The Glamorous Life – Sheila E. | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#7) & R&B (#9); 1984
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Brothers Coke and Pete Escovedo played together in Santana before forming their own Latin rock band, Azteca. After Azteca’s demise, Pete began working with his daughter, Sheila.
The two first recorded together in 1977 as percussionists on Billy Cobham’s Inner Conflicts and also released their first joint effort, Solo Two, that year. Father and daughter shared recording credits again on several Con Funk Shun chart records, including Chase Me (#4 R&B; 1979) and Got To Be Enough (#8 R&B; 1980).
Then Prince “discovered” Sheila and hooked her up as a solo act with Warner Records, for which he also recorded. In June, 1984 Sheila E.’s solo single The Glamorous Life debuted on the charts, and began its four month climb toward the Top 10.
It finally peaked at #7 the week of October 6th; the same week her voice graced Erotic City, the flip side of America’s #1 record, Let’s Go Crazy by Prince and The Revolution.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Sheila E., Prince (as the Starr ★ Company)
Lyrics Written by:
- Prince
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).