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
The Greatest Performance of My Life
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never lost control, I played the part so well
That not a single soul could tell that I was lying
And so
Though it was hard to face our friends
I gave a party
I know
And though
I saw the unbelieving looks on all their faces
I had to try to make them think that it was true
So I
Who had me dance, dance through the night, just like a
Gypsy
And I
Who seldom drink, drank like a fish till I was high
And I
Who hadn't laughed since
God knows when, outlaughed
Pagliacci
Till they
Believed it more than even I
Tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life
I never lost control, I played the part so well
That not a single soul could tell that I was lying
But love
if you had been behind the curtain when it fell
When all the lights were out and I was all alone
You would have seen
This actress crying
Yes, tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life
I never lost control, I played the part so well
That not a single soul could tell that I was lying
But love
if you had been behind the curtain when it fell
When all the lights were out and I was all alone
You would have seen
This actress crying
The song "The Greatest Performance Of My Life" by Nancy Wilson conveys the concept of putting up an act in front of others to seem unaffected by a breakup. The lyrics are about a woman who recently went through a breakup but wants to show her friends that she has moved on. She pretends to be happy and carefree during her party, dancing and drinking excessively, but in reality, she is still in pain and cannot forget her past love. She cries alone after the party, revealing her true emotions.
The song portrays the idea that putting on a façade in front of others does not solve the problem. It talks about how pretending to be okay may convince others but ultimately, it cannot change one's emotions. The chorus, "Tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life, I never lost control, I played the part so well, that not a single soul could tell that I was lying," highlights the character's acting abilities and how she was able to fool everyone, even herself, for a while. However, in the end, she cannot hide from her true emotions and the song ends with her expressing her sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
Tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life
I put on a show for everyone and pretended to be happy and over you, even though I was not.
I never lost control, I played the part so well
I was able to keep up the facade and act like everything was fine.
That not a single soul could tell that I was lying
No one suspected that I was faking my happiness and pretending to be over you.
And so
Because of this
Though it was hard to face our friends
Even though it was difficult to show our mutual friends that I was doing well without you
I gave a party
I threw a gathering as a way to showcase my supposed happiness.
I know
I was aware
I meant to show them all I've gotten over you
I intended to prove to everyone that I was over you and had moved on.
And though
Despite the fact that
I saw the unbelieving looks on all their faces
I noticed the skeptical expressions on their faces, showing that they did not fully believe me.
I had to try to make them think that it was true
I felt the need to convince them that my happiness was genuine, even though it wasn't.
So I
Therefore, I
Who had me dance, dance through the night, just like a Gypsy
I danced all night long, without a care in the world, trying to convince others (and maybe even myself) that I was carefree and happy.
And I
Also,
Who seldom drink, drank like a fish till I was high
I drank alcohol excessively, despite not usually doing so, in order to numb my true feelings and enhance the act of being over you.
And I
Additionally,
Who hadn't laughed since God knows when, outlaughed Pagliacci
I laughed uncontrollably for the first time in a long time, just like a famous clown, as a way to exaggerate my happiness for others.
Till they
To the point where they
Believed it more than even I
Others believed my act of happiness even more than I did myself.
But love if you had been behind the curtain when it fell
However, if you were there to witness the truth behind my performance
When all the lights were out and I was all alone
When I was left in darkness and by myself
You would have seen
You would have witnessed
This actress crying
You would have seen me, as an actress, breaking down and crying, revealing the truth behind my facade.
Yes, tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life
I put on an exceptional act, pretending to be happy and over you.
But love if you had been behind the curtain when it fell
However, If you were there to see the truth behind the facade
When all the lights were out and I was all alone
When I was left in darkness and solitude
You would have seen
You would have witnessed
This actress crying
My true emotions would have been exposed, as I, an actress, began to cry.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALLEN, ANDERLE, SANCHEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind