A Million Miles

"A Million Miles", also known as "Million Miles", is a single from Heart's 14th studio album Fanatic, which became the album's fifth song to chart on Jessica's Top 40. On the week of April 21, 2013, due to a fast climb and excitement over the band's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, "A Million Miles" reached #1 on JT40 and became the first chart-topper from the album.

Heart, despite being one of my favorite bands ever, appeared to have a rough year in 2012 as their Fanatic album had to compete with Lita Ford's comeback. With both Lita and Heart releasing new material so close to each other, it proved difficult for Fanatic to upstage Lita's dominance through the latter part of the year. They also had a tough act to follow - "WTF", the lead single from their previous album Red Velvet Car, which stands as their biggest hit to date.

Those factors caused initial disappointment in the lead single "Fanatic" and leaked track "Dear Old America"; the former couldn't beat Lita, Rush, and surprise hits from Katy Perry and Rita Ora and stopped below the top 5 at #6, while the latter I struggled to get into and it peaked at an embarrassing #20. Ironically enough, it was the influence of Lita that saved the era - thanks to the Wilsons' joint appearance with Lita Ford on a September 2012 episode of That Metal Show, in addition to heavy anticipation for me seeing Heart in concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheater, the album's third chart entry and lead adult contemporary radio single "Walkin' Good" reached a peak of #2. The concert led to the charting of album track "Mashallah" and a re-entry for "Dear Old America", both reaching the top 5 - marking a stunning recovery for the Wilsons' 14th album.

It proved fitting that the album's first #1 single came on the heels on yet another highly anticipated event - their induction in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. "A Million Miles" debuted upon its single release in early 2013, coming shortly before their induction (Heart was inducted along with fellow core artist Rush, who was infamously snubbed for years). The song is noted for mixing the sound of the band's classic material with a modern sound consisting of tape loops, almost sounding like it could have been released in the late 1990s. Nancy Wilson described the song in an interview as being "the most looped, constructed-sounding thing" on Fanatic. The song's modern sound also brought way to a dance remix - a first for Heart - by New York-based DJ Abe Clements, best known for his remix work for Britney Spears.

"A Million Miles" proved to be the fastest impacting song on JT40 from the Fanatic era, as well as one of their best impacting of all time. With Heart's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction underway, the song managed to reach #1 on the week of April 21, 2013, becoming the band's fourth #1 and first from Fanatic. It also marked the first time a Heart song spent multiple weeks at #1, as it stayed on top for a second week. Coming off a series of close calls that didn't quite make it to the top, "A Million Miles" showed persistence can pay off big.