-New Urban TALK Show Spotlight- Musician Sheila E. Takes A Knee & Talks Healing America Through Music on "The View"

Sheila E. Revamps Socio-Political Music Classics on Her Latest Release, "ICONIC: Messages for America"

TV talk show "The View" recently invited singer/songwriter/musician Sheila E.  to discuss and perform music from her latest release, "Iconic: Message for America" in their ABC studios in New York City. The Afro-Mexican-American drummer and percussionist was previously in the midst of writing and recording a dance album culminating a career of 40+ years in the music industry, when she was gobsmacked by two life events that completely re-directed the artistic focus for her next album: the sudden death of her longtime musical collaborator (and former fiancé), Prince Rogers Nelson, and the vitriolic 2016 Presidential election that landed Donald J. Trump in the White House. 

Tv Hostesses of The View w/  Male Guest Host (center)
Hosts from L-R: Sarah Haines, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg,
Paula Farris, and Sunny Hostin

A woman of color who has long had to fight against stereotype, perception, and harassment  as a "girl drummer" in an area of the music industry that is predominantly male, Sheila E. (née Escovedo) the daughter of a black Louisiana Creole mother and Mexican father (famed percussionist and Santana side man Pete Escovedo) has shared in previous interviews for "Iconic" how as an artist, a black woman, a minority, and granddaughter of a Mexican immigrant, she has personally felt saddened by offensive campaigns mounted against those communities by the current US President -and felt compelled to express her disappointment via music,  speaking out on the very issues that are currently facing America through re-visiting some of the most iconic socio-political songs in modern music history.

Best known for her chart-topping 80s pop single, "The Glamorous Life", Escovedo has had an illustrious career as a drummer and percussionist dating back to 70s Bay Area funk and rock, with endless credits playing live and in studio with everyone from Con Funk Shun to Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie to Gloria Estefan, Ringo Starr to Beyoncé, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, and (as we all well know), her close friend and longest musical collaborator, Prince. Though she has a distinguished track record as a philanthropist who champions educational & humanitarian causes through her work as a musical artist, it is in the spirit of politically oriented material she recorded and/or performed live during her years with Prince that inspired the entertainer to want to bring back messages  of awareness, hope, and unity in today's Trumpian America through her latest record. 

Below Sheila E. shares some the inspiration behind "Iconic: Message for America" in her own words, as well as discussing the impact of losing the friend and musical partner she collaborated with for over 30 years in Prince. After that, she performs her own funky, amped-up remix of the National Anthem featuring James Brown's Funky Good Time, and where surprisingly, the near 60 year-old entertainer "takes a knee" during the performance, in solidarity to protest the recently terrifying rise of police brutality against unarmed black men in the United States.

Sheila E.'s "Iconic: Message for America" features appearances by Ringo Starr, George Clinton, and Gospel star Israel Houghton. It is available on Apple Music/ iTunes, and Amazon.de 

To see and learn more about the album and it's message, visit Sheila's official YouTube channel here.