Sade’s real name is Helen Fláadé Adu, and she was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1959. Her father, Adebisi, is an economics lecturer, and her mother, Anne, is a district nurse in England. Sade’s parents divorced when she was four years old; Anne returned to England and moved Sade and her older brother Banji to live with their grandparents in Essex.
Sade moved back in with her mother when she was 11 years old. She traveled to London to study fashion design at Saint Martin’s School of Art after graduating from Clacton County High School and Colchester Institute.
Beginnings of a Career
Sade joined the British band Pride as a backing singer after completing a three-year fashion design course. She formed a songwriting connection with Stuart Matthewman, the group’s guitarist and saxophone, while in Pride. Meanwhile, record labels became interested in Sade’s solo performances of the song “Smooth Operator.”
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Sade and Matthewman split from Pride in 1983, becoming Sade with three other instrumentalists. Sade played their debut US gig in a New York City nightclub in May of that year, and the band signed with Epic Records the following year.
Sade with her single “Diamond Life”
Sade began production on his debut album, “Diamond Life,” after signing a record deal. The album was recorded entirely in London’s The Power Plant in six weeks and released in 1984 to great acclaim. It reached number two on the UK Album Chart and went on to sell over 1.2 million copies in the UK; it went on to win the Brit Award for Best British Album of 1985.
“Diamond Life” was also a worldwide success, charting at number one in a number of countries and reaching the top ten in the United States. The album became one of the bestselling debut records of the decade, and the bestselling debut of all time by a British female vocalist, with global sales of over six million copies.
There were a couple of big singles from “Diamond Life.” The lead single, “Your Love Is King,” reached number six on the UK Singles Chart. The album’s most successful hit in the United States was “Smooth Operator,” which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.
More Success and “Promise”
Sade’s second album, “Promise,” was published in 1985 and went on to become the band’s first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States. “Promise” spawned two songs, “Never as Good as the First Time” and “The Sweetest Taboo,” the latter of which spent six months on the Billboard Hot 100. Following this triumph, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1986.
In the UK, “Promise” went on to sell four million copies and be certified four times platinum.
Sade took a break from her band to make her acting debut in “Absolute Beginners,” a British musical film released in 1986. The singer not only appeared in the film but also contributed vocals to the soundtrack.
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Sade returned to the studio after this period and delivered her third album with the band, “Stronger Than Pride,” in 1988. It was another commercial success for the band, as it was certified three times platinum in the United States and spawned four hit songs. “Paradise,” one of the songs, became Sade’s first to reach number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States.
“Love Deluxe,” released in 1992, sold 3.4 million copies in the United States and was certified gold in the United Kingdom, and “The Best of Sade,” released in 1994, both reached the top ten in the United States and the United Kingdom.
From “Lovers Rock” to “Beyond”
Sade’s fifth studio album, “Lovers Rock,” was released in 2000, after an eight-year break. Sade won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Lovers Rock,” which reached number three on the US Billboard 200.
Following that, a tour and a live record were released, both of which were hugely successful. Sade then took another ten-year break while raising her son in the Caribbean. During this time, she made a rare public appearance at Buckingham Palace to accept the Order of the British Empire.
Sade returned in 2010 with her sixth studio album, “Soldier of Love,” which became the group’s first number one record on the Billboard 200. “Babyfather” and “The Moon and the Sky” were two of the album’s singles.
Meanwhile, the title tune received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Sade went on to write songs for two movie soundtracks in 2018, including “Flower of the Universe” for Disney’s adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time” and “The Big Unknown” for Steve McQueen’s “Widows.”
Personal Experiences
Sade dated English writer and broadcaster Robert Elms in the 1980s. She married Carlos Pliego, a Spanish filmmaker, at the end of the decade; they divorced in 1995. After that, she moved to the Caribbean for a while to live with Jamaican music producer Bob Morgan and had a daughter, Izaak, who eventually revealed herself to be transgender. Sade and Morgan eventually became estranged. Sade has been in a relationship with Ian Watts, a former Royal Marine, since 2007.
Net Worth
Sade has a net worth of $70 million and is a British singer, songwriter, and composer. Sade’s most well-known songs include “Smooth Operator,” “No Ordinary Love,” and “Soldier of Love.” She has sold over 110 million albums globally, making her the second most successful solo female musician in British history. She is second only to Dame Shirley Bassey, who has sold 140 million albums around the world.
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Sade was awarded an OBE by Prince Charles in 2002 for her contributions to music. Sade was ranked number 30 on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music in 2012.
She has had a significant influence on contemporary music, thanks to her smokey contralto vocals and her role as the lead vocalist of her namesake band. Sade began her career as a fashion designer and model, then joined the Pride band before founding her own band.
