Sheila E. found herself caught up in a social media firestorm after making an unfortunate faux pas while marking the fifth anniversary of Prince’s passing.
The singer commemorated the fifth anniversary of the When Doves Cry star’s death on Wednesday (April 21) by posting several photos of the pop legend on her Instagram page.
And while Sheila and Prince were close friends and frequent collaborators, it turns out one of the photos she posted wasn’t actually of Prince – but rather a lookalike of the star.
Alongside the snap, which seemed to show the musician eating, she recalled how he disliked “eating in front of people.”
“But u could throw down when u wanted [to],” she wrote, adding that he used to cook eggs for her, and “I made the pancakes.”
However, fans were quick to spot the photo wasn’t of Prince, but instead a 2017 picture of singer Mandy Romao in Miami, Florida, who bears a striking resemblance to the late singer, according to Instagram.
Several followers called her out, asking, “How are you not going to know your own friend… that’s not Prince,” and Sheila eventually acknowledged her mistake.
“Everyone is trippin. Yes I know about the picture. But my words are true,” she wrote in an updated caption.
It was recently announced that Prince’s unreleased 2010 album ‘Welcome 2 America’ is finally getting an official release later this Summer.
Set to drop July 30, the collection features 12 tracks – 11 Prince compositions along with a cover of Soul Asylum’s Stand Up and B Strong – including lead single and title track, Welcome 2 America, out now.
The spoken word soliloquy, backed by a spacey, funk track, sees the star deliver a critique on social media, celebrity culture, music industry monopolies, and more.
Recorded in the late ’00s, ‘Welcome 2 America’ has never seen a commercial release, although a handful of tracks have been performed live by the Purple Rain star over the years.
‘Welcome 2 America’ is available to pre-order on CD, standard 2LP Black Vinyl and limited 2LP Clear Vinyl, along with a special Box Set Edition.
