Heart’s Ann Wilson Does Vocal Warmups to Disturbed, Elton John on Tour: ‘It Pays Off’ (Exclusive)

Ann Wilson talks about boosting her iconic voice for her solo shows.

The Heart legend, who has been on the road with his band Tripsitter since July, is taking his vocal warm-ups “so seriously” these days, and at 73, he’s feeling better than ever because of it.

“This is the first tour I’ve ever been on where I take my warm-up so seriously and it’s really worth it,” Wilson told PEOPLE exclusively ahead of his performance fronting Women Who Rock at Stage AE in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 21.

“I mean, what I do is I take an hour before I go on stage and I play all the music I love from any era, any artist I love and I just sing.”

“And it’s a lot more fun than singing scales or vocal exercises,” she adds. “I can stick with it.”

Ann Wilson.

Chris Cain

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The “Crazy on You” singer who just released a new solo record Another door On September 29, she revealed which performers she likes to hang out with the most.

“Well, Disturbed,” she says of the ’90s metal band from Chicago. “David Draiman is an amazing singer. Just an amazing person. And it was such an honor to sing with him. I got to do a duet with him on their new song that’s not out yet. It’s called ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and we just did video for it. So that’s it.”

Wilson adds, “I usually sing with Elton John or Emmylou Harris or Lucinda Williams or someone like that who’s in my range.”

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Ann Wilson.

Chris Cain

Admitting that John’s music “makes me cry,” Wilson also shared one of the most special, intimate performances she’s ever witnessed: Aretha Franklin at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

“They sat us upstage. Just a small seat. I was really happy to be there,” Wilson recalls of the 1981 show. “She’s always been one of my idols, but she sang a couple of songs and I just cried. It was so beautiful. I just — I couldn’t control myself.”

As she prepares to headline Pittsburgh’s 6th Annual Women Who Rock Benefit Concert on the AE Stage presented by Gibson Gives, Wilson revealed some notable female musicians on her radar today.

“Lzzy Hale is great,” notes Wilson. “She has some oomph to her and I love Lucinda Williams because she’s so raw.”

“I’m waiting for a lot of them to take off their leather pants and skulls and all that stuff and be themselves,” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh.

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Ann Wilson.

Chris Cain

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As for whether or not she’s a Taylor Swift fan, Wilson gave the superstar some serious praise.

“I think she’s extremely talented,” he says. “Extremely talented in at least three ways — songwriting, singing and dancing. She seems to have a really creative imagination and she’s picked people to work with who get it, which I think is really great. You don’t have all that time.”

Wilson says her songwriting, like her touring style, has “changed a lot” over the years.

“The conditions had to be perfect. It had to be in a getaway house with phones off and no one around, and my songwriters were the judging panel, you know, it’s not like that now,” she shares.

“Now I write by myself and I just open the notebook and look at this blank page and usually I get an idea and I just put all down, come back later and take out the good parts.”

“It’s not all good,” Wilson notes. “A lot of it is redundant.”

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Source: HIS Education