So, I came across a video on Youtube where Sheila E. was promoting her book a few years ago and she mentioned to the interviewer that at one point she owed Prince $1 million! Am I the only one here who never knew this? She said that she would make requests for things and that it seemed that money was no issue until the bill came, so to speak. She didn't suggest she asked Prince directly but it seemed that she was asking a "team member" for these things.

It was said in the interview that Sheila eventually paid off the debt. So, do any of you have any other info about this? This was my first time learning this!

yeah,I remeber this story.There were screaming headlines like "I was broke when I was with Prince",or something to that effect Seems that Sheila was having some financial problems in the late 80s,and Prince paid off her debt...if I remember correctly.

here is an old thread on the topic:

Sheila E: 'Prince left me penniless.'

SeventeenDayze said:

SoulAlive said:

here is an old thread on the topic:

Sheila E: 'Prince left me penniless.'

Thanks! Just read the whole thread....very interesting...

He probably owed her 2 million.

As I recall, she owed him for expenses on the Purple Rain tour. She kept spending money on things for the show thinking that they were covered by the tour, but once the tour was over, he gave her a bill for all that she'd spent beyond what was budgeted, so she left the biggest tour of the year broke... actually less than broke, she left the tour in debt.

No huge royalties to be made on her albums since the majority of tracks were written by Prince. She had some B-side money (and the b-side makes as much in royalties as the a-side of a single), but the majority of money made from Sheila's albums went to Prince.

She is incredibly talented and it is always unfortunate to hear stories about someone who didn't read the fine print.

madhouseman said:

As I recall, she owed him for expenses on the Purple Rain tour. She kept spending money on things for the show thinking that they were covered by the tour, but once the tour was over, he gave her a bill for all that she'd spent beyond what was budgeted, so she left the biggest tour of the year broke... actually less than broke, she left the tour in debt.

No huge royalties to be made on her albums since the majority of tracks were written by Prince. She had some B-side money (and the b-side makes as much in royalties as the a-side of a single), but the majority of money made from Sheila's albums went to Prince.

She is incredibly talented and it is always unfortunate to hear stories about someone who didn't read the fine print.

Wow, it's interesting to hear stories like this. It's amazing how much business acumen Prince appeared to have at such a young age. Did Prince go to law school and never tell anybody? LOL

SeventeenDayze said:

controversy99 said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Wow, it's interesting to hear stories like this. It's amazing how much business acumen Prince appeared to have at such a young age. Did Prince go to law school and never tell anybody? LOL

Business acumen?! Seriously? I'm not usually a hater, but let's think for a minute. Prince meets a talented and beautiful woman, they start to record music together and tour together, and they're rumored to be dating or actually are dating. Then, at the end of the tour, she's $1,000,000 in debt. How is that smart business? It's not like Prince somehow made a $1,000,000 here. All the money went to others -- clothing stores, restaurants, jewelers, shoe stores, etc., wherever Sheila spent the money.

In her book she did specify that she got use to whatever she wanted having it everything virtually at the tip of her fingers, something along those lines, and didn't realize she was actually being charged for it. I'm sure there were surcharges for people going to get things she requested. I'm sure it doesn't take much if you're not paying attention and you think someone else is picking up the tab. Hotels, car service, valets, so on and so forth.


I don't recall her book stating that Prince paid her debt off though. I'm sure it was more like she was very disappointed with the first few royalty checks that came through.

Sadly,this same situation has happened to many others,too....Toni Braxton comes to mind.

Donna Summer once said that,when one of her late-70s tours was over,she discovered that she actually owed a few million dollars.

Sh*t!!!! Why U think Jam & Lewis got stuck in Atlanta making some REAL $$$???

I always though it was odd Sheila didn't know about budgets because she toured with Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, and Santana before Prince's Purple Rain tour...idk

Being a Prince protege meant that you would get alot of media attention (especially back in the 80s) but you weren't making alot of money.With Prince writing and producing all of your music,these proteges weren't making much cash from the albums at all.And if you tried to make a little money outside of the camp (such as when Morris Day wanted to do a song with Evelyn Champagne King,for her album),Prince would get pissed.

does that mean SHE's the subject of that I Hate U remix?

Sure blame 4 everything...

Heh! When Sheila asked for all of whatever-that-stuff-was-back-then, she forgot to ask who's paying for it! Freebies do not exist. She found out about that!

he actually owes her money from the songs she co-wrote and didn't any publishing. even though its her fault for not taking care of the business before going into the studio. at least she got publishing from Eric Leeds album but Jazz albums tend to not sell very well