Longtime friends Sheila E. and Gloria Estefan are teaming up for the debut single from Sheila E.’s first-ever salsa album, Bailar. The two are sharing vocals on an energetic cover of the Celia Cruz classic “Bemba Colorá,” complete with a drum solo. The single, which also features singer Mimy Succar (whose father, Tony Succar, is the album’s co-producer), is out on Feb. 23, with the album dropping in April. “Gloria and I have been friends since the Eighties,” Sheila E. tells Rolling Stone. “So she’s family to me. And we just had a great time. Once she sang on it, I was just like, ‘This is it. It’s over. This is incredible.'”
A salsa album has long been on Sheila E.’s “bucket list,” she explains, but she says she was always aware of how challenging the genre could be. “I grew up playing Latin jazz with my father, but salsa music is a whole other thing. And it’s very strict about the parts that need to be played specifically. And if you play them wrong, you shouldn’t play it at all. So it’s very demanding, and I really wanted it to be something that people would listen to and go, wow, this is amazing.”
"I remember calling Ringo and leaving a message of his cell phone. He immediately calls me back saying to just bring him the sound files," Escovedo said with a laugh. "He just killed it."
Sheila is Escovedo is a long time member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band and Prince long time friend and percussionist
