Prince first met Sheila Escovedo, a.k.a. Sheila E., in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s when she was performing with her father, Pete Escovedo. By that point Sheila was already an established and well-respected young percussionist, performing with artists like George Duke and Herbie Hancock, and Prince was eager to find a way for her to collaborate with him. Their friendship eventually blossomed into a musical partnership in 1984, when Sheila participated in some of the sessions for Purple Rain, and Prince was soon encouraging her to step into the spotlight and record her first album as a solo artist.
We really challenged each other.”
Sheila E., Rolling Stone, 2017
The resulting record, The Glamorous Life, was produced by Prince under the pseudonym the Starr Company, and all six tracks were written by Prince. The album was a wild success, with the title track leaping into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it brought Sheila a new level of visibility and acclaim in the music industry. The video for “The Glamorous Life” was nominated for three MTV Awards, and she received Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female.
The Glamorous Life Album Credits
Sheila E. lead vocals, percussion, director David Coleman cello Nick DeCaro accordion Jill Jones background vocals Brenda Bennett background vocals Novi Novog violin Larry Williams saxophone
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