Ann Wilson performing in a wheelchair on Heart's 2025 tour due to a fall
The band kicked off their US tour over the weekend
Last updated 6th Mar 2025
Heart’s powerhouse vocalist Ann Wilson is performing in a wheelchair and wearing an arm sling on the band’s US tour due to an injury she sustained less than a week before it started.
The North American leg of Heart’s Royal Flush Tour opened with two shows at BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas last weekend, and since then Heart have performed sold-out gigs in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Heart cancelled their UK and European tour, and postponed the final dates of their 2024 North American tour last year due to Ann Wilson receiving treatment for cancer.
In the new episode of her ‘After Dinner Thinks With Ann Wilson’ podcast, Ann Wilson explained to fans that she’s performing in a wheelchair due to a fall – not her cancer battle.
“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,” Wilson told listeners.
“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."
74-year-old 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.
“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."
Expressing her pride at sitting in a wheelchair, Ann added: "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 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."
Watch Heart perform Barracuda in Los Angeles:
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