Born on December 12: Sheila E., Prince's drummer and Latin singer
She was born in 1957 in Oakland (California) and, like many outstanding musicians, studied at the famous Berklee College of Music, where she even received an honorary doctorate!
In the Escovedo family (her full surname), there are undoubtedly percussion instruments in every room of the house. Her father Pete and her uncle Coke accompanied guitarist Carlos Santana for many years, who always adored Latin rhythms and never hesitated to take up to 25 musicians with him on tour. Sheila E. is also the aunt of actress (and occasional singer) Nicole Richie. But that's another story...
From an early age, children love to transform any object at hand into an improvised drum, but in the Escovedo family, percussion has become a veritable religion. Equally gifted with a fine voice, the young lady naturally carried on the family tradition from the mid-70s onwards, accompanying George Duke, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock and Diana Ross. Not forgetting Prince, but we'll come back to that later.
Although she was mostly content to play a background role, the artist nonetheless had an interesting personal discography. For her twentieth birthday in 1977, her father gave her “Solo Two”, her first duet album with him. It wasn't until 1984, however, that she wrote the first chapter of her “Glamorous Life” under the watchful eye of Prince, who, from Vanity 6 to Wendy & Lisa and Apollonia, has always enjoyed the company of pretty, preferably sexy women. Up until 2013's “ICON”, the Minneapolis Kid continued to brood over her, occasionally inviting himself onto certain tracks on “Romance 1600” (released on the princely Paisley Park label). The most interesting album of this period is undoubtedly 1991's “Sex Cymbal”.
But if Sheila E. was a fickle character (figuratively speaking at least), she was obviously not satisfied with her enviable position at the court of the creator of “Purple Rain”. She collaborated with Gloria Estefan in the '90s, formed the group The E. Family, responded to numerous requests (from Phil Collins to Cindy Lauper to Hans Zimmer) and even offered an online masterclass to share her know-how with aspiring drummers.
After publishing a fascinating auto-biography in 2014 (“The Beat Of My Own Drum”), accompanied by her current band E-Train, Sheila E. continues to perform on stage with the same zest. She recently brought a series of sold-out concerts to her hometown of Oakland, not far from San Francisco.
(MH with AK - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Sheila E. on drums for Prince during a concert in the Netherlands in the 90s.