| Sade |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Helen Folasade Adu |
| Born |
January 16, 1959 (1959-01-16) (age 48)
Ibadan,
Ọyọ
State, Nigeria |
| Genre(s) |
Soul, jazz, R&B, adult contemporary |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer, songwriter, composer, arranger,
record producer |
| Years active |
1980–present |
| Label(s) |
Epic, Portrait |
Associated
acts |
Sade |
| Website |
Sade.com |
- See
also: Sade
(band)
Helen Folasade Adu (born 16 January
1959), better
known as Sade (IPA pronunciation: [ʃɑ:'deɪ]),
is a Nigerian-born
English
soul,
jazz, R&B,
and adult contemporary singer, songwriter,
composer,
and record producer, noted for her
soulful, smoky contralto. She has achieved success in the
1980s, 1990s, and 2000s as the frontwoman and lead vocalist of the
popular Grammy
Award-winning English group Sade.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Early
career
- 3 Commercial
heyday
- 4 Discography
- 5 Videography
- 6 See
also
- 7 External
links
|
Biography
Sade was born in Ibadan, Ọyọ State, Nigeria. Her parents, Bisi Adu, a Nigerian
lecturer in economics of Yoruba background, and Anne Hayes, an
English nurse, met in London and moved to west Africa. Later,
when the marriage ran into difficulties, Anne returned to Clacton-on-Sea,
Essex, England, taking
four-year-old Sade and her older brother Banji to live with her
parents. Living in Colchester, Essex, Sade read a good deal, developed an
interest in fashion, acquired a taste for dancing and with pleasure
listened to soul artists like Curtis Mayfield, Donny
Hathaway and Marvin Gaye.
In 1977 Sade arrived in London for a three-year course in fashion
design at St.
Martin's College. On graduating, she set up a small fashion company,
making mens' clothes, in London's Chalk Farm, with a friend, Gioia
Mellor. She also found work as a photographic model.
Early career
Her first foray into the music business came about this time,
as a member of a short-lived Latin-soul group
named Arriva. It was as a member of Arriva that she first performed the
song "Smooth Operator," which would eventually become her first US hit.
This song was co-written by guitarist/bassist Ray St. John. Shortly
thereafter, she joined St. John's band Pride, which also included
guitarist Stuart Matthewman, bassist Paul Denman, and drummer Paul
Anthony Cook. Ray St. John left Pride soon afterwards, later
resurfacing in the UK indie band Halo James; the other four members then
formed a splinter group, the eponymously-named "Sade"
and began to write their own material. Keyboardist Andrew Hale joined
the band as a keyboard player in mid-1983, and in 1983 she signed a
solo deal with Epic Records and sister imprint Portrait
Records for the US and Canada. All of the Sade
albums are Sony
Music releases.
Commercial heyday
In 1985 Sade appeared in the film Absolute Beginners,
directed by Julian Temple. She played singer Athene Duncannon,
performing "Killer Blow," co-written by her with Simon Booth of soul/jazz band Working
Week.
In 1986 Sade moved to Madrid, Spain. On 11 October 1989, in the old castle Vinuelas in Madrid, she
married Carlos Scola, a Spanish film-maker. However, the marriage was
short-lived, and afterwards Sade returned to London. In the
mid-1990s Sade moved to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where she lived with Bob Moragean,
a Jamaican producer. On 21 July 1996 she gave birth to her daughter Ila.
In 1997 Sade was cited for dangerous driving and disobeying a
police officer in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Later a
Jamaican court issued an arrest warrant for Sade after she
failed to appear in court to face charges, but medical proof of her
daughter's hospitalization allowed the arrest warrant to be stayed. In
2005, Sade recorded a new track, "Mum," which she performed at the Voices
For Darfur charity concert on 8 December
2004 at the Royal
Albert Hall in London,
to raise awareness and funding for the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
Part of Sade's backup band continued the Sade style and are
now known as Sweetback.
Discography
See discography of Sade
(band).
Collaboration
- Absolute Beginners
OST (Virgin, 1986)
Videography
See videography of Sade
(band).
Collaboration
- Absolute Beginners
(1986)
- Voices For Darfur (2005)
See also
- List of
best-selling music artists
- The Sweetest Taboo
External links
| v • d • e Sade |
| Sade Adu
| Stuart
Matthewman | Paul Spencer Denman | Andrew Hale | Paul
Anthony Cook |
| Albums |
| Diamond Life | Promise
| Stronger Than Pride
| Love Deluxe | The
Best of Sade | Lovers Rock
| Lovers Live |
| Singles |
| "Your Love Is King" | "When Am I Going to
Make a Living" | "Hang on to Your Love" | "Smooth Operator" | "The
Sweetest Taboo" | "Never As Good As The
First Time" | "Is It A Crime" | "Love Is Stronger Than
Pride" | "Paradise" | "Nothing
Can Come Between Us" | "Turn My Back on You" | "No
Ordinary Love" | "Feel No Pain" | "Kiss of Life" | "Cherish
the Day" | "By Your Side" | "King
of Sorrow" | "Lovers Rock" | "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" (Live) |
| Related |
| Sweetback |
