Alan Light “I forget about a lot of the things that I’ve done until someone brings it up,” says Sheila E. “I wish I could remember everything, when there’s so much that I’ve done!
I look back and reflect a little bit, but I’m always in the moment and I feel that there’s so much more for me to do.” On July 12, Sheila E.’s remarkable career will be recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “It’s something that never even crossed my mind,” she says of the honor. “Well, it probably did when I was younger, because growing up in the Bay Area, we would drive to Los Angeles and go, ‘Wow, look, this is Hollywood!’ So it’s very humbling.” It’s been a long, wild ride for the woman known as “the Queen of Percussion.” In addition to her hits such as “The Glamorous Life” and “A Love Bizarre,” and her long affiliation with Prince, there were her early days touring with such legends as Marvin Gaye and Lionel Richie; her collaborations with a range of superstars including Beyoncé, Phil Collins and Gloria Estefan; her extensive work in film and TV and a five-year run with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Starr has high praise for his fellow percussionist. “Sheila is an incredible drummer and bandmate,” he tells Variety. “The best example I can give you is to tell the story of when we were on tour: It was the first show of that particular tour and sometime around soundcheck Sheila tripped over some wires.
She had to be taken to the hospital and returned in a wheelchair carrying crutches. But did that stop her? No! Not only did she play that night — she wore her high heels over her sprained ankle when it came time to doing her number!
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