Heart's Ann Wilson on Sexism in Rock, Why #MeToo Is a 'Power Issue'
When Taylor Swift boldly educated an attorney about the location of her rear end in a Denver court room last August, Heart's Ann Wilson felt a twinge of compassion. After all, the last time a 27-year-old superstar took on sexism in the music industry was when the singer wrote "Barracuda" 40 years ago.
"I went through things like 'lizard,' 'snake' – but 'barracuda' just had a wickedness that I thought sounded good. It had rhythm. It just seemed more threatening, more despicable," Wilson recalls. The idea for the song was born backstage in 1977 after Heart finished opening for the Kinks in Detroit. A cloying record promoter burst into Ann's dressing room asking where her "lover" was, referencing a distressing full-page advertisement their record label planted in Rolling Stone that framed the future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–inducted sister duo as an incestuous gimmick.
"That pissed us off. It went against everything we were trying to initiate, trying to invent – and the fact that our first time in [Rolling Stone] had that lascivious implication," Wilson says. "For [this promoter] to imagine us together in an incestuous lesbian relationship – the sleaze factor really dawned on me in that moment. Those lyrics were written by my true nature, in true rage. I hope that that song will come in handy now when women are thinking about what they want to do and not do."
In a candid interview, Wilson sounded off on sexism in the music industry then and now, the "bubble of power" that protects predators, and why she turned to drugs and alcohol at the height of Heart's fame.
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https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/hearts-ann-wilson-on-sexism-in-rock-trump-taylor-swift-w512402
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Legends.
Saw them a couple years ago - yes, my ears rang for a few hours after!
