The Queen of Percussion

Sheila E. receives Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame

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Her star is the 2,759th since the completion of the Walk of Fame. Special guest at the ceremony included her family Pete & Juanita Escovedo, sister Zina, brothers Peter Michael and Juan. Also the legendary Ringo Star, H.E.R and Jimmy Jam who all spoke and acknowledged their working with and or her being an inspiration.

Born Dec. 12, 1957, in Oakland, Sheila E. gave her first public performance when she was 5 years old, appearing alongside her father in front of a crowd of 3,000, in a performance she told CNS "changed my life."

Being apart of a musical family with not only her dad and brothers she also were influenced by her uncle Coke Escovedo, a percussionist with the rock band Santana and Latin rock band Azteca; another uncle, Mario Escovedo, was the front man for the rock band The Dragons, the rock bands Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, the R&B/pop group the Pointer Sisters and the funk band Sly & the Family Stone.

"I used to sit on the corner outside of the local community center with Twinkies and 7-Up listening to Sly and Larry Graham rehearse," she said. "The sounds of the Bay Area molded me."