Sade

Sade is the world-known British R&B group that formed in England in 1983. Its history began in 1976 in London, when the popular funk and Latin soul band Pride needed a new female back-vocalist. This position was given to Helen Folasade Adu, born in Nigeria, whose father was Nigerian and mother was British. Being a back-vocalist, the girl soon developed her own style, and at the suggestion of the manager she and some other band members wrote a set of songs to perform at Pride’s concerts between the sets. Then together with the saxophonist Stuart Mathewman several tracks were written for their side project bearing the name of its front woman and vocalist – Sade. In 1982 the musicians were allowed to support Pride at the concert, and in May 1983 they did their own performance in the USA. The newly-made band attracted more and more attention of the press, leaving Pride in the shadows, what eventually led to final partitioning of the two teams.

In 1984 Sade released their first single Your Love Is King, followed by the debut album called Diamond Life in a couple of months, which climbed to #2 position in charts and later attained multi-platinum status. The great popularity was brought by the single Smooth Operator, nominated for MTV Video Music Awards in two categories – Best Female Video and Best New Artist. Most of the year 1985 Sade toured with concerts, simultaneously working on the new material called Promise, which saw light in the year’s end. Just like on the debut album, the music represented gentle, restrained and profound soul and jazz riffs. The disc soon ascended the UK charts’ top and became double-platinum, and the vocalist Sade Adu was awarded Grammy for Best New Artist. During eight months the band gave performances across USA and the UK, and as the tour wound down, Sade found herself in the centre of a whirl of rumours, saying that she was depressed because of her failed love affair, that she got addicted to drugs, and that she had a serious nervous break-down.

Exhausted from concerts and unwanted attention, Sade decided to withdraw from the limelight and returned to the stage only in 1988 with her new work called Stronger Than Pride. Expectations of fans and critics were not disappointed and the disc turned out to be a hit, receiving platinum status after a mere two weeks after the release. After a long world tour in support of the album, Sade moved to Spain, where she suffered through a short unsuccessful marriage to documentary filmmaker Carlos Scola. She moved back to London, bought and old house and equipped her own recording studio in the basement. Reassembling the band, Sade started to work on the new material called Love Deluxe, which saw the light in 1992. Despite the long absence, the fans did not forget her and the album sold out very well. Single No Ordinary Love earned the Grammy for Best R&B Duo or Group and was included in the Indecent Proposal OST.

In 1996 Sade bore recording producer Bob Morgan a daughter and moved to Jamaica to concentrate on parenthood. Her new creation, called Lovers Rock, was released in 2000. Despite the top single By Your Side and Grammy award for Best Pop-Vocal Album, the disc could not gain great success – #18 in the UK, #3 in America and golden status. After spending the whole following year in the US tour, the artist proved once more that she needed no fame and attention, again leaving the world of music. Thirst for creativity returned her to stage only in 2010 with her sixth album Soldier Of Love. A ten-year break could have become a commercial suicide for any musician, but not for Sade, whose fans are notable for patience and loyalty and know that music should be created only in case the musicians have something to say. The title single, released in late 2009, made history by entering the Urban Hot AC chart at #11, making it the highest debut of the decade. All album’s tracks sound very harmoniously, demonstrating the close spiritual connection between the band members once again, and the voice of Sade did not change at all in 25 years of work – graceful, tender and pacifying singing delights the year as before.