Everyone’s got rhythm,” according to Sheila E. “The first beat is a heartbeat”
Sheila E: the drummer’s drummer
“Everyone’s got rhythm,” according to Sheila E. “The first beat is a heartbeat”
Sheila Escovedo is probably the world’s most famous percussionist, and certainly the most glamorous. Everyone knows her as Prince’s rhythm queen, the powerhouse drummer behind the classic grooves of Sign O The Times and Lovesexy and an Eighties pop star in her own right with hits like The Glamorous Life and A Love Bizarre. Back with a new solo album, Icon, Sheila E joins Neil McCormick on Needle Time to discuss a lifetime in music.
In an entertaining interview, Sheila talks candidly about growing up in a Latin musical dynasty and practising til her hands would bleed to become a hot teenage percussionist for stars like Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross. Sheila’s sense of musicality shines through as she talks about the intricacies of drumming and describes performing as being like “an out of body experience.” She tells revealing and amusing stories of messing up with Marvin Gaye (and blaming her brother), having “a non-stop blast with Prince”, singing on ‘We Are The World’ and why Ringo Starr once told her: “You are the drummer and don’t forget it.”
The drummer behind the Beatle’s drummer: it doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Watch the preview here:
