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UP FRONT | MUSIC

THIRTY-TWO YEARS AFTER the release of her debut solo album, The Glamorous Life, Sheila Escovedo, known around the globe as Sheila E., remains passionate about her craft and artistry.

In the late 1970s, the Bay Area native and self-taught doyenne of drums was an established musi-cian who had already performed with George Duke, Herbie Hancock and Lionel Richie when she was introduced at a local concert to a relatively unknown musician named Prince Rogers Nelson, who was in town recording an album.

“I’m a timbales player and I want to front my own band,” Escovedo told the virtuoso performer with “the striking eyes.” The two became friends and, as she puts it, “jammed a little bit.” They soon began collaborating musically, and

Connect!Catch up with Sheila E.

at sheilae.com

Never Missing a Beat

Sheila E. still leads a glamorous life

BY JENNIFER E. MABRY

he helped her land a record deal with Warner Bros.

The Glamorous Life — the album’s title track — de-buted in 1984 with a stew of Latin jazz, R&B, pop, rock and funk rhythms. The single peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100; the album spent 46 weeks on the Billboard charts.

At 58, Escovedo still leads a glamorous — albeit lower-profile — life and regularly performs as a soloist and featured artist with her father’s Latin jazz orchestra.

This past summer, she performed a heart-thumping medley of songs in a much-publicized BET Awards tribute to Prince, who died suddenly in April at the age of 57. She later released a single, Girl Meets Boy, inspired by their first meeting.

Escovedo says she has always been driven by a deeper purpose, beyond the stardom of show business: to connect with others using her musical talent.

“My passion comes from God,” she says. “I know for a fact that I have a gift, and I don’t take it for granted. This is what I am supposed to be doing.”

She’s not just a musician. Sheila E. has appeared in films and written a book.

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