Chappell Roan has been open about how difficult it’s been dealing with the fickle nature of the music business her sudden rise to fame, so having people in her corner who’ve ‘been there and done that’ could be exactly what she needs.
And one person she can rely on, it seems, is Heart’s Nancy Wilson, who recently confirmed that she spent time with Roan and the three members of Boygenius (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker) backstage at a Heart gig in LA.
"We hung out with those guys and really hit it off," Wilson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adding that she told the assembled company that she would be "your rock and roll auntie if you ever need any advice."
"Zeppelin was kind of our influence, and the Beatles and Elton John," adds Wilson. "There were not so many female artists. These girls have us and Sheryl Crow and others who influence them and encourage them."
Roan has already confirmed that she’s a Heart fan. Performing at last year’s Austin City Limits festival, she covered the band’s 1977 hit Barracuda, calling it “my favourite song”.
On the subject of Barracuda, Wilson says that it was written about "a real sleazeball with a satin jacket" who "wanted to make more money out of the sexy chicks in Heart". And sadly, rather than being from a different time, she believes that it’s "even more relevant in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-pussy mentality."
She does have hope for the future, though: "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. I hope I am alive to see that next revolution."
Heart are currently in the midst of a US tour following lead singer Ann Wilson’s recovery from cancer.
