The greatest duet of all time, according to Ann Wilson: “That song’s got it all”
Ann Wilson is no stranger to a duet, in fact, she’s a pro at them. Her entire career is basically built on them as Heart has forever been a collaboration between herself, and her sister, Nancy.
While Ann typically takes on the lead vocals and Nancy focuses mostly on guitar with some additional vocals, it wasn’t always that simple. The band’s sound was built from a combination of the two, meeting in the middle of their influences as well as their skills and talents.
There were also moments when they completely swapped, and when Nancy took on the leading role. For songs like ‘There’s The Girl’, ‘One Word’, ‘Raised On You’ and more, it’s Nancy singing the lead vocal, with Ann backing her up.
It begs the question of what is a duet, or what qualifies? Does a song have to be split 50/50, or surely it can be argued that really every Heart song is a duet when the two sisters were always singing and working together on them?
It’s a sound that Ann loves; the meeting of two voices, the melding of two sounds. In a list of her all-time favourite tracks, one duet makes the top as alongside heavier rock tracks or epic ballads, the impact of a strong duet has shaped her musical taste greatly.
There have been plenty of iconic ones; Johnny Cash and June Carter, Sonny and Cher, Queen and David Bowie, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and Don Henley – the list goes on. But Ann Wilson’s favourite of them all comes from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush as the two came together to deliver the uplifting ‘Don’t Give Up’.
Given the often high-octane, rockier energy of her own band, her love for this softer, more folkish British pick feels surprising. It speaks to a more tender side to her taste, but that seems to be what she loves from a good duet, as the two voices come together in a kind of conversation.
“That is such a beautiful duet, it’s hopeful and optimistic and soulful and makes me think, man, that song’s got it all,” she said. As Gabriel’s part speaks to a man on the brink of collapse, tired from the trials of life, Bush’s chorus comes in as a saving grace, singing as if directly to him, “Don’t give up / ‘Cause you have friends / Don’t give up / You’re not beaten yet.”
Allowing for that range and depth of emotion, between strife and fight to survive, Wilson is greatly moved by how the two work in tandem to create something broad and beautiful. “It sort of tears you up to listen to it, because it’s so sad but then so beautiful,” she said as the track appears to hear as a kind of emotional rollercoaster, led by the lyrics but also the two artist’s distinctive voices coming together.
“I tend to like ballads that have super power,” she said in an attempt to summarise her taste as a whole, and surely ‘Don’t Give Up’ qualifies for that as the star power of Gabriel and Bush gives it the boost, while the balladic lyrics of the duet give is the emotion that can’t be ignored.
