Sheila E began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist for The George Duke Band.
46 Facts About Sheila E
2.
Sheila E saw a hit with the single "A Love Bizarre".
3.
Sheila E is sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Percussion".
4.
Sheila E's uncle is Alejandro Escovedo, and Tito Puente was Escovedo's godfather.
5.
Sheila E is niece to Javier Escovedo, founder of seminal San Diego punk act The Zeros.
6.
Sheila E is the niece of Coke Escovedo, who was in Santana and formed the band Azteca.
7.
Sheila E made her recording debut with jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson on "Yesterday's Dream" in 1976.
8.
Sheila E appeared on several of Duke's albums, including Don't Let Go, Follow the Rainbow, Master of the Game, and A Brazilian Love Affair.
9.
Sheila E provided vocals to the Prince song "Erotic City" in 1984.
10.
Sheila E received two Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female.
11.
Sheila E toured as the opening act for Prince's Purple Rain Tour and the two began a romantic relationship, while Prince was still involved with Susannah Melvoin, twin sister of The Revolution band member, Wendy Melvoin.
12.
Sheila E later served as Prince's percussionist and musical director during his tours from 1987 to 1989.
13.
Sheila E has appeared in four films, Krush Groove with Run-D.
14.
Sheila E began her tour in Japan which only lasted for a brief time.
15.
Sheila E described herself as "semi-paralyzed from playing drums in heels for so long".
16.
In 1994, Sheila E contributed as a guest artist, playing congas and timbales, for the album Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan.
17.
Sheila E was the leader of the house band on the short-lived late night talk show, The Magic Hour, hosted by Earvin "Magic" Johnson in the late 1990s.
18.
In 2002, Sheila E appeared on the Beyonce song "Work It Out".
19.
In 2004, Sheila E toured New Zealand as drummer and percussionist for the Abe Laboriel Band.
20.
Sheila E played drums on Cyndi Lauper's hit album of standard covers, At Last.
21.
Sheila E joined Lauper on a live version of that song on VH1 Divas.
22.
In February 2006, Sheila E performed with Prince at the BRIT Awards.
23.
Sheila E performed at the Sonoma Jazz Festival in 2006 as part of Herbie Hancock's band featuring Larry Carlton, Terrence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, and Terri Lyne Carrington.
24.
Sheila E performed at the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards with Juan Luis Guerra.
25.
Sheila E performed at the American Latin Music Awards in June 2007 with Prince and on July 7,2007, in Minneapolis with Prince.
26.
Sheila E performed at all three of his concerts: at Prince's 3121 perfume launch at Macy's, followed by the Target Center concert, and finally, at an aftershow at First Avenue.
27.
In October 2007, Sheila E was a judge alongside Australian Idol judge and marketing manager Ian "Dicko" Dickson and Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik on the Fox network's The Next Great American Band.
28.
Sheila E teamed up with Prince in March 2008, as she sat in on the performance with her family at Harvelle's Redondo Beach.
29.
Sheila E took part in the show opener, "Get on Your Feet", with Gloria Estefan while the So You Think You Can Dance finalists dance troupe joined them on stage.
30.
From May 2 to 6,2008, Sheila E played four sold-out shows at Blue Note Tokyo, the most frequented jazz music club in Tokyo, Japan.
31.
On June 14,2008, Sheila E performed at the Rhythm on the Vine music and wine festival at the South Coast Winery in Temecula, California for Shriners Hospital for Children.
32.
Sheila E took the stage with the E Family, Pete Escovedo, Juan Escovedo and Peter Michael Escovedo.
33.
On December 13,2009, Sheila E performed at the Deryck Walcott produced Christmas Jazz held at the Plantation Restaurant in Barbados.
34.
In 2009, Sheila E participated and won the CMT reality show, Gone Country.
35.
Sheila E performed two shows at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, on August 15,2010.
36.
Sheila E toured on his 20Ten Tour and Welcome 2 America tours.
37.
In 2010, Sheila E joined forces with Avon as a celebrity judge for Avon Voices, Avon's first global, online singing talent search for women and songwriting competition for men and women.
38.
On May 25,2011, Sheila E performed alongside Marc Anthony on the 10th-season finale of American Idol.
39.
On February 26,2012, Sheila E performed at the 2012 Academy Awards alongside Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer, playing the into and out of commercial segments.
40.
On June 16, Sheila E headlined the 2012 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.
41.
Sheila E toured in 2012 alongside Sy Smith throughout Europe and the United States.
42.
In 2016, Sheila E provided drums for Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's orchestral soundtrack to the blockbuster superhero films Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
43.
Sheila E is featured in Fred Armisen's 2018 Netflix comedy special Stand Up for Drummers.
44.
Sheila E plays percussion on a number of tracks on Gary Clark Jr.
45.
Sheila E performed and served as music director for Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince concert at the Staples Center on January 28,2020.
46.
In July 2020, Sheila E collaborated with MasterClass to create "Sheila E Teaches Drumming and Percussion".