Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson reunite onstage for first time in years at Santa Rosa concert

Fans of classic rock band Heart who attended singer Ann Wilson’s Tuesday night concert at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa got a thrill when guitarist Nancy Wilson joined her sister onstage for a rendition of Heart’s hit 1977 song “Barracuda.”

“It was a total surprise up until shortly before the show," said Jeremy French, Luther Burbank Center’s production manager. “Most of our staff was as surprised as the audience.”

The Wilson sisters, who first performed together in Heart in 1974, have not played together onstage since 2019, when Heart wrapped up its Love Alive Tour. The last Heart studio album, “Beautiful Broken,” was released in 2016.

Ann Wilson performed at the Santa Rosa venue while touring with her new group, Tripsitter. Nancy’s surprise appearance onstage came well into the show’s setlist, as seen in a fan video posted on YouTube (tinyurl.com/2p8y3hfe) Wednesday.

In introducing Nancy, Ann told the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have the answer to a question with us tonight. A very, very good friend, more than a friend. Let’s bring her out. Come on.”

According to French, “the place went nuts” when Nancy came onstage.

After the surprise reunion, Nancy Wilson posted a photo of her guitar pick on the show’s set list on Instagram.

According to French, Heart has played the Luther Burbank Center four times, in 2006, 2008, 2010 and, most recently, in 2014.

“It felt good that they chose to get together at our place,” he said.