{"id":510245,"date":"2026-01-12T06:38:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T06:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510245\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T06:38:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T06:38:24","slug":"queen-of-percussion-sheila-e-heads-to-phoenix-for-two-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510245\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Queen of Percussion\u2019 Sheila E. heads to Phoenix for two shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sheila E. and the E. Train<\/a>\u00a0are taking over the\u00a0Musical Instrument Museum<\/a>\u00a0for two nights, Jan. 12 and 13, with two shows each evening to serve up a mix of Latin-pop, soul, funk and R&B. <\/p>\n

The vigorous show, delivered by expert-level players, is nothing short of a masterclass in percussion and rhythm led by Sheila E., an unstoppable, dynamic performer who continues to dazzle. In 2021, she received a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, followed by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a couple of years later. And if you think for a second, she\u2019s not still having a blast, peep her 2024 Tiny Desk Concert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oakland native Sheila Escovido, best known as Sheila E., has music in her blood. Her father is percussionist Pete Escovedo, and her uncles include Coke Escovedo, who played in Santana, and Alejandro Escovedo of the early San Francisco punk band The Nuns, who has gone on to have a prolific and critically acclaimed solo career. The family\u2019s musical accomplishments can fill a lengthy scroll.<\/p>\n

She has been playing live since the 1970s and became a mainstream success in the early 1980s with the release of her record, \u201cThe Glamorous Life.\u201d It reinforced why she became a household name. A precision drummer with a great voice delivering infectious songs with energy you wish you could bottle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her gravitation to rhythm instruments started early. \u201cI was young, 5 years old. My parents noticed that I loved percussion. My dad would play every single day at home. He\u2019d practice to vinyl, so there was live music and music in the house every day,\u201d she says. But a few years later, she pivoted. \u201cWhen I was 9, he wanted me to take violin lessons. I was like \u2018violin?\u2019 but I did it. I took lessons for five years, but still dabbled in percussion. When he would get up to stop playing, I\u2019d jump on his congas or timbales and play them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Sheila E. performs onstage during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Peacock Theater on February 04, 2024, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that much longer until she got a chance to do more than that. When she was 15, her dad\u2019s band, Azteca<\/a>, was touring with Earth, Wind & Fire, Santana<\/a>, and The Temptations when their drummer got sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI told my dad, \u2018I know every single song by heart, I can replace him,\u2019 she says. And it happened, and it was the moment that truly solidified the course of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne gig, a show in San Francisco in front of 3,000 people, that day changed my life. I realized this was what I was supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might seem like, with all of that musical immersion at home and that deep attraction to percussion, that this would come as no surprise, but there was another path Sheila was on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was training for the Olympics. I was a track star sprinter. So, that\u2019s what I wanted to do. I wanted to win a gold medal, and I knew I was going to win one, and that one show changed my life at 15 years old with my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after years of intense training, the choice was much easier than you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love competing,\u201d she tells us. \u201cI was breaking records in all the schools and at the different meets. I was also part of an undefeated women\u2019s soccer team for five years, and I won trophies for scoring the most goals and other achievements. It was nonstop, and it was my life, even though I played music with local bands, and I loved it. But the one show, once that happened, I realized this is not what I\u2019m supposed to be doing. I had an out-of-body experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emotional charge from that show changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my dad and I got off stage, we both started crying, and I said, \u2018You know, Daddy, this is what I\u2019m supposed to do. I\u2019m supposed to play music,\u2019\u00a0 and he\u2019s like, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019 He didn\u2019t realize it either. He had seen me play with the local band, but playing with his eighteen-piece band was a different story. I said, \u2018I need to go out on tour with you,\u2019 and two weeks later, we got on a plane to Colombia, and that was the beginning of my new life. I never turned back.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a huge life choice to make, but Sheila E. has absolutely no regrets. All that athleticism, in its physical and psychological intensity, to her was \u201ctraining.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran 30 miles a week, training for soccer. All that running for both soccer and track led me to where I am today. To play drums the way that I play, that was my training to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Throughout her career, Sheila E. has collaborated with numerous legends. Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Prince and Lionel Richie. And aside from the violin, she cites experience as the entirety of her music education. \u201cI learned so much playing with everyone. With Lionel, I watched how his team put together the show. I was a sponge and absorbed it all \u2014 why he had to stand in certain spots, how to set up the stage. I was always asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of that served her well. In addition to her own prolific musical career, the artist has also produced shows for other acts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not to put her on the spot, but I had to ask how it feels to be such a prominent inspiration for people, especially women, who want to play music. Let\u2019s face it, when she broke through, you\u2019d hear names like Neil Peart, Phil Collins and Rick Allen, when it came to drummers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not many women in the mix. She didn\u2019t just break through, she broke ground.<\/p>\n

Sheila says she doesn\u2019t think about that until someone brings it up. And recently, that happened. Someone she knows just shared an example of that with her, in the form of a video of a performer sharing her own musical journey and how a personal message from Sheila E. 10 years ago was a driving force for her to stay on the path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched it, and I cried,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her passion for everything she does is electric. The same can be said for the gratitude she expresses for how things have unfolded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came from working clubs, having no money, my parents being on welfare and food stamps. Sometimes my dad and I would play in a small club and make $20, barely having enough to buy milk and bread for the family. I\u2019ve just learned so much from everything I\u2019ve done and everyone I\u2019ve worked with. The education of life and learning, and being open to learning, is the biggest lesson ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re heading to the show, Sheila E. says to \u201cbe prepared to be taken on a musical journey, literally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and uplifting. You\u2019re gonna sing and dance, and also, be prepared \u2026 we\u2019re known to bring people on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheila E. and the E-Train play at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 12 and 13<\/a> at the Musical Instrument Museum.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sheila E. and the E. Train\u00a0are taking over the\u00a0Musical Instrument Museum\u00a0for two nights, Jan. 12 and 13, with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":510246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,132130,1589,132131,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-510245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-concert-previews","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-touring-artists","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115880755457512787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}