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Sheila E. slammed festival organizers following the death of a woman at the concert whose body was allegedly left in the crowd until after her performance.
The legendary musician admitted she was heartbroken upon hearing how Shari Sanders died at the Carson Jazz Festival amid sweltering temperatures over the weekend in Southern California.
On social media, Sheila told her followers about a “very important” situation where a concertgoer died either “during or before” her performance.
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Sheila E. slammed festival organizers after a woman’s body was left in the crowd after she died during the sweltering Los Angeles heatwave. (Michael Loccisano)
“This has never happened to me in my entire career,” she said. “It was devastating. Her name was Shari Sanders.”
The musician explained that it was “very hot that day” with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees in Southern California.
“When we got there at 7:30 a.m., people were already in line sitting in their chairs waiting to get in,” she said before noting that organizers opened the grounds 30 minutes early to let attendees in.
She noted witnessing emergency crews “going through the crowds like crazy,” while waiting with her band for her set at the festival.
“We were thinking, it’s so hot outside … maybe people were dehydrated, and we could see that through the window of the dressing room,” she said. “We never got our sound check, so things were running late. Production wasn’t there, stuff was just happening.”
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“We were waiting for the next band … all of a sudden everything just stopped.”
She explained, “The lady, Shari Sanders, was saving seats – this is what we were told – was saving seats for her family and I guess someone saw her kind of slumped over a little bit, again this is what we were told.”
Sheila said that the bystander asked her if she was “OK” and she was “not responsive.”
“Then that lead to, you know, people coming and trying to find out what’s going on,” she said. “We then saw paramedics, but this was like 20 minutes later.”
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The drummer said she was told the woman had passed.
“We were all heartbroken because that’s never happened, to have someone pass away before … and it was outside,” she noted. “It was at the park.”
“The devastating part is she passed away,” Sheila said before relaying that she heard there was minimal access to hydration stations throughout the venue.
“Carson City, you need to do better … They’ve been bragging about that they’ve been doing it for 40 years, but this is not good to have people sitting outside for three hours to be able to come to a festival.”
Sheila E. is regarded as one of the greatest percussionists of her generation. (Steve Campbell/Houston Chronicle)
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Sheila admitted that she, along with the band, prayed for the woman before going on stage.
“I stopped after the first song and dedicated the show to her and her family, and had a moment of silence for her,” she said. “Little did we know, that after we were done performing, we went back to the dressing room, we were then told at 5 p.m. – we were done around 4:30 – they had just picked up her body.”
“That is uncalled … that is not even uncalled for. It’s devastating,” she said. “I just want to say to the community, that I would have never – never gotten on stage if I would have known that her body was still sitting there with her family surrounding her.”
Sheila said that production should have “stopped the festival” and said that the situation was “uncalled for.”
She is oftentimes referred to as the “Queen of Percussion,” and performed with Prince for decades. (Greg Helgeson)
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“It made me sick to my stomach when I heard later on that … that her body did not get taken until after we were off stage. I am so sorry to the family. I am sorry that you lost a family member,” she said. “I want to send my personal condolences to you.”
She added, “I should not have played. Someone should have told me that she was still there.”
In a statement shared on social media, Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes wrote that “hearts are heavy following the tragic loss of a life at our community event.”
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“On behalf of the City, I extend our deepest condolences to the family, loved ones, and everyone affected by this tragedy,” she wrote. “I have personally reached out and have spoken to the family during this painful time, and I ask our entire community to join me in keeping them in your prayers – surrounding them with strength, comfort, and peace during this unimaginable moment.”
Digital reached out to the Mayor’s office and the city of Carson for comment.
