In such an illustrious career, you might think there are few “firsts” left for Sheila E to conquer. She started performing age five and played with her father’s band. She joined the George Duke Band in 1977, the same year she met Prince, who would become perhaps her greatest collaborator. She’s toured with the likes of Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye and Herbie Hancock, and drummed for artists including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross and Jennifer Lopez. Yet this year, she released her very first salsa album, Bailar, featuring the likes of Gloria Estefan and Rubén Blades.
You can ask Sheila about any of that – or indeed growing up in the Bay Area, having Tito Puente as her godfather, learning to play drums on pots and pans, what it was like becoming a star with her debut solo album The Glamorous Life in 1984 or becoming the musical director of the Grammys’ Prince tribute in April 2020 – when she sits for the Guardian’s reader interview next week. Post your questions in the comments by 10am BST on Tuesday 16 April and we’ll put the best to her next week.
