Sheila E.

b. Sheila Escovedo, 12 December 1959, Oakland, California, USA, Sheila E. came to prominence as a solo artist in 1984 but had been a musician since the age of three, playing conga drums. Her father, Pete ‘Coke’ Escovedo, worked briefly with Santana and led the Latin-jazz fusion band Azteca, with which Sheila sat in while in high school. She briefly gave up the idea of a musical career but eventually left school to join her father's band, appearing on two of his albums for Fantasy Records. She was discovered by Prince in 1984 and appeared as a vocalist on his Erotic City, the b-side of the US number 1 Let's Go Crazy. With that exposure she was able to sign a solo record contract with Warner Brothers, releasing IN THE GLAMOROUS LIFE . The album yielded the US Top 10 single of the same name and the UK Top 20 hit, The Belle Of St. Mark. Her follow-up, IN ROMANCE 1600, appeared on Prince's Paisley Park label in 1985 and featured the US hit single, A Love Bizarre, with Prince himself on backing vocals. Her third solo album, self-titled, was released in 1987 but failed to garner the attention or sales of the first two. That same year she joined Prince's touring group as drummer, also appearing in his film Sign O' The Times. After a four- year lapse in recording, she returned in 1991 with SEX CYMBAL, which was self-written and produced with assistance from her brother, Peter Michael, and David Gamson.