Did they have a thing or where they just "friends"?

Sheila was pretty fine herself, makes you wonder if she was ever considered to replace Vanity in Purple Rain or in the movie in general?

better actress than vanity would you say? I would have loved to have seen sheila E. in that role!

Since they are still pals today, I'd say there was no romance

Shelia is the best!

IMO having so much in common (musically) it might have been an ideal match, but seeing that they are still friends today - I'm going to guess probably not. Yes, it is possible to date someone and still be friends after you break up but considering she has toured with him so much (with all the other women he has been involved with being around) I it would be uncomfortable if something had happened between them. Also she is friends with Carmen Electra (see pics on Sheila's website) and Apollonia is also on the Family Jam (pics site). But in reality, who really knows?

Here is an Interview she did:
Excerpts taken from The Fuse (Online Rock Journal) http://www.the-fuze.com/sheilae.html

You’d already had experience recording and touring with your father Pete Escovedo, and with George Duke, several years before ‘The Glamorous Life’ came out. What were you doing when Prince entered the picture?

Well, I met him in 1978. Around that time, I was out on tour with George Duke. I went to see him at one of his concerts and I was so excited because I’d been hearing about him. My dad was with Santana then, and the whole Santana band was bragging about this guy – this young kid – who was producing and recording by himself, playing all the instruments and writing the songs. There was a big buzz in the Bay Area about that. So I couldn’t wait to meet him. I went to his concert, and was walking up to him to introduce myself. I was still Sheila Escovedo at that time. He turned around and put his hand out and said “Wow, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” I thought “Ok…I was just getting ready to introduce myself.” He just kind of threw me off, and he told me he had been following my career for a long time. He had been watching George Duke and saw me playing drums, and him and Andre Simone were arguing about who was gonna marry me. (laughs)

It certainly didn’t hurt to have Prince in your corner when you kicked off your solo career, but did his influence ever become smothering?

No, uh-uh. What attracted us to each other was the music. At the time I met him, he started coming and hanging around with my family because I was playing with my dad off and on, and he was like “Wow.” He had never seen anything like that, or heard anything like that. To see the family playing together is a dream-come- true for a lot of people, a lot of artists. It was something that we had that was very special and unique. He was attracted to that, he was attracted to the different types of music that I grew up listening to, and our lives are worlds apart. We were never smothered by each other, him by me or me by him. If anything, we’ve learned a lot, shared a lot and given to each other.

How is it that, twenty years on, you’re just about the only one who still maintains a working relationship with Prince?

I don’t know. We were friends first, and I’ve been with him almost from the beginning, I guess, pretty much throughout his career. There were a couple of years we didn’t see each other, and then in ’83, when I was with Lionel [Richie] and Marvin [Gaye], we got together again and started working. It was just great. Again, it’s really the music that brought us together. The fun part about being his friend was I think he hadn’t met anyone who was as competitive as he was. And being a woman, he was like “Oh, I have to beat her!” It was that kind of thing. Growing up in a family that was very competitive - my mom and all her brothers and sisters were very athletic – I was very athletic, and so was Prince. We’d play basketball, we’d play ping pong, we’d play pool – we did everything besides recording music. And so I was able to hang with him as a buddy, almost - as a friend.

I read somewhere that the were engaged at one time.

SHE'S TOO STRONG AND INDEPENDENT FOR PRINCE. AND TOO OLD NOW. BUT LATIN ENOUGH. BUT TOO OLD.

I really really suspect she's lesbian.

uptown26 said:

Yeah,I read an article in the 90s where Sheila admitted that they were engaged in 1988.She said that he had too many other women,which is why she never married him.Apparently,he wasn't willing to commit to only her.

I've also heard she's a lesbian. She is also an internally beautiful woman, just a real, true sweetheart by all accounts.

gantonio said:

According to the book "Posessed" The Rise and Fall of Prince, he had a on/off romantic relationship with Sheila who apparently really gave her heart away. She wanted to marry P.

he shagged her,

Sheila's song "Sister Fate" is about her relationship with Prince,isn't it?

does it matter? Leeeeeave tha passssst behiiiiind

I think So and she SEEMS TO BE VERY JEALOUS Of OTHER WOMEN WHO LOVE HIM....

DAM-MIT! this question is like the annoying pimple that wont go away!! Like so many other topics here...

Zelaira said:

Yes, all women should just allow their men to cheat. What's wrong with them anyway?