HEART's ANN WILSON Explains Why She Has Been Performing While Sitting In A Wheelchair During 2025 'Royal Flush' Tour

In the latest episode of her “After Dinner Thinks With Ann Wilson” podcast, HEART singer Ann Wilson addressed the fact that she has been performing while sitting in a wheelchair during the first few shows of the 2025 North American leg of the band’s “Royal Flush” tour, which kicked off Friday night (February 28) at the BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas. The show marked HEART‘s first live performance since the band postponed the remaining dates of its 2024 North American tour in July in order for Ann to undergo cancer treatments. Ann said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  ”I think some people thought that I was in a wheelchair because of cancer, which I just kicked its ass and I’m nice and clear now. It’s not about cancer. It’s about me being a klutz [five days before the tour] and missing a step and falling into a parking lot and busting my elbow in three places and then having to have it pinned back together with screws and all that kind of stuff.”

Ann continued: “In other ways, I’m perfectly fine. It’s just I don’t have the use of my left arm right now. So it’s hard to navigate when you just have one hand and your other whole arm is in a sling… And you don’t have the same balance. So I had to get used to that. And singing on stage, I really think that the pain level is still way too high for me to take it out of the sling. So I chose to sit because then I can just concentrate on singing and not on keeping my balance and having somebody out there catching me when I reel to the side.”

Regarding the fact that some HEART fans have expressed their disappointment to see Wilson in a wheelchair, she said: “I’ve gotten so many suggestions, like ‘Make it look like a throne.’

“I think it’s looked on as some kind of an admission of vulnerability,” she added about her decision to perform while sitting in a wheelchair. “And we have to look at the person and go, ‘Oh, that’s too bad’ and bring negativity into it. It doesn’t have to be that way. No, it’s a great tool. And I’ll be up and out of it after a while.”

Wilson went on to say that her arm “just hurts too much” for her to be standing right now. “Yeah, there’s pain involved with this injury,” she explained.

Referencing some of her other recent health ailments, Ann said: “This is number three. First I had my knees done, then I had cancer, now I have the elbow. So that’s gonna be it.”

The rescheduled “Royal Flush” tour will wrap up on April 16 in New York City.

Earlier this week, HEART announced the “An Evening With Heart” spring/summer 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which will see the band performing two separate sets each night, will kick off May 31 at the Hard Rock in Atlantic City and conclude on June 28 in Hollywood, Florida.

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals),Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute),Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar),Ryan Waters (guitars),Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals),Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

In December 2023, HEART played its first three concerts in more than four years — in Highland, California, at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California, and in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to HEART‘s December 27, 2023 show in Highland, the band’s last performance took place in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2024 leg of “Royal Flush” featured CHEAP TRICK as support on most of the North American leg. HEART was also scheduled to join DEF LEPPARD and JOURNEY for summer stadium shows in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston.

HEART toured North America in the summer of 2019 after a nasty split that kept the Wilson sisters estranged for three years.

Ann and Nancy had a falling out during HEART‘s 2016 tour, when Ann‘s husband Dean Welter was arrested for assaulting Nancy‘s then-16-year-old twin sons in a backstage altercation at a gig near their hometown of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two lesser assault charges to avoid jail time.

HEART‘s 2013 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame saw Ann and Nancy reunited with the four musicians who helped HEART achieve its initial success in the mid-1970s — guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, drummer Michael DeRosier and longtime guitarist-keyboardist Howard Leese.

The Wilson sisters’ reunion with HEART‘s original lineup at the Rock Hall ceremony marked the first time the group played together in 34 years.

When Ann and Nancy formed HEART, the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1975’s “Dreamboat Annie” was released, they became stars. With hits like “Magic Man”, “Crazy On You”, “Barracuda”, “Alone”, “What About Love” and “These Dreams”, the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the Seventies and Eighties, selling more than 35 million records. In 2012, their memoir “Kicking & Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll” became a New York Times bestseller.