Whatever Happened to ’80s Pop Star Sheena Easton? (Exclusive)

Mike Pingel Yesterday, 12:00 pm

Sheena Easton the 1980s and Now — Everett Collection

What To Know

Sheena Easton rose to fame in the 1980s with hit songs like “For Your Eyes Only” and “Strut.”
She expanded her career into acting, notably starring as Caitlin Davies on Miami Vice.
Easton later performed on stage in musicals and enjoyed voiceover work, reflecting fondly on her diverse entertainment career.

Pop icon Sheena Easton was huge in the ’80s, delivering not only amazing songs such as “For Your Eyes Only,” “Morning Train,” “Strut,” “Sugar Walls,” and “Telephone,” but also trailblazing her way as a powerhouse vocal talent.

Easton also dabbled in acting, beginning with her debut role on the hit ’80s TV series Miami Vice as Caitlin Davies, who falls in love with Sonny Crockett, played by Don Johnson. The characters even married on the show. She later moved to the stage, performing in Grease, Man of La Mancha, and 42nd Street.

Easton sat down with ReMIND magazine to chat about her work on Miami Vice, her voiceover career, and, of course, the recent EMI catalog release through Cherry Pop.

How was it working on Miami Vice and being the love interest of Don Johnson?

You know, it was great. It was my first big TV thing I had done. So, I was a newbie. They could have been very much like, “Okay, you got the part, and let me sink or swim.’ But they didn’t, especially Don (Johnson). He knew that even though I was straight out of drama school – it was a whole different ballgame acting for TV cameras. He really helped me. He kind of schooled me in a lot of things, and he was very patient.

Don was very funny, a real gentleman, very sweet to work with, plus very handsome, so that didn’t hurt. I had a lot of fun doing that show.

The TV wedding between you two was big news.

MIAMI VICE, Don Johnson, Sheena Easton, 1984-89,

Universal TV/courtesy Everett Collection

Oh my God, it was crazy. We had helicopters flying over like it was a real freaking wedding. Like two movie stars sneaking off to get married somewhere and trying to get the pop shots of it. I was like, dude, it’s a TV show.

Filming was tough because they were trying to get the shots and to get the moment done, and we had helicopters above us. It was all because Don had such a huge fan base and his character Sonny Crockett was getting married for the show; that was a big moment. It broke so many of his fans’ hearts that Sonny was taking a bride. That was pretty crazy.

How was the kiss?

The wedding kiss? I think we’d kissed a few times in the show before that, so I don’t think it was a huge deal. I don’t remember it, to be perfectly honest.

Your character Caitlin Davies was killed off. Were you hoping to continue?

No, we had to kill her off. I had signed on to do four episodes, and I just recorded a new album [The Lover in Me], and I literally had a tour all set to go.

The response to the coupling in the show was pretty huge. The producers asked if I could stay on. I was like, if I stay on, I’m going to get sued. We’ve sold tickets, we’ve got a tour going, the whole thing is rehearsed, we’ve got all the stuff that goes into doing a tour. That was a proper tour, where you go out, and you’re out for a certain amount of time, and you’re traveling day-to-day. There was a whole machine that was in place. So, I was like, I really can’t do that.

I suggested I could come back and do some shows after the tour. But they said, “No, we need continuity of the storyline.” And then asked, “Can we at least do a couple of scenes where we finish up and tie it together?”

So that’s why, if anyone watched it, my hair is different because I was getting ready to go on the road. We’d film these scenes to have her make some phone calls. I think my character was trying to tell him that I was pregnant. I was trying to get through to him and give him some news. Then they had her do a show and tragically killed her off.

It’s the 40th Anniversary of All Dogs Go to Heaven – Any memories doing the voiceovers on that?

Honestly, the voiceover work that I’ve done, including All Dogs Go to Heaven and a lot of Saturday morning cartoon stuff, that was the best time. I loved that. If I was living in LA, I would probably be doing more of it.

One of the main reasons I love doing it was working with those voiceover actors. They are such a huge talent. They’re having conversations with themselves. They’re doing three different characters all talking to each other, and it’s seamless, and it’s flawless, and they don’t miss a beat. I’ll sometimes forget to come in and do my line because I’m too busy watching them. So just watching masters at work, being in the room and seeing them create that – to me was a gift.

Any new music planned to record or release?

No. I have no plans. I mean, that’s not really what I’m interested in doing, is just recording for the sake of recording. If someone comes to me with an idea or if there’s a concept that I would like to do, then I would do it. I’m open to it, but I’m not actively seeking to do it.

I made a choice a while back to really balance my life – to have a family life as well as work. I got off that treadmill – you make an album, you go out and promote it, then you go on tour with it, then you make another album. I had that for so many years that I could see why a lot of artists kind of crumble and have mental health issues dealing with that kind of life, because you really have no life other than that.

I’m 67, and I have a happy life, and I’m out there working when I want to work and still doing my shows with the audiences.

Credit: Mike Pingel

Cherry Pop releasing all these unreleased, never heard, alternate mixes, how is it for you to revisit some of those musical gems that have been in the vaults?

Well, I don’t think they’re all gems. I’m the first to say that. The stuff that’s in the vaults is there for a reason. We didn’t put it on the original album because it didn’t quite make the cut. It was a maybe, a song that when we first envisioned it didn’t really come out how I wanted it to.

So often they’re buried for a reason, but it was explained to me, and I had to be kind of talked into some of it. Is that real fans of either my music or of the genre or of the time period – they’re going to want to hear stuff that they haven’t heard before.

So long as you’re not presenting it as the greatest music I’ve ever done, and you’re putting it on there as a contextual piece – yes -this was all of the moment, then I think it is valuable to the fans.

I’ve had feedback from a lot of the fans that have been enjoying hearing some of this unreleased stuff. Some of them are different mixes or different takes on songs that we did. I did enjoy doing the songs that were on the original album, but it’s a little bit of a different take, and the fans have really been responding to that.

Visit Sheena’s website for any updates on shows or upcoming events.