As the iconic voice of Heart behind the humungous “Magic Man,” “Crazy On You,” “Barracuda,” “What About Love” and “Alone,” plus interpreting anyone she pleases, Ann Wilson can effortlessly slay any song or style.

But with a brand new album, “Fierce Bliss,” also comes the chance to finally let her voice be fully heard, which believe it or not, marks the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s first ever solo album to feature original material, alongside a few more customized covers.

It all comes together for an extensive tour that includes Joliet Memorial Stadium with Collective Soul on Friday, June 24 and the McHenry County Fairgrounds with ZZ Top on Sunday, July 3, two rollicking reasons that prompted Wilson to call Chicago Concert Reviews for her memories of those trailblazing beginnings, reaching the not always fulfilling summit of superstardom, through finding peace in the present.

What’s the meaning behind “Fierce Bliss”?

Ann Wilson: It was just a feeling thing about how it felt to make that record. It’s just one of these rare situations where you meet with a bunch of musicians, you have songs that work, everyone likes each other and you have a really great, inspirational time making a record. So it was blissful and it was energized. That doesn’t happen all the time. It just was really easy and fun. That’s why [I called it] “Fierce Bliss.”

Many may find it surprising that this is your first solo album that features original songs. Why now after having released quite a few previous projects?

Wilson: I think that with the COVID lockdown and everything for a year-and-a-half there, it made it really easy for me to get introspective, get ideas and have day after day upon day of just quiet and serenity. When it’s that way for me, my brain and soul start to speak really loud and I just put it down on paper.

There are a few excellent covers as well. What did you hope to bring to them?

Wilson: I always feel that a great song is like a book, and if it’s the right song, the right voice and the right soul, you can read the book all over again and find new things. Some of these covers, like [Robin Trower’s] “Bridge Of Sighs,” [Eurythmics’] “Missionary Man” and [Jeff Buckley’s] “Forget Her” were songs that got inside me and I could not rest without singing them. It’s just one of those things where you have to merge with a song and the love of my life as well.

How did recording at the legendary Muscle Shoals Studios shape your sounds?

Wilson: Oh, it was great because that’s in this little tiny town. It’s not in a big, exciting city where people want to go out and eat, party and hang out. It’s just in a little town, very quiet, very intimate and funky. It just has something about it. That studio has a real vibe about it that opens up people’s creative hearts.

Give us a glimpse into what your all-star collaborators brought to the table.

Wilson: First of all, I got together with Tom Bukovac from Cleveland, who is the guitar player, and I wrote a lot of these songs with him. He is just so brilliant, so easy to get along with and loves music. He just lives and breathes music.

I’ve been friends with Warren Haynes for five or six years now. He had invited me to come sit in with Gov’t Mule at Lockn’ Festival, which I did, and then I sat in with them a couple more times in the Northeast. He wanted to write something that was a long, epic song, sort of like Led Zeppelin’s “Rain Song,” or something that features lots of places and takes a while. He sent me his little iPhone version of him playing the song for that and it became “Gladiator” and then [we also collaborated on] “Angel’s Blues.” I went up to Connecticut to the Power Station where Mule was recording two albums at once. They had taken a room for the blues and a room for rock, so first we went into the rock room and did “Gladiator.” The next day we went into the blues room and did “Angel’s Blues.” It was just really great and easy. I love that band. I just got to be the lead singer for a couple songs (laughs).

Now Vince Gill, he’s always been one of my very favorite voices ever since I first heard him sing back in the ‘70s. Typically, when a man and a woman duet, the man is the kind of gruff, strong, aggressive one and the women is the flower, so I switched that around [on Queen’s] “Love Of My Life” and have me be the rock voice. I wanted the man to be the angel, so Vince was my choice. He came down to Muscle Shoals, no security, just by himself in the car, sang his part, had a sparkling soda and went back to Nashville. It was really great!

Kenny Wayne Shepherd came down to the studio with his dad, who’s his manager, and he just went for it on “Bridge Of Sighs” and “Missionary Man.” He just tore it up. He’s a nice guy and so talented. This album features guitar players in a big way. It’s guitar-centric for sure and Kenny Wayne just nailed it.

How did the journey of Heart factor into the new song “A Moment In Heaven”?

Wilson: It’s not specifically my journey with Heart that informed that song, but it’s like watching the star maker machinery in Hollywood and its formula for planned obsolescence. It did happen to Heart over there at the beginning of the ‘80s, so I know what I’m talking about (laughs), but it’s more a poke at just the old way of doing things out there that is just like the movie industry or anything else. You have your moment in the sun and then you get kicked off the roster and they’re looking for the new version of you (laughs)…

What was it like for you being at the very top of the rock and folk worlds throughout the 1970s and blazing so many trails in the process?

Wilson: It was exciting and inspirational. Being in my ‘20s and everything, I was at the peak of my self-confidence and ego (laughs), so I loved it. I loved every minute of it. You’ve got your young body going on that is so resilient. You can do like a million shows in a row and do fine at it, so that’s how I cut my teeth.

How about maintaining that popularity while switching towards more of a pop sound throughout the 1980s and early ‘90s?

Wilson: Yeah, it was a great experiment. We did have a lot of success in the ‘80s and made a lot of money, made a bunch of rock videos and stuff like that, but after a while, I think that the pop nature of the music began to get really boring for me. I need more substance than that. So when that came to an end in the ‘90s, I was glad. I was ready to move on.

You also sang on numerous soundtracks around then. What do you recall about that run?

Wilson: That was a real nice diversion from the touring life. And of course, it was really exciting to go to a movie and hear yourself sing in it. And it has, especially with the song “Almost Paradise” [from “Footloose”] become sort of a standard for people’s weddings and people’s proms and all that kind of stuff, so I think it was a positive thing. I think people really connected with that song.

Your influence is immensurable, but what was it like for you to specifically realize you had such an enormous impact on so many of Seattle’s alternative bands?

Wilson: Yeah, that came as kind of a surprise. We spent most of the ‘80s in L.A. I had a home base in Seattle, but I wasn’t there much in those years, so I guess I’d gotten use to the sort of “A Moment In Heaven” mindset that was in L.A. So when we came back to Seattle, here’s this completely different culture where it’s not about success, money or status. The grunge scene in Seattle was about flipping the bird to that whole other mindset of L.A. I reclaimed the Seattle identity. It was so easy to do. It was like shedding one skin and standing in your real skin.

At what point did you decide to make music purely on your own terms without any outside industry voices in your ear?

Wilson: Well, I never made a conscious decision to do that. It’s always been just a natural thing for me to get bored with stuff that has no depth, that is formulaic and not real. I’ve always had a natural dissatisfaction with that way of being. That was one thing about the ‘80s that made me the most uncomfortable. There was no real interest in what we were doing. It was how we could fit ourselves into an already existing role for MTV. Yeah, we did it, a nice little diversion there for a while, but it’s gotta be real.

How do all of these periods factor into your new live show?

Wilson: I do some Heart songs because I like to and because people would be really disappointed if I didn’t do some. Then I just get in as much as I can of new stuff that works well live and a few covers that I think work well live, so it’s a real well-rounded show in that regard. There’s something for everybody.

In Illinois you’re going to be playing two shows, one with Collective Soul and another with ZZ Top. Do you have any type of connections to those groups?

Wilson: I definitely have a friendship with ZZ Top. [Billy Gibbons] is such a cool guy, just real, just as rocking as ever. He will put on a great set.

Do you remember anything from performing around the Chicago area?

Wilson: Oh, God yes! We have played there so many times at different venues over the years. I just remember one time on a night off, a friend of mine and I went down to the Checkerboard Lounge. Just two girls went down there by ourselves, we hung out and it was really fun. Then another time I broke my wrist there. We were coming into a hotel, I leaned back on what I thought was a mirror, but it was really an open door (laughs). I fell back, caught myself with my wrist and broke it, so I had to go to the hospital there. Just different things like that, but mostly that the audiences there are so down with [the music] They just come and they don’t want to fool around. They just want to jam.

What are the career moments you’ll always treasure and is there anything you’d change?

Wilson: I wouldn’t change anything really because all the decisions that were made over the decades, if the same conditions were there again, I would make the same choices I believe. I think that the Kennedy Center Honors was a milestone. Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was, but just mostly things like our first show up in Montreal as an opening band. We didn’t know it at the time, but the station there in Montreal was the first station to play “Dreamboat Annie” and people liked it, so we walked out and the house was for us. That was really a thrill because we were there opening up for Rod Stewart (laughs). I won’t forget that. Just opening up for all different bands we did over the years, just about everybody. I remember opening up for The Rolling Stones at Mile High Stadium, stuff like that. There’s some that are real big, but mostly the joy and blessing of being able to keep on doing this and not just that, but having people like it.

What’s your take on music at the moment?

Wilson: I can’t really keep that interested in pop music. It just doesn’t hold me for some reason, but I like Dua Lipa…I take it by the song. I like Billie Eilish. I think she’s doing cool stuff. I especially like her “James Bond” song she did for the “No Time To Die” movie. I think Brandi Carlile is such an amazing singer. I think [Halestorm’s] Lzzy Hale is awesome. Just like with every era, there’s a lot of stuff that just doesn’t make it and there’s a few things that just stand at the top.

Is there anything left you’d like to accomplish or create?

Wilson: I just want to keep getting better. As far as achievements go, I’m not as much into that as just the soul experience of writing, performing and getting to sing to people, because when I get to sing to people, it’s a connection. It’s really hard to beat anywhere in life when it’s all working. They’re responding to me and I’m responding to them. It’s quite spiritual in a way. I just want to keep doing that.

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Ann Wilson performs at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Friday, June 24 and the McHenry County Fairgrounds on Sunday, July 3. For additional details, visit AnnWilson.com, TasteOfJoliet.com and Ticketmaster.com.