On a special season 5 premiere episode of the multi-Emmy nominated series “Larry King Now,” Prince’s ex-fiance and legendary drummer Sheila E. sits down with Larry King where she opens up about the untimely death of her friend and music partner, sharing special moments she shared with the icon and whether or not we will hear Prince’s unreleased music in the near future. Plus, Sheila discusses the state of the music business and dishes on her most notable collaborations, from Ringo Starr to Beyoncé.
Sheila reflects back on her fondest memories with Prince and his unfortunate cause of death, which was officially classified as an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. She reveals whether or not she had ever seen Prince use or abuse pain medication and says, “I’ve never even seen him take an aspirin, or a Tylenol,” however, due to the nature of his performance, she knows that “he was in pain…I was always getting hurt and so was he.”
The musician also reveals to Larry King that Prince has hundreds of unreleased tracks that she hopes the world gets to hear, “There’s hundreds of songs that I recorded with him that I have not heard yet.” Adding that Prince did not have plans to release the music himself, saying “He said he wouldn’t release it, but he said maybe someday someone would.”
When reflecting back on the difficulties she experienced breaking into the music industry as a woman, Sheila remembers being offered record deals in exchange for sex. She described the challenge saying, “It was the things that the other guys would say to me that were offensive,” like “I can get you a record deal. Here’s my number, hey, let’s have sex.” Sheila is also not shy about her disdain for the rise of music streaming venues like Spotify and Apple Music, telling Larry that “It’s kinda like stealing. I don’t like it, I don’t appreciate it, again it’s helping collapse this industry.”
Plus, Sheila plays Larry King’s signature trivia game, ‘If You Only Knew,’ in which she reveals the music collaboration she wishes to see in the near future and the most starstruck she’s ever been. Prince’s longtime friend also discusses how the legendary ‘Purple Rain’ singer will be remembered 50 years down the road.
