NEW YORK (AP) – Days before the release of Sheila E.’s autobiography, news spread that she was once engaged to Prince. The bigger bombshell, however, didn’t get nearly as much attention.
“Pretty much, I was engaged to Carlos Santana. That was huge and no one knew about that,” said the 56-year-old drummer, who dated a married Santana when she was 18. “I thought people would be talking about that, and it’s more about, ‘She was engaged to Prince!’ Really?”
Sheila E. said Santana, who was 36 at the time, was her first love, calling it “a wonderful romance.”
“The Beat of My Own Drum,” the musician’s memoir released through Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books earlier this month, features stories that range from working with Marvin Gaye, Ringo Starr and Lionel Richie to being raped at age five.
Dating Prince and Santana made her realize she had a thing for guys with guitars, she said.