Sheila E. knew Prince like no other, and she checked into the 'Big Show' with Scott Shannon and Patty Steele to share some memories of her friendship with "The Purple One."
She recalls meeting Prince in California back in the late '70s, when he was just a "baby Prince," as Scott would say, and immediately hit it off.
"We met in the bay area where I was born and raised in Oakland California, and he came there to do his first record, because he was inspired by Sly Stone and Carlos Santana. He wanted to be in that same environment and studio that they recorded."
[fembed ftype="blockquote" class="twitter-tweet" provider="twitter"][fembed ftype="p" lang="en" dir="ltr" provider="twitter"]“He was respected by so many, and he touched so many lives{*} He made music for everybody{*} And I really try to channel that when I make music{*}”
H{*}E{*}R{*} will perform "The Beautiful Ones" on "Let's Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute to Prince," airing Tuesday, April 21 at 9 p{*}m{*} ET on [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/CBS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]@CBS[/fembed]{*} [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://t{*}co/ff02KEc6Wc" provider="twitter"]pic{*}twitter{*}com/ff02KEc6Wc[/fembed][/fembed]— Prince (@prince) [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/prince/status/1252339296444407809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]April 20, 2020[/fembed][/fembed] [fembed ftype="script" async src="{protocol}s://platform{*}twitter{*}com/widgets{*}js" provider="twitter"][/fembed]
Sheila continued, "He came out to the bay and I met him when he was there, just finishing his record, he played a performance in San Francisco so I went backstage and said 'hello.' He was first starting his career, it was either '77 or '78, it was a long time ago."
Patty wondered, "Was he as electrifying in person or was kind of a quieter, calmer person?"
She says he was a soft-spoken man most of the time, "unless he was playing basketball," and other sports that got him riled up.
"It was a little bit of both," admits Sheila. "There were times he was quiet like, we all need that alone time. When it came to compete in basketball, or pool, or ping pong, or different things like that, he would get loud!"
[fembed ftype="blockquote" class="twitter-tweet" provider="twitter"][fembed ftype="p" lang="en" dir="ltr" provider="twitter"]Chris had the great pleasure of performing with [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/SusannaHoffs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]@SusannaHoffs[/fembed] at [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/RecordingAcad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]@RecordingAcad[/fembed]'s special tribute concert to Prince{*} The event was taped in January and airs on CBS in the US tomorrow night{*} A [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/hashtag/GRAMMYSalutePrince?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]#GRAMMYSalutePrince[/fembed] [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://t{*}co/E9RYsaDWz7" provider="twitter"]pic{*}twitter{*}com/E9RYsaDWz7[/fembed][/fembed]— Coldplay--?? (@coldplay) [fembed ftype="a" href="{protocol}s://twitter{*}com/coldplay/status/1252319916566462465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" provider="twitter"]April 20, 2020[/fembed][/fembed] [fembed ftype="script" async src="{protocol}s://platform{*}twitter{*}com/widgets{*}js" provider="twitter"][/fembed]
Sheila will be part of the “LET’S GO CRAZY: THE GRAMMY SALUTE TO PRINCE” that airs tonight, 4/21 at 9PM on CBS-2, 4 years to the date of his passing. Expect special performances from Prince’s catalog by Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Common, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Chris Martin o ...
