Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has said she’s more embarrassed to be an American than she was around the time of the Vietnam War.
The Washington-born musician, 71, joined Heart with her sister, Ann, in one of the first major female-fronted hard rock bands in the early Seventies.
Together, they released hit songs including “Barracuda”, “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man”, receiving multiple Grammy nominations and selling millions of records around the world.
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wilson spoke about “Crazy on You”, written with her sister in response to the Vietnam War.
“We were kind of embarrassed at that time to call ourselves American because of the dirty politics of the Vietnam War,” she said, adding: “To be as subtle as possible, it’s more embarrassing now.”
She also quoted a now-infamous remark by US president Donald Trump as she addressed the continuing relevance of their song “Barracuda”, influenced by the misogyny she and her sister experienced during the Seventies.
The song about “a real sleazeball” was “even more relevant” now, she said, “in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-p***y” mentality”.
Trump made headlines in 2016 after a leaked 1995 recording exposed his lewd comments about women during an Access Hollywood interview.
The then-future president of the United States was caught bragging about his attempts to have sex with a married woman who had rejected him, while insisting he had the right to do “whatever he wanted” because he was a “star”.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
Sign up
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
Sign up
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful… I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” he said. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the p****. You can do anything.”
His second term in the White House began with a series of attacks on women’s and LGBT+ rights that have continued since his inauguration in January.
“I think for women in the culture the pendulum will come back again, and there’ll be another renaissance in the arts to push back against the oppression of the cranky old rich white guys,” Wilson said.
“I hope I am alive to see that next revolution.”
