, on the basis of the huge singles "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You," the band exploded. As Rolling Stone predicted about the first Heart album, it would "point the way to still more acceptance of women rock singers in a field still very dominated by men." The Wilsons and company built their own very solid American structure on a Led Zeppelin template and their bold and fresh sound and look were taken enthusiastically to... heart.

After their first success, Heart moved to the American major label, Portrait, and issued Little Queen, another rock solid smash album that contains the pounding "Barracuda," written in reaction to smarmy behavior by the owner of the band's first label. Other highlights of Heart's second straight platinum album include the title track, "Kick It Out" and several sweet acoustic ballads that show off the Wilsons' folk roots. The 70s continued as a highly successful period for Heart with another million-seller, Dog and Butterfly (1978), their first album written in collaboration with songwriter Sue Ennis. The next decade was kicked off by the Top Five success of Bebe Le Strange (1980) and a Top Ten single via Heart's unique and soaring update of the Aaron Neville hit, " Tell It Like It Is." A label move to Capitol Records coincided with the biggest selling album of the band's career, Heart (1985), a set that boasts four Top Ten singles: "What About Love," "If Looks Could Kill," "Never" and "These Dreams." With MTV-friendly looks and a radio-ready sound, Heart was at its commercial peak in the latter half of the 1980s. Bad Animals (1987) and Brigade (1990) continued the group's chart-topping ways, pairing them with top outside songwriters like Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Tom Kelly & Billy Steinberg for some of their hugest hits, including Heart's biggest career single, "Alone."

The 1990s found the band continuing to record, but there were also acoustic side projects like the Wilson Sisters-led Lovemongers and Nancy Wilson's own Live at McCabe's. In addition, Nancy found herself scoring hit films like Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown and Vanilla Sky. In addition, both sisters took time off to start families of their own. The 21st Century has seen the Wilson Sisters and Heart come roaring back with the acclaimed Jupiter's Darling (2003), a set that finds the band relying on their own expert songwriting and a more organic musical approach. In 2007, Ann Wilson emerged with her first-ever solo album, Hope & Glory, a star-studded (Elton John, Wynonna, Alison Krauss, Rufus Wainwright and more) and socially-conscious collection of song covers, ending with Ann's own moving, "Little Problems, Little Lies."

As the ASCAP Founders Award is presented to the influential and prodigiously talented Ann and Nancy Wilson, it is clear that Heart remains a vital force in American music.