Heart Return to the Stage as They Put Ann Wilson’s Cancer Treatment Firmly Behind Them: ‘Really Excited’ (Exclusive)

As the legendary lead singer of the band Heart, Ann Wilson says she isn’t sure how she will ultimately feel both physically and mentally when she returns to the stage following her recent cancer fight. 

But what she does know is that she’s ready to rock.

“I’m really excited about it actually,” Wilson, 74, tells PEOPLE in an interview just days before heading back out on Heart’s 24-date Royal Flush Tour 2025, kicking off Friday, Feb. 28 in Las Vegas. “I feel really strong. I’ve been preparing and all that, and I’m healthy. I’m clear. I’m a little nervous because I haven’t done it in a year, but I’m there.”

Indeed, it was July of 2024 that the powerhouse vocalist informed fans of her cancer diagnosis, and the postponement of the North American leg of Heart’s Royal Flush Tour, allowing her to undergo surgery and get through a course of preventive chemotherapy.

“We were just getting into the big groove of it all and starting to really get a full head of steam with the whole tour,” bandmate and sister Nancy Wilson, 70, told PEOPLE of last year’s tour postponement following a brief stint of performances overseas. “And then, we found ourselves on a plane the next day. We just went home and tried to figure out what was going on and making sure that Ann was okay.”

In September, Ann returned to her social media channels to share the news that her chemotherapy treatments were complete, and she was ready to tour in 2025.

“I’ve come from a really far away place to get up to the strength and energy you need to do it,” explains Ann about getting back on the road on this year’s tour, which will conclude on April 16 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “I’m just really curious to see what I feel like when I walk out there. I think it’s just going to be great. I feel really empowered right now.”

Luckily, that empowerment doesn’t just come from inside the very soul of the hitmakers of timeless songs such as “These Dreams,” “Barracuda” and “Crazy on You,” but also from the band’s loyal legion of fans, many of which have stuck around since the band’s inception in 1973.

“I have felt that love all along from them,” explains Ann, who alongside her sister Nancy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. “Whether it’s around a health issue or not, they’ve always been there for me and for us. And there’ve been ups and downs over all these 50 years. These people just seem to ride the waves along with us.”

And while time continues to move fast, the love remains between the two sisters.

“The songs don’t seem to age, but it’s like, damn it, you have to age,” says Nancy, who “works out and strengthens” to prepare her mind and body for performing onstage. “There’s more of a clock on things now. I mean, there’s a lot of classic rock bands that are folding up, so we’re kind of loud and proud and happy to just prove that we are here. We’ve always proved it. We’re good at it. We do it with flatter shoes these days, but we still do it.”

But how long they will do it, no one knows. 

“There’s no looking glass and there’s no mirror ball,” concludes Nancy. “Life’s always going to hand you what it hands you and take you down the trail that it takes you, with all the best of intentions and all the best energy and intuition and intention. We go forward and we trust that it’s going to be okay as much as we can, but there’s all kinds of boogeyman coming out of every doorway right now. Hopefully this upcoming tour is just going to be a wildly jubilant celebration.”