Heart's lead singer, Ann Wilson, to perform at Brown County Music Center

Singer-songwriter Ann Wilson of the rock band Heart seems to have agreed on the right title for her newest (2022) album, "Fierce Bliss." Wilson, fierce rock singer and bringer of vocal and songwriting bliss, comes to the Brown County Music Center July 30.

Wilson appears to have lost nothing to decades of touring. She's one of those women whom singing-kids everywhere aspired — and aspire — to emulate. (See her YouTube interview and duet with fellow star Kelly Clarkson, an American singer, songwriter, author and popular TV personality.)

Heart has sold more than 35 million records

Heart has sold more than 35 million records globally, had 29 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and had Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. The female-fronted band was formed in 1973 in Seattle by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.

Ann Wilson is one of greatest heavy metal vocalists

Ann Wilson grabbed the No. 78 spot in Hit Parader's 2006 roster of "Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time." Ten years ago she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Heart member.

She still wears lots of black — both clothes and signature long hair — and once dreamed of designing fashion. In fact, she attended art college. But performance-fame crowded in, and now she hires a clothing designer in Seattle.

Wilson quickly admitted she has had help: her very involved husband of nine years (Dean Wetter), two kids, dogs, an au pair and a house-sitter, many of whom have accompanied her on the road. Wilson adopted her two children, daughter and son, in the 1990s.

"My husband does everything on the tours," Wilson said over the phone. This includes figuring out logistics, offering a different viewpoint, critiquing stage designs and "protecting me."

She dances, too

Rock music requires resounding physicality, and Wilson values those days she can sleep till 10:30 a.m. The variety of dance classes she has taken energizes her stage work. Her voice sparkled with enthusiasm when she mentioned Afrobics, a dance genre that uses African instruments such as drums for quick, inventive rhythms.

Another musician: Pianist and IU Jacobs School of Music professor André Watts dies at 77

When she was 12, she contracted mononucleosis and had to stay home. "My grandmother gave me money to buy a guitar, to keep me occupied. There was a huge movement then of kids my age singing songs backed up with a guitar."

But Wilson, spurred by a desire for serious music, "didn't just stand in front of a mirror" to sing and play. By 18, she was determined to make a life out of music.

Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Grammys

Nancy Wilson, Ann's younger sister, plays guitar in Heart.

The sisters snagged the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Grammys. It's a Lifetime Achievement Award that celebrates performers who have had superior creative impact on the recording industry.

"We're sisters and music collaborators. We've had ups and downs," Ann Wilson said. In addition, she enjoys doing "my own solo thing."

No faking, thank you

What happens when a singer gets tired of doing a song?

"I will not go up there and be fake. I'll put it away for awhile."

Or, she'll change it, but not enough to make it unrecognizable. "Life is about change."

And what about a singer such as Ann Wilson, who belts out rock and roll night by night? "I sing from my core (body's center), never from my throat."

Ann Wilson's sturdy voice won hits for Heart in the 1970s. "Crazy on You," from Heart's first album (1976), and "Barracuda," the following year, got audiences roaring. Turns out "Barracuda" reflects rampant sexism in the music industry.

Heart lost some visibility in the mid-1980s but returned with biggies such as "What About Love" and "Nothin' at All."

It appears "nothin' at all" has kept Ann Wilson from succeeding in a male-driven industry, and in opening doors for women musicians worldwide.

Ann Wilson is somewhere out there right now, on her way to Brown County. From her album"Fierce Bliss" comes this:

"But don’t fool yourselfShe was heartache from the moment that you met herAnd his heart is frozen stillAs he tried to find the will to forget her somehowShe’s somewhere out there right now.” — "Forget Her"

If you go

WHAT: Ann Wilson of Heart

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. July 30

WHERE: Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Blvd., Nashville

TICKETS: Starting at $69. Tickets are selling quickly. To order tickets online, go to https://tinyurl.com/mv5f6fra.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Sing your "Heart" out with Ann Wilson at Brown County Music Center