There is more than one artist with this name:

1) Nancy Sue Wilson - … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:

1) Nancy Sue Wilson - jazz diva best known for her 60s standards recordings.

2) Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson - singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and member of the group Heart.

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1) Nancy Sue Wilson (born February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, OH, United States – December 13, 2018, in Pioneertown, CA, United States) was a jazz diva famous for recording American standards in the 60s.

She was among contemporary music's most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets -- and even hosting her own television variety program -- she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late '50s, eventually signing to Capitol and issuing LPs including 1959's Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May's Orchestra. Her dates with Shearing, including 1960's The Swingin's Mutual, solidified her standing as a talent on the rise, and her subsequent work with Adderley -- arguably her finest recordings -- further cemented her growing fame and reputation.

In the years to follow, however, Wilson often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists; she made numerous albums, many of them properly categorized as pop and R&B outings, and toured extensively, appearing with everyone from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programs; hits of the period included "Tell Me the Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace of Mind," and "Now, I'm a Woman." Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the 1980s, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Ramsey Lewis, and Benny Golson. By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the "new adult contemporary" market, her style ideally suited to the format's penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.

In the early 2000s, Wilson recorded two albums with Ramsey Lewis for Narada (2002's Meant to Be and 2003's Simple Pleasures). Her 2004 album R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) was a blend of straight-ahead jazz and ballads, similar to her next record, 2006's Turned to Blue, which, like R.S.V.P., used a different instrumentalist for each track. In 2005, Capitol released a three-part series to pay tribute to Wilson's contributions to music in the '50s and '60s: Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love, Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads, and The Great American Songbook.

Wilson died from a long-illness on December 13, 2018 at her home in Pioneertown, California at the age of 81.

2) Nancy Lamoureux Wilson (born March 16, 1954, San Francisco, CA, United States), more popularly known as Nancy Wilson, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. Along with her older sister Ann Wilson, she is part of the Seattle/Vancouver rock band Heart. She is married to film director and screenwriter Cameron Crowe and has composed and performed music for most of Crowe's movies, including Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Elizabethtown.

While Ann is the lead singer on most of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on Treat Me Well, These Dreams, Stranded, There's the Girl and Will You Be There (In The Morning), and frequently performs background vocals. She is also the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999, she released a live solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop.

Solo albums
1999 - Live At McCabes Guitar Shop
2005 - Elizabethtown
2009 - Baby Guitars
2016 - Undercover Guitar (with Julie Bergman)
2021 - You and Me

On Broadway
Nancy Wilson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

They say the neon lights are bright
On Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air
But when you're walkin' down that street
And you ain't have enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

They say the women treat you fine

On Broadway
But lookin' at them just gives me the blues
How ya gonna make some time
When all you got is one thin dime
And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

They say that I won't last too long
On Broadway
I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home they all say
But they get wrong, I know they are
'Cause I can play this here guitar

I won't quit till I'm a star
On Broadway

On Broadway
On Broadway

Overall Meaning

The song "On Broadway" is a classic tune that portrays the reality of trying to make it in the entertainment industry in New York City. It was originally written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and was a hit in 1963 for The Drifters. Nancy Wilson's version features a soulful and bluesy sound, highlighting the struggles of the characters in the song.

The first verse of the song sets the scene, with the bright neon lights of Broadway and the promise of magic in the air. However, the singer's experience is much different. As she walks down the street, she realizes that the glitter and glam of Broadway fades away when you're struggling to make ends meet. The second verse goes on to explain that the women on Broadway might treat you fine, but the singer is still blue because poverty makes it difficult to enjoy life. She only has one dime to her name, and that's not enough to even shine her shoes. The third verse is the most empowering, as the songwriter refuses to believe that she won't make it on Broadway. She knows that people doubt her abilities, but she is determined to keep playing her guitar and become a star.

Line by Line Meaning

They say the neon lights are bright
People say that the bright neon lights on Broadway are dazzling.

On Broadway
This refers to the famous street of Broadway.

They say there's always magic in the air
Some believe that there's always a magical and captivating vibe in the atmosphere.

But when you're walkin' down that street
However, when you walk down that street yourself...

And you ain't have enough to eat
... and you're hungry and broke...

The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere
...the fancy, glittery joy disappears and you feel hopeless.

They say the women treat you fine
Some believe that the women on Broadway are delightful.

But lookin' at them just gives me the blues
But looking at them just makes me feel depressed.

How ya gonna make some time
How can you socialize and have a good time...

When all you got is one thin dime
...when all you have is one dime...

And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes
...which isn't even enough to polish your shoes.