She became a mother, while other members of her band recorded separately as Sweetback. In 1992 Sade released Love Deluxe, which featured the Grammy-winning single “No Ordinary Love.” After a subsequent world tour, Sade enjoyed life away from the limelight. In 1988 Sade embarked on a second world tour to coincide with the release of a third album, Stronger than Pride. The album featured the hit song “ The Sweetest Taboo,” which stayed on the American pop charts for six months. A second album, Promise (1985), enjoyed similar popularity and was followed by a world tour. Sade’s smooth sound, which defied easy categorization, was exemplified by the songs “Your Love Is King” and “Smooth Operator,” both tracks from the group’s debut album Diamond Life (1984), which earned Sade and her bandmates a Grammy Award for best new artist. Sade later sang with another funk band, Pride, before breaking away with fellow Pride members Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Spencer Denman to form the band that would eventually bear her own name.Īre you a princess of Pop? The king of Culture? See if you’re an entertainment expert by answering these questions. Her foray into music began when she agreed to fill in temporarily as lead singer for Arriva, a funk band that had been put together by her friends.

After graduating, she modeled and worked as a menswear designer. Martin’s College of Art and Design in London. At age 17 Sade began a three-year program in fashion and design at Central St. When she was four years old, her parents separated, and she moved with her mother and younger brother to Essex, England. Her parents began calling her Sade, a shortened form of her Yoruba middle name, Folasade. She enjoyed wide critical acclaim and popularity in the 1980s and early ’90s.Īdu, who was born to a Nigerian economics professor and an English nurse, was never addressed by people in her community by her English first name, Helen.

Sade, byname of Helen Folasade Adu, (born January 16, 1959, Ibadan, Nigeria), Nigerian-born British singer known for her sophisticated blend of soul, funk, jazz, and Afro-Cuban rhythms.

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