Here is a link to a fairly recent interview with Sheila E.:

http://www.crosswalk.com/...00,00.html

Sheila E: Playing to the Heartbeat of God

By Janet Chismar
Senior Editor, News & Culture
May 28, 2002

The former Prince protege now drums to a very different beat. Along a rocky
path, Sheila found God.

Crosswalk.com News Channel - With her trademark five-inch heels, sultry
beauty and unusual talent on drums, Sheila E. piqued the public's imagination
in the 1980s, courtesy of MTV, as Prince's protege. Sheila had appeared as a
vocalist on the b-side of Prince's hit, "Let's Go Crazy." With that exposure,
she signed a solo record contract with Warner Brothers Records. Her debut
album, In The Glamorous Life, yielded the US Top 10 single of the same name
and the U.K Top 20 hit, "The Belle Of St. Mark." Her sophomore project, In
Romance 1600, was released on Prince's Paisley Park label in 1985 and
featured the hit single, "A Love Bizarre," with Prince himself on backing
vocals.
Sheila Escovedo's musical career began much earlier, however. Growing up in
Oakland, Calif., Sheila was highly influenced by her father, Pete Escovedo,
then band leader of the group Azteca. While watching him rehearse, she
started banging on conga drums at the age of three. At the tender age of 5,
with 3000 audience members watching, the little girl was invited on stage by
her father to play a solo. After an overwhelming response and feeling of
heaven on earth, Sheila told her dad that she knew exactly what she wanted to
do. She was going to be a percussionist.

While in high school, Sheila played with her father's band, appearing on two
of his albums. Soon after, she met Prince and was quickly thrust into the
spotlight. But few people knew that underneath the glamorous exterior,
Sheila's heart ached for God.

Her journey has been winding and often painful. She has endured intense
physical suffering, and was abused by neighbors as a child. But the Lord used
that anguish to lead Sheila into His arms. Now she wholeheartedly serves the
Kingdom, using her talent to His glory. Her new CD, Heaven, includes songs
such as "Anticipation," "Joy," "Heaven," "Waiting For You," "Trust Me,"
"Closer," "River God" and "Revelation."

Her ministry, The Lil' Angel Bunny Foundation, is an organization committed
to providing abused and abandoned children with exceptional care by promoting
a healthy self-awareness through music, the arts, and human compassion. They
supply funding to special programs and services that assist in the needs of
disadvantaged children throughout California, and eventually the United
States.

Sheila will play this Saturday, May 25, at the American Worship Gathering in
Washington, D.C. She also traveled to Seoul, South Korea, last October with
the Worship Alliance artists for an event called "Korea Worship Explosion."
It was there that I got to sit down with Sheila and hear how she found the
Lord.

Janet: Many of our readers may not realize you are a follower of Christ. Can
you trace your story for them? How and when did you come to know Jesus as
your savior?

Sheila: Well, I was raised Catholic and only went to church because we had
to. I actually gave my heart to the Lord the first time when I was 18. I was
playing in George Duke's band and one of the singers was driving me to a
meeting and I was crying, just stressed out. There was a bunch of stuff going
on and I said, "You know what? This is crazy." She said, "Look, if you just
give your heart to the Lord, everything will be fine." And I thought, "You
know, it's not that easy." She said, "No, really, really."

So we prayed in the car. I went into the meeting and she came back and picked
me up. I actually felt better, relieved, and we just talked. We were out on
tour at the time. When we came back, I was doing session work in Los Angeles,
and there were a lot of Christians, very famous people in the secular mind.
And I saw how they acted and I said, "I don't want to be a Christian because
the things that they are doing are so wrong." I felt I was better off not
being a Christian. I was very discouraged because of how Christians were
acting and because, back then, "the thing" to be or become was born again. It
was like a fad, you know? So, I just got turned off.

Janet: How did the Lord recapture you after your detour?

Sheila: I had actually met Prince in 1978; we've been friends for the entire
time. In 1991, I finally quit his band and the whole organization. I was
totally exhausted. So, I went to Japan with my band to do a tour and when I
came back, my neck was really bothering me. I was stressed out and totally
exhausted, mentally and physically. I went to get acupuncture and they
punctured my lung accidentally.

That really turned me upside down, because I was so used to being able to do
whatever I wanted to do. It just knocked me down. At first, I didn't even
know. I was walking around for three days mixing my record and I kept saying,
"Something is wrong, I just can't breathe," and I almost passed out. One of
my managers back then, whose sister worked in a hospital, said, "You better
go get some X-rays." I went and they determined my left lung was 80 percent
collapsed. They told me, "You're lucky to be alive - you could have died." I
was so scared.

I stayed in the hospital about a week, and mentally, that shut me down. I've
been through a lot in my entire life, my life has been up and down, but that
just really messed me up. I thought, "Man, I'm not invincible," you know?
"I'm not in control. Lord, please help me, what am I going to do?"

When I got out of the hospital, about a week later, I flew back to
Minneapolis. While I was there, I was taking medication and it made me really
sick. It was making me lose weight. And I had happened to turn around to
sneeze, and my back went out. I fell to the ground and my legs gave out. I
couldn't walk, so they had to carry me around, and I was temporarily
paralyzed for two weeks.

Janet: What was that from?

Sheila: It was actually from playing drums. I had worked myself for 10 years
nonstop on tour, not getting any sleep, traveling the entire time and not
resting. Plus, playing in five-inch heels for eight to 10 hours a day, it
shortened my calf muscles and messed up my back.

I had left Prince's band anyway because I really felt his direction was
wrong, I was uncomfortable, you know? I was changing and I knew something was
missing, but I didn't know what. I knew that my life had to change and I
didn't want to live that way anymore or be in that environment, where it was
always so negative. It was just wrong.

So anyway, when my body shut down, I couldn't walk. I had to fly my doctor in
from Los Angeles into Minneapolis. He stayed there to work with me, but it
took a long time, and plus the medicine was making me sick. I got to the
point where I was 85 pounds. I was thin; I couldn't eat. My cousin was
spoon-feeding me. It would take me 20 minutes to eat a spoon of mashed
potatoes because my body had no energy. I actually thought I was going to
die. My body shut down, I shut down, I was really scared.

It was then that I decided, "You know what, Lord? If you just give me another
chance, I'll do whatever you want me to do." I got the Bible and I started
reading and I kept it on my chest. I slept with it and never took it out of
my hand for weeks.

I had been stuck in the house because I couldn't get up. And I was afraid.
Fear had overtaken my body. I was afraid to get in the elevator to go
downstairs because I thought that I was going to die, that something would
happen if I left my comfort zone.

Finally, I got in the elevator and got downstairs and I walked outside. I
hadn't been outside in a month. As soon as I walked outside, I saw this crack
on the ground and I bent over and touched it. I just cried. Then I went over
and I touched the grass and I just couldn't believe the feel - to touch and
feel grass. Then, I walked over to a tree and I just hugged the tree. I
looked up at the sky and it was so blue. I laid on the grass on my back and
said, "Lord, look at all these wonderful things you've given us that we just
take for granted. I thought that I needed this and I needed that, but I only
need you." That was the turning point.

Read Part Two here: Part Two: Sheila E. Undergoes a True Revolution
Part Two: Sheila E. Undergoes a True Revolution

By Janet Chismar
Senior Editor, News & Culture
May 28, 2002

Crosswalk.com News Channel - Even in 2002, some people associate Sheila E
with the '80s and the artist formerly known as Prince. Her remarkable talent
on drums, signature five-inch heels and collaboration with Prince & the
Revolution catapulted the sultry beauty into the public spotlight in 1984.
Her debut album, In The Glamorous Life, yielded a Top 10 single of the same
name, while her sophomore project, In Romance 1600, was released on Prince's
Paisley Park label in 1985 and featured the hit single, "A Love Bizarre."
Despite the fame and glamour of her early days, Sheila often felt alone and
scared. Childhood abuse and the rigors of road life exacted an overwhelming
physical and emotional toll. After a long illness, Sheila was ready to move
from the head-knowledge she had of God in younger years, to a heart fully
yielded: "When my body shut down, I couldn't walk. I got to the point where I
was 85 pounds ... and couldn't eat. My cousin was spoon-feeding me ... and I
actually thought I was going to die. I was really scared. It was then that I
decided, "You know what, Lord? If you just give me another chance, I'll do
whatever you want me to do." I got the Bible and I started reading and I kept
it on my chest. I slept with it and never took it out of my hand for weeks."

We pick up our interview there.

Janet: What happened after you gave Christ control of your life?

Sheila: After that day, God started revealing so many things to me. He
showed me why I was the way I was. Our pastor told us that we had to do some
studying and everyone had to take a turn teaching Bible study, which forced
us to really dig deep. It was at that particular time that God showed me so
many things. It was overwhelming. I had put so many things in the back of my
head and didn't realize why I was doing certain things.

I finally figured out that I was raped at 5 by a babysitter and molested by
cousins and neighbors next door. I remember one time, being at the neighbors'
house, and the little boy put glue in a bag and had me sniff glue. Then
they'd just, you know, mess with me. I had thrown all that away; I just hid
everything in the back of my mind. Another thing, I never wanted a telephone
in my bedroom - and any kind of alarm clock had to be really silent - low
volume and barely enough to wake me up. The Lord showed me that I didn't want
anything to wake me up because that was always the time, when my parents left
and I was sleeping, that the guys would come and wake me up and do whatever
they needed to do. And I just laid there. Remembering all that blew me away,
because I didn't even know why, when something woke me up like a phone, it
would really startle me.

Also, after I accepted Christ, I started calling people and I said, "You know
what? I'm sorry that I did this or that. I'm really sorry." And He had me
continue to call and I'm still apologizing, 10 years later. I wanted to be a
good person. It's not that I did anything bad because I wanted to - it was
like I was forced to in a way, just to fight back.

Janet: It seems as if you are now using your past hurt to help others. Have
you found a good support system and place to grow?

Sheila: Well, back in '93, at Bible Enrichment Fellowship International
Church - the pastor is Dr. Beverly Crawford - it was Easter and she had a
speaker that day. And he started prophesying and said, "You know what I
think? There's someone here that knows that they're a leader" and I was the
first one to stand up. I didn't do that by choice either -that was God!
Because I didn't want to stand up there saying, "Hey yeah, I'm ready to do
it." That was another changing time in my life.

So, yes, I found a good church and my pastor is just wonderful and anointed,
and our musical ministry is just incredible. I'm getting the best of both
worlds - good Word and good praise and worship. Church is about praise and
worship, the foundation. It's totally changed my life. I can't even imagine,
when I think about the things that I had done not being a believer, His grace
is so amazing.

Janet: What is your latest project musically?

Sheila: Right now, I have a new record out. It came out the day of the
bombing, September 11th, and it's called "Heaven." I had barely two weeks to
do the record and I went in with one song and that was it. But God
orchestrated that because it was supposed to be a smooth jazz record, and it
ended up being an inspirational gospel record. God just brought the right
people and it was the most fun I've had doing a record in my entire life.

WOW! Isn't it amazing how many of Prince's former bandmembers/proteges' eventully turn to religion? Gayle Chapman,Dez Dickerson,Vanity,BrownMark,and now Sheila.He could form a new religious band with these people...lol...

Very touching article. I knew Sheila was born-again, but I had no idea she had been through so much before getting there.

thanks for the post. another reason why she's so beautiful