"Sister Fate" is a song by

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957), known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of her generation; she is known for skills as a multi-instrumental ...

from the album ''

Romance 1600 ''Romance 1600'' is the second album by the singer-drummer-percussionist Sheila E. While the album is credited as arranged, produced, and written by Sheila E., it is commonly acknowledged to be mostly arranged, produced, and written by Prince. H ...

''. It was released as the first single from the album in 1985. The album version of the song features an organ and percussion intro and has a running time of 3:50; the single version omits the intro and has a running time of 3:39.

Music video

The video introduced a new image for Sheila E., dressed in a brocaded "cloud jacket" that harkened back to Prince's "cloud suit" from his contemporaneously (1985) released video "Raspberry Beret". At the timestamp of 3:06 within the video, an image of Prince from "Raspberry Beret" is superimposed for one second over a newspaper graphic with the headline "WHO IS SHEILA E.'S MYSTERY LOVE?"

Chart performance

The song stalled on the charts; it went no higher than number 36 on the R&B charts, and did not chart on the Hot 100. It peaked at number 8 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Because of the underperformance of "Sister Fate", the second single, "

A Love Bizarre "A Love Bizarre" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheila E., written by Prince and Sheila E. The song is a duet between both singers and appears on Sheila E.'s 1985 album '' Romance 1600''. It album version clocks in at 12:16, but the sin ...

" (which featured

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

) was rush-released.

Formats and track listings

US 7" # "Sister Fate" (edit) – 3:39 # "Sister Fate" (instrumental) – 3:39 US 12" # "Sister Fate" (extended) – 5:45 # "Save the People" – 8:28

Personnel

Credits from Duane Tudahl and Benoît Clerc *

– lead and backing vocals, drums,

Simmons SDS-V The Simmons SDS 5, SDSV, or Simmons Drum Synthesizer (notated as ''SDS-V'' on the following) was the first viable electronic replacement for acoustic drums. It was developed by Richard James Burgess and Dave Simmons, manufactured initially by M ...

, congas, cowbells, timbales, shaker, cymbal *

–

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, piano, bass guitar,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

, handclaps *Ken Grey – Yamaha DX7 (album intro) *Steph Birnbaum – electric guitars *Benny Rietveld – bass guitar (album intro) *

Eddie M Eddie Mininfield, known as Eddie M, is an American musician. As a saxophonist, he was a member of Sheila E's touring band, and also toured with Prince on his Purple Rain Tour. Early life Eddie M was born and raised in Berkeley, California. He b ...

. – saxophone

Charts

References

{{Sheila E. 1985 singles 1985 songs Sheila E. songs Songs written by Prince (musician) Paisley Park Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician)