BMGImmortal, the new solo album from Heart‘s Ann Wilson, is out now, and pays homage to ten late, great artists, all of whom passed away fairly recently. Wilson tells ABC Radio, “I said to myself, ‘I have to do something. I don’t just want to sit around and weep and mourn and be sad. I want to honor these people.'”
The result is a wide-ranging collection that might not be what fans of the honored artists would expect.
“My first criteria [in choosing the songs] was I had to really love the song,” Wilson tells ABC Radio. “I didn’t want it to be just their hits. I wanted to go in and find the stuff that represented them as songwriters or as artists the most, to me. So then the songs just sort of called me.”
She says some of the songs she chose — like David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans,” Cream‘s “Politician,” featuring Jeff Beck on guitar, and Lesley Gore‘s “You Don’t Own Me” — are especially relevant today, tackling issues like politics, the way the U.S. is perceived by those in other countries, and respect for women.
Not only are the songs unlikely choices, but so are Ann’s interpretations.
“I didn’t want to just ape and do covers,” Wilson reiterates to ABC Radio. “For instance, [with] the [Eagles] song ‘Life in the Fast Lane'” — a tribute to the band’s late founder Glenn Frey — “I took it out of that sort of classic-rock…thing and I put it into a more tribal groove, so it takes on this kind of funky feel.”
Ann Wilson tells ABC Radio that the title Immortal is an apt title for the collection. Speaking about the artists who’ve passed, she explains, “The souls have reset and moved on, but the songs remain.”
Here’s the track listing for Ann Wilson’s Immortal:
1. “A Different Corner” (George Michael)
2. “A Thousand Kisses Deep” (Leonard Cohen)
3. “Back to Black” (Amy Winehouse)
4. “Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty)
5. “I Am the Highway” (Audioslave/Chris Cornell)
6. “I’m Afraid of Americans” (David Bowie)
7. “Life in the Fast Lane” (The Eagles/Glenn Frey)
8. “Luna” (Tom Petty)
9. “Politician” (Cream/Jack Bruce)
10. “You Don’t Own Me” (Lesley Gore)
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