Sheila E. is a legend in the music business, a woman of many talents, who will be taking her years of experience as a musician onto The Next Great American Band as one of its three judges. Along with Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik and Ian Dickson, she’ll be integral in deciding who The Next Great American Band will be. Sheila has played with such big names as Prince and Ringo Starr, and we got a chance to sit down and talk with her at last month’s FOX Fall TV press junket about what we can expect from The Next Great American Band.
Some highlights from the interview:
Sheila E. was approached by Nigel, just got a call from Mr. Lythgoe, and came down, met with everyone and was told it was her job if she wanted it. She thought it was a great idea, and something that needed to be done. She grew up with bands all around her and loves working with them.
The judges got to see about 60 bands and she was really excited to see talent from all over in all different types of music. They heard polka bands, Latin bands, Big Bands, and the “Groovin’ Grannies”. It was hard to judge bands on the same level when they were in different genres. Mostly, the criteria they ended up being what America would want to see, who could become massively popular.
Sheila says that she’s going to be as honest as she possibly can and just be herself, because that’s all she can do. Sheila says that while Ian Dickson can be Simon Cowell-esque, she absolutely loves him. She says that Dicko is an encyclopedia of all things music. He can be brutal at times, but he is totally honest and correct.
-Interview Conducted by Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
