Ann Wilson Reveals Paula Abdul Was Once Sent in to Teach Heart Choreographed Dance Moves: ‘It Obviously Didn’t Work’

• Heart’s Ann Wilson said on her After Dinner Thinks podcast that the band’s record label wanted Paula Abdul to teach them choreography in the 1980s
• Wilson said the plan “obviously didn’t work”
• The star said she feels performing shouldn’t be a “rehearsed act”

Heart is best known for their hard-rocking hits — so it’s no wonder an attempt to help them choreograph some pop star-inspired dance moves wasn’t exactly a success.

The group’s lead singer Ann Wilson opened up on her After Dinner Thinks podcast about how in the 1980s, Heart’s record label tried to get Paula Abdul to help Ann and her sister and bandmate Nancy Wilson learn some stage choreography.

“I’ve always kind of struggled against the idea that [performing] should be a rehearsed act,” she said. “And in the ‘80s, that was at an all-time high. One time we were getting ready to go out on tour and somebody at the record company had this big, bright idea to send Paula Abdul in to teach us dance moves, so that we could all kind of, in some synchronicity, do these dance moves like Prince and the Revolution.”

Added Wilson, 74: “It obviously didn’t work. But that was the pinnacle of what I’ve always felt was wrong… [Choreography] would make me disinterested right off the bat. I’m done.”

Podcast guests Chappell Roan and Lucy Dacus were quick to express their shock at the idea of the hard-rocking Wilson sisters belting hits like “Barracuda” while showing off their moves.

“What? That’s crazy,” Roan said. “That’s amazing.”

Added Dacus: “My jaw is… Oh my god, I need the footage.”

Abdul, 62, rose to fame as a choreographer before also finding success as a pop star. She choreographed music videos for stars like Janet Jackson, and was also head choreographer for the Laker Girls.

Wilson is currently on Heart’s Royal Flush Tour, which began in February and will continue through August.

“Whether it’s around a health issue or not, [the fans] have 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,” the star — who underwent surgery and preventative chemotherapy after announcing her cancer diagnosis in July 2024 — told PEOPLE in February.

The “Alone” singer has been performing shows while seated in a wheelchair, and recently revealed on her podcast that it’s because she injured her elbow after missing a step and falling in a parking lot.

“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,” she said. “It’s about me being a klutz… and busting my elbow in three places and then having to have it pinned back together with screws and all that kind of stuff.”

She added that her arm “hurts too much” to stand on stage at the moment, and that her “pain level is still way too high” to take her arm out of its sling.