now to another grammy-nominated artist
who was in Detroit tonight to bring down
the house Sheila E has been following
the beat of her own drum
for years taking her across the country
and racing up the musical charts and
around the globe right that's setting
with the percussion she's in town
tonight at sound board at Motor City
casino guess what Sheila E joins us now
live in studio welcome back to Detroit
thank you we have all been so excited to
have you here in studio there's a lot of
fan Girling go a lot of fan girl fan
Girling fan gang the studio everyone we
will you come up and have her sign this
album please since you went home to get
it oh my god yeah I went over to my
mom's house and had her this isn't great
condition by the way this is worth a lot
of money right oh no and when I sign it
it's gonna really be exposed how do you
spell your name SH er EE alright
Minneapolis royalty I'm signing this
backwards so in order for you to read
this you have to put it in the mirror oh
I love it that was really and how did
you do that nice to meet you oh that's
just something I do another crazy guy
that's cool that's musical brilliance
thing you know you could you know your
brains are like have wired way more than
people who don't know how to play
musical instruments I'm smelling you I
think so I really think so there's this
great breakfast spot up the street it's
called The Clique I think they have
cream of wheat you and me after the show
let's go of course if you were to say
cream of wheat or grits I would have
said grits they have grits there's all
these yeah breakfast you and me alright
wink wink
you just made his 2019 all right you've
had an amazing career that is still
going strong
tell us about your current tour oh yeah
we've been out on tour
Wow most of last year and this in the
beginning of this year but we're playing
tonight and we're excited first of all
to just be into
joy love Detroit we always end up
starting like the beginning of our our
next season in Detroit because they're
the best audience I love Detroit when I
first started on the Purple Reign tour
we started here in Detroit and 84 you
weren't born there but that's okay
but it was amazing but I love Detroit
and we've been on tour we're gonna do
some other dates with probably Earth
Wind and Fire again which we were here
recently with Earth Wind and Fire so
we're excited
definitely born though is iconic message
for America and it seemed like a passion
project for you because you know when I
did see you in shame Park last number
you did talk about a lot of things that
were in your heart share that with us
yeah this record was at a time where the
election had started and I was going to
put out a dance record and there was
just no way that I would put a dance
forget out based on the things that were
happening with the bullying and I just
our country had changed and the fastest
way for me to put a record out was to go
back to listening to songs that I grew
up listening to in the 60s and 70s and
the lyric content were relevant to
what's happening in our country right
now so I thought let me get some of my
friends who have even written some of
these songs like Ringo Starr and George
Clinton Bootsy Collins Israel Houghton
just an activist Angela Davis activist
Dolores Huerta my family put them on the
record and and you know stand together
as we need to come together as a country
you know and and change because hate and
and love do not exist the same
atmosphere you have to pick one or the
other and with love we can change many
things we can change everything
yes you know you mentioned 1984 you
think back to pre social media pre
smartphones three every I mean ant top
40 radio ruled everybody listen to it
unless you only listen to country music
or something like that but it was wide
ranging and you had a lot of different
acts a lot of different genres on the
charts do you miss that I mean because
that was my oh you know absolutely
growing up in the Bay Area in Oakland
California it was great because there
are stations that played all kind of
music on one station and that's what we
that's part of the foundation of who I
am as an artist listening to Grateful
Dead clete Creedence Clearwater and then
Sly and the Family Stone anyone from
Motown James
Stevie Wonder it was just amazing so to
hear all of that on one station and now
things have changed and they seems like
they keep playing the same 10 songs over
and over again so I just have my own
playlist
it's 1984 you're driving right and you
got the radio line yeah and Chaka Khan
comes on with I feel for you you know
like German channel and then she's in
her car and your song comes on so were
you aware of each know I grew actually I
met Chaka when I was 16 and she had come
to play in San Francisco and that's when
I first met her so I'd known her before
then yeah my Jam's
a Buick Skyhawk well you I mean you
started finding your beat as they say at
a very young age do you ever look back
and be in all about how far your talent
has taken you around the world Grammy
nominations no it's it's been amazing
it's definitely a blessing I mean
growing up watching my dad play he still
plays he still plays with us know it's
been amazing
I mean everyone asked me if I wasn't
playing percussion what would I be doing
my mom is pretty much the athlete and I
wanted to be an athlete so I wanted to I
ran track and field I broke all records
in junior high school I was training to
be in the Olympics I wanted to win a
gold medal in the Olympics that's what I
wanted to do and then I play one show
with my dad at 15 that just changed my
life and it was like okay I think I'm
supposed to be a musician but being a
musician and the way that we play in our
shows it's like being an athlete it's no
joke you're moving onstage you're not
keeping so this is gonna be a banger of
a show I already know well we've made it
deep into this interview we have not
mentioned princes name yet so of course
we're going to bring him up what do you
remember most what was inspirational
about him working with him I think it
was him working with me I introduced him
to a lot of music a lot of things that
he had I mean Latin jazz he had never
heard about but we just got along well I
instantly when I first met him he had
already been following my career with
George Duke back then and he wanted me
to play drums he asked me how much I
play how much did
I get being paid by George Duke and I
told him he's like I can't afford you
and we became friends right away and we
just hung out constantly just sharing
music ideas and just having fun you know
living life like you're supposed to
awesome yeah that's awesome
Wow what a court that's just amazing
when I think about like yeah we was just
hanging out with Prince we were friends
so regular to you but for us it's it's
amazing I do want to say one thing that
we are aside from Prince but we are
doing like a prince a prince tribute I
have a Island escape that's happening in
Costa mujeres Cancun March 14th through
the 20th you can spend a week with me
but we're doing a tribute to Prince we
have my dad playing Debbie Nova Lina and
also Toni sukar we're doing a Latin
tribute to Michael Jackson which is
incredible and so you can go on my
website she let you come and join us for
a week it's gonna be crazy we've done
already tell I was looking at that
website this morning I was like this
party on a boat oh my god work mamasay
mamasa mamakusa into like a percussion
just like that
well Detroit loves you thank you and
they're gonna give an incredible
performance tonight like I said I loved
you get to see you this summer
so tell us about your book though before
we let you go the beat of my own drum I
did it took me a couple years to write
it but it was something that I wanted to
write a long time ago
and I had started and stopped and it's
really about things that have happened
to me when I how I started my career who
I loved who I fell in love with was
going to be married a couple of times
all the other stuff that you hear and
you know things that happened to me when
I was young that changed my life that
it's horrible but in deep description
but it took a minute to write but I'm
really glad that I did because it's
actually helped a lot of people with
their issues as well beautiful
Sheila E thank you so thank you thank
you get that uber to go over to the club
board tonight
tickets are available online Jason he
might not be at work tomorrow
you're doing the rescue show by yourself