Sheila E. On Prince: 'He Was In Pain All The Time, But He Was A Performer'
By Nischelle Turner
CHANHASSEN, MINN (ET ONLINE) – Bay Area music icon, Sheila E. is opening up about the time she spent with the late icon, Prince.
Entertainment Tonight's Nischelle Turner caught up with the 58-year-old "A Love Bizarre" singer in Chanhassen, Minnesota, where she gave insight into the notoriously private artist. Sheila E. and Prince famously collaborated together on one another's hits, and were once engaged.
Sheila E. says that Prince definitely suffered pain from years of performing, and did have problems with his hip.
"I mean, you think about all the years he was jumping off those risers," she recalls. "They were not low -- they were very, very high -- and to jump off that ... First of all, the Purple Rain tour and the way that they were stacked, he had those heels on. We did a year of touring [and] for him to jump off of that -- just an entire year would have messed up his knees."
"He was in pain all the time, but he was a performer," she adds.
A source very close to the situation tells ET that Prince had the flu that turned into walking pneumonia before his death, and he was also dealing with a hip injury and had a problem with the pain killer, Percocet. The source says his issue with the powerful narcotic went back years, beginning shortly after he had hip replacement surgery in 2010.
Clearly, Sheila E. is devastated by Prince's death. When asked if she's thought about how she's going to say goodbye to her close friend, she replied, "I don't know if I can."
"My emotions, you know, I'm trying not to process it," she admits. "I'm trying to ignore the fact it is true, and I'm not looking at television. I can't see his face on television. It's just surreal, and it makes it reality when I see it."
Read more at ETOnline.com
© 2016 CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved
