Sheila E. Biography

The drummer and singer known as Sheila E was born Sheila Escovedo in 1957. Long before Sheila rose to fame in the 1980’s, mainly for her association with Prince, she studied music in a family filled with percussionists and performers. It was no surprise that Sheila’s talents would set her apart in the world of music, and by the time she was in her twenties she was a percussionist in high demand, performing alongside such notable celebrities as Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, and Marvin Gaye.

In the early 1980’s, Sheila E. met Prince for the first time, and by the early 1980’s he’d taken her under his wing. Sheila provided vocals for Prince’s songs “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Erotic City,” but it wasn’t long before she was ready to embark on her own career as a solo artist. Sheila E.’s debut album, The Glamorous Life, was a smash hit, with the title track rising all the way into the top ten on the mainstream charts. The album earned Sheila E. an American Music Award nomination and two Grammy Awards, for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female (for “Glamorous Life”) and Best New Artist.

Following a tour with Prince on his Purple Rain Tour, Sheila E. returned to the studio and prepared for her next album release, Romance 1600, which was nearly as successful as her first. Romance 1600 was followed by: Sheila E. (1987), Sex Cymbal (1991), Writes of Passage (2000), and Heaven (2001.) The albums spawned the additional hits: “A Love Bizarre,” “Hold Me,” “Sex Cymbal,” and “Droppin’ Like Flies.”

Throughout the 2000’s, Sheila E. continued to perform and tour alongside other musicians, most notably Prince, with whom she performed multiple times. In 2008, she began a series of her own solo performances, often for charity events and special event s around the world. Sheila E. also won the CMT reality competition, Gone Country, and viewers at the 2012 Academy Awards could catch Sheila (alongside Hans Zimmer and Pharrel Williams), performing before and after the show’s commercial breaks.

Most recently, after more than a decade, Sheila E. released the album Sheila E ICON. She is also scheduled to publish her autobiography in the next year or two.