The scion of the Escovedo musical dynasty, which included her father Pete Escovedo and uncle Alejandro, Sheila E.'s most frequent collaborator was the rock icon Prince. She began performing as a teenager alongside her father and uncle in their Latin funk band Azteca, before working as a session player for Marvin Gaye and George Duke. She finally stepped into the spotlight with her Top 30 solo debut, The Glamorous Life (1984), which produced a Top 10 single in the title track, a sultry paean to decadent living penned by Prince that meshed well with the high-gloss, high-drama funk of his Purple Rain period. Her reputation as a show-stopping performer also led to stints with Ringo Starr, Herbie Hancock and Gloria Estefan, as well as forays into television, most notably as bandleader for Magic Johnson's short-lived talk show "The Magic Hour" (Fox, 1998). Sheila E.'s percussive skills garnered great respect from some of the biggest names in the music industry.