by andrew j. stillman
San Diego Pride isn’t messing around with the entertainment this year, and couldn’t be more excited to welcome Sheila E. as the festival headliner. The world-famous drummer and percussionist recently released her first salsa-inspired album, Bailar — Spanish for “to dance” — that is part of her ever-evolving collection of music.
“A salsa record was something that I always wanted to do,” Sheila told The RAGE Monthly. “I just knew it was going to be challenging because I don’t speak Spanish. To be able to understand the exact parts that need to be played are specific. I knew that I had to get the right combination of people. When I first met [co-producer] Tony Succar many years ago, I said, ‘We have to do this record and I think you are the only one that can make this happen.’ It’s just a dream come true.”
Succar also joined his mother, Mimy, and Gloria Estefan on the track “Bemba Colorá,” and Sheila E. said it was “amazing” to have them together. She has been friends with Estefan since 1984, and said she couldn’t think of anybody else she’d rather have on the track with her.
“It’s a Celia Cruz song and one I really wanted to do,” she said. “I only know of one person that would be able to sing it, and that would be Gloria.”
When it comes to performing songs off the new album, Sheila E. said she has only had the chance to perform it once in full during the release party in Miami, and that she hasn’t put the band together yet for it (though that’s sure to change by the time she hits the Pride stage in Balboa Park in San Diego).
“I can’t wait to start playing it but I have to start putting the band together,” she said. “Salsa music is not easy, and we’re playing live. You have to have a five-piece horn section and singers and percussion and suddenly you’re looking at 17 people. It’s challenging and this is all new to me, but I’m excited.”
Still, when it comes to the type of show we can expect to see once she hits the stage, she assures fans that it will be their favorite type of Sheila E. performance.
“I like to be spontaneous,” she said. “We’ll do some of the hits, but I like to interact with the audience. Sometimes I’ll pull people on stage. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s the part that I love about it. In that moment, I’m inspired by the audience, and what they give me is what I give back. I’m excited about that, and we’re going to have a great time.”
Another thing that’s important for Sheila E. as she navigates her career is her faith, although she acknowledged the conflict between the LGBTQ+ community and religion.
“God loves everyone,” she said. “He created us, and it’s all about love. It’s really challenging because people go through things and people struggle, but what I want to impart to people most of the time is that love surpasses all understanding. Love saves people’s lives. Someone who has not heard someone say to them, ‘I love you,’ in a very long time — that could save someone’s life. If we really truly love each other, a lot of that and all of this division and other things wouldn’t happen. God loves us all. He really does.”
“Love saves people’s lives. Someone who has not heard someone say to them, ‘I love you,’ in a very long time — that could save someone’s life. If we really truly love each other, a lot of that and all of this division and other things wouldn’t happen. God loves us all. He really does.”
It will be interesting to see how Sheila E. puts together the show to present Bailar. Fans may have many preconceived notions of what it will be like based on what she’s done in the past, but there’s something special in the water around the Bailar music.
“I really would love to share this with the world because this is something different for me,” she said. “You’re going to dance, you’re going to have an amazing time. You can’t help but have an amazing time listening to it, because it’s a music that, for a while, was almost non-existent. It’s about passion, it’s about family, it’s about the legacy of all the people that have come before us.”
Although you can stream Bailar online, Sheila E. also personally signs every copy that’s purchased at her website, sheilae.com, so you’d be better off buying it from there for an added touch. If you’d like to see her during Pride, grab your tickets for the San Diego Pride Festival and other various Pride events at sdpride.org.