Sade
Sade
Singer, songwriter
“Sade’s music… is so hot because it sounds so ^? cool,” declared critic Cathleen McGuigan in Newsweek. The Nigerian-born British singer has risen rapidly to prominence with her first two albums, Diamond Life and Promise; both went platinum. Her sound is “one that has definite jazz overtones but is mixed with a pop flavor and a hint of passion,” according to Walter Leavy in Ebony, and it has captured the imagination of music fans and reviewers alike, particularly those in the young professional grouping. Sade is responsible for the huge hit singles “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo,” and she won a Grammy in 1986 as the year’s best new artist.
Sade was born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, to a British mother and a Nigerian father. Her stage name, a shortened form of her middle name, was adopted almost immediately, because her Nigerian neighbors refused to call her by the English name Helen. Sade remained in Nigeria until she was four years old, when her parents separated and her mother took her and her older brother to England. The family stayed with Sade’s grandparents in a small village in Essex, then moved to Holland-on-Sea when Sade’s mother remarried. Despite the fact that the young girl and her brother were the only children of black descent in the area and Sade was sometimes the target of racial slurs, she had a comfortable circle of friends with whom she went dancing. As a teenager, however, she had no professional musical aspirations. She told a Washington Post interviewer: “Obviously I’ve stood in front of the mirror with a hairbrush just like anyone. But that was the extent of it.” Sade and her friends enjoyed funk and soul music, and she particularly admired the work of Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, and the late Marvin Gaye. She also liked singing along with her mother’s record collection, which included the albums of Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington.
By the time she was seventeen Sade had discovered a desire to become a fashion designer, and when she graduated from high school she enrolled in St. Martin’s College of Art in London. She worked her way through school by waitressing and serving as a bicycle messenger, but she still found time to enjoy dancing in the London nightclubs. When Sade obtained her degree, she and another woman tried to keep a men’s fashion designing business afloat, but it was difficult, as she explained to the Washington Post: “You can’t make things at a reasonable cost…. Everything was economic. It stunted any creativity, and I ended up not enjoying it.” Another thing Sade did not enjoy was the modeling work she did at that time to help support herself. Though since her emergence on the music scene she has been lauded almost as much for her sleek, slim, elegant look as for her songs, she confided
For the Record…
Stage name pronounced “Shar-day” ; full name Helen Folasade Adu; born 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria; daughter of Adebisi (an economics professor) and Anne (a nurse) Adu. Education: Graduated from St. Martin’s College of Art, London, ca. 1979.
Singer, songwriter, 1982—. Backup singer for Pride, ca. 1982; solo performer, 1983—; signed with Epic Records, 1984. Appeared in film Absolute Beginners, 1986.
Awards: Two platinum albums; Grammy Award for best new artist, 1986; named one of the ten most elegant women in the world by Elie magazine.
Addresses: Office— c/o CBS Records, 51W. 52nd St., New York, N.Y., 10019; Other— 103 Nortimer St., London W1, England.
to a reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail: “I’m quite anti-fashion in a sense. I hate it when everyone starts wearing the same clothes simply because that’s what’s supposed to be in this year.”
Sometime in the early 1980s, when Sade had given up on modeling in disgust, a friend persuaded her to try out as a backup singer for a group specializing in jazz and funk, Pride. Thinking that singing would be a pleasant hobby, she auditioned, and though she was rejected at first, she was called back when no one more suitable could be found. Pride never earned a recording contract, but did gain a following in the London nightclubs—a following that grew when Sade began to team up with fellow Pride member and saxophone player Stuart Matthewman to write songs. The two performed their creations in special sets aside from the rest of Pride, and these sets began to win Sade fans of her own. When Pride disbanded, the group’s manager, Lee Barrett, became Sade’s manager, and Sade and Matthewman recruited backup musicians.
Sade was signed by Epic Records in 1983. Her first album, Diamond Life, met with acclaim in England, and the first hit from it was “Your Love is King.” But while a dance tune from Diamond Life, “Hang On to Your Love,” received some play in New York City discos, CBS/Portrait Records, who held Sade’s U.S. contract, did not release the album until 1985 because they feared it would not have the same popular appeal that it did in England. When Diamond Life was released in America, it shot up the charts quickly, first propelled by “Smooth Operator,” then by “Your Love is King.” Sade’s debut album also sold well in Europe, and with six million copies of Diamond Life sold worldwide, she had become an international star by the end of 1985.
It was at about this time that Sade released her second album, Promise. When Diamond Life was beginning to fade from the charts, Promise began to climb them. The biggest hit from the album was what Stephen Holden called a “delicately spicy love ballad,” “The Sweetest Taboo,” but other songs, such as “Maureen” and “Never as Good as the First Time,” were successful as well. But while many critics were singing Sade’s praises and lauding her cool, understated style, other reviewers were sounding notes of dissent. McGuigan pointed out that Sade’s work is “very similar in feeling and pace. Perhaps too similar: for all the dark, lush glamour of the sound, Sade has yet to show a wide range in style or voice.” And Leavy agreed that “questions about her musical ability do pop up from time to time.” But Barry Walters argued in Village Voice that Sade’s method of “never letting go, simmering but never boiling” when interpreting her songs is what makes her distinct from the other stars of popular music. Her style continues to attract fans: in 1988 Sade’s third album, Stronger Than Pride, brought forth the hit single “Nothing Can Come Between Us.”
Selected discography
Diamond Life (includes “Your Love Is King,” “Smooth Operator,” “Sally,” “Why Can’t We Live Together,” and “Hang On to Your Love”), Portrait, 1985.
Promise (includes “Sweetest Taboo,” “Maureen,” “Never as Good as the First Time,” “Tar Baby,” “Fear,” and “Mr. Wrong”), Portrait, 1985.
Stronger Than Pride (includes “Nothing Can Come Between Us” and “Love Is Stronger Than Pride”), Portrait, 1988.
Sources
down beat, August, 1985.
Ebony, May, 1986.
Newsweek, March 25, 1985.
New York Times, November 27, 1985.
People, February 3, 1986.
Rolling Stone, April 25, 1985, May 8, 1986.
Village Voice, December 31, 1985.
Washington Post, December 12, 1985.
—Elizabeth Thomas
Sade
Sade
Singer, Songwriter
Had a Hit with “The Sweetest Taboo”
Success Followed Extended Break
“Sade’s music… is so hot because it sounds so cool,” declared critic Cathleen McGuigan in Newsweek. The Nigerian-born British singer rose rapidly to prominence with her first two albums, Diamond Life and Promise; both have gone multiplatinum. Her sound is “one that has definite jazz overtones but is mixed with a pop flavor and a hint of passion,” according to Walter Leavy in Ebony, and it has captured the imagination of music fans and reviewers alike. Sade is responsible for the hit singles “Smooth Operator” and “The Sweetest Taboo,” and she has won three Grammy Awards, including one for Best Pop Vocal Album for Lovers Rock in 2002.
Sade was born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, to a British mother and Nigerian father. Her stage name, a shortened form of her middle name, was adopted almost immediately because her Nigerian neighbors refused to call her by the English name Helen. Sade remained in Nigeria until she was four years old, when her parents separated and her mother took Sade and her older brother to England. The family stayed with Sade’s grandparents in a small village in Essex, then moved to Holland-on-Sea when Sade’s mother remarried. Despite the fact that the young girl and her brother were the only children of black descent in the area, and Sade was sometimes the target of racial slurs, she had a comfortable circle of friends with whom she went dancing. As a teenager, however, she had no professional musical aspirations. She told a Washington Post interviewer: “Obviously I’ve stood in front of the mirror with a hairbrush just like anyone. But that was the extent of it.” Sade and her friends enjoyed funk and soul music, and she particularly admired the work of Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, and the late Marvin Gaye. She also liked singing along with her mother’s record collection, which included the albums of Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington.
By the time she was 17, Sade had discovered a desire to become a fashion designer. When she graduated from high school she enrolled in St. Martin’s College of Art in London. She worked her way through school by waitressing and serving as a bicycle messenger, but she still found time to enjoy dancing in the London nightclubs. When Sade obtained her degree, she and another woman tried to keep a men’s fashion designing business afloat, but it was difficult, as she explained to the Washington Post “You can’t make things at a reasonable cost… Everything was economic. It stunted any creativity, and I ended up not enjoying it.” Another thing Sade did not enjoy was the modeling work she did at that time to help support herself. Though since her emergence on the music scene she has been lauded almost as much for her sleek, slim, elegant look as for her songs, she confided to a reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail: “I’m quite anti-fashion in a sense. I hate it when everyone starts wearing the same clothes simply because that’s what’s supposed to be in this year.”
For the Record…
Born Helen Folasade Adu on January 16, 1959, in Ibadan, Nigeria; raised in Clacton, Essex, England; daughter of Adebisi (an economics professor) and Anne (a nurse) Adu; married Carlos Scola (a filmmaker), c. 1990; divorced, 1991; children: daughter, with Bob Morgan (a record producer), 1996. Education: Bachelor of arts degree from St. Martin’s College of Art, London, 1979.
Men’s fashion designer, stylist, and model, c. 1979-82; singer, songwriter, 1982-; backup singer for Pride, c. 1982; solo performer, 1983-; signed with Epic Records, released debut album, Diamond Life, 1984; appeared in film Absolute Beginners, 1986; went on third and most lengthy hiatus, 1992-2000; returned with Lovers Rock, 2000.
Awards: Grammy Awards, Best New Artist, 1986, and Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group for “No Ordinary Love,” 1994; Order of the British Empire (OBE) honors, 2002; American Music Award, Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, 2002; Grammy Award, Best Pop Vocal Album for Lovers Rock, 2002.
Addresses: Record company —Epic Records, 550 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022-3211.
Stalled as Backup Singer
During the early 1980s, when Sade had given up on modeling in disgust, a friend persuaded her to try out as a backup singer for a group specializing in jazz and funk called Pride. Thinking that singing would be a pleasant hobby, she auditioned, and though she was rejected at first, she was called back when no one more suitable could be found. Pride never earned a recording contract, but did gain a following in the London nightclubs, a following that grew when Sade began to team up with fellow Pride member and saxophone player Stuart Matthewman to write songs. The two performed their creations in special sets aside from the rest of Pride, and these sets began to win Sade fans of her own. When Pride disbanded, the group’s manager, Lee Barrett, became Sade’s manager, and Sade and Matthewman recruited backup musicians.
Sade was signed by Epic Records in 1983. Her first album, Diamond Life, met with acclaim in England, and the first hit from it was “Your Love is King.” But while a dance tune from Diamond Life, “Hang On to Your Love,” received some play in New York City discos, CBS/Portrait Records, who held Sade’s contract in the United States, did not release the album until 1985 because they feared it would not have the same popular appeal that it did in England. When Diamond Life was released in America, it shot up the charts quickly, first propelled by “Smooth Operator,” then by “Your Love is King.” Sade’s debut album also sold well in Europe, and with six million copies of Diamond Life sold worldwide, she had become an international star by the end of 1985.
Had a Hit with “The Sweetest Taboo”
It was at about this time that Sade released her second album, Promise. When Diamond Life was beginning to fade from the charts, Promise began to climb them. The biggest hit from the album was what Stephen Holden called a “delicately spicy love ballad,” “The Sweetest Taboo,” but other songs, such as “Maureen” and “Never as Good as the First Time,” were successful as well. But while many critics were singing Sade’s praises and lauding her cool, understated style, other reviewers were sounding notes of dissent. McGuigan pointed out that Sade’s work is “very similar in feeling and pace. Perhaps too similar: for all the dark, lush glamour of the sound, Sade has yet to show a wide range in style or voice.” And Leavy agreed that “questions about her musical ability do pop up from time to time.” But Barry Walters argued in the Village Voice that Sade’s method of “never letting go, simmering but never boiling” when interpreting her songs is what makes her distinct from the other stars of popular music. Her style continues to attract fans: in 198 Sade’s third album, Stronger Than Pride, generated the hit single “Nothing Can Come Between Us.”
During what was her longest break from music yet, the rumors of events in Sade’s personal life multiplied; they were generally about depression, divorce, drugs, and her physical state. Then, there was a problem with the Jamaican authorities that served as fodder for the tabloid press: Sade failed to pull over when signaled by Jamaican police, and continued to lead them on a highspeed chase which ended in her cursing the police, resisting arrest, and then fleeing the country before her court date because of a mysterious illness her daughter had. Sade pled not guilty and contends that the car, with her mother and daughter as passengers, was stationary at the time of the supposed “chase,” and that the authorities just wanted a bribe that she would not give. She also says they were angered when she would not sign a document that said she had committed the offense. There remains an outstanding arrest warrant in Jamaica, should Sade return.
Success Followed Extended Break
After an eight-year break, Sade returned in 2000 with a new album for the new millennium called Lovers Rock. She followed the popularly successful release, which debuted on the Billboard charts at number three, with her first tour in over a decade, and then released the live album Lovers Live in 2002. The debut single from Lovers Rock, “By Your Side,” was a hit with audiences. Lovers Rock earned her a Grammy Award and an American Music Award in 2002 and nominations for a BRIT Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, Block-buster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Artist, Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B Solo Album, and a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
When asked to explain her extended hiatus, Sade replied to Essence’s Lonnae Parker, “I just feel, for me as a person, it is essential to be a part of the world, to actually be with family and friends. Not to be removed from the essential stuff of life.” She also pointed out that she never intended to be a singer or wanted fame. “I think you should make an album only when you’ve got something to say. I don’t have to make an album every year to stay in the limelight or to fulfill other people’s expectations of me,” she told Harper’s Bazaar’s William Shaw. Sade does not like to be away from her home in England and her daughter and would opt to be anonymous as a singer-songwriter. Her main ambition, in fact, has nothing to do with her career, but with being a good mother.
Sade is still “effortlessly elegant.” She not only has captured audiences for nearly 20 years with her jazzy songwriting and smoky voice, but has remained the classic anti-diva of chic. She has popularized hoop earrings and pulled-back hair—including the sleek ponytail—and established her trademark “next to naked” freckled skin, fire-engine red lips, and perfectly sculpted eyebrows. As the ARTISTDirect website aptly summed up: “Her work embodies timeless qualities of elegance, understatement, taste and passion, while remaining completely contemporary in sound and attitude.”
Selected discography
Diamond Life, Portrait, 1985.
Promise, Portrait, 1985.
Stronger Than Pride, Portrait, 1988.
Love Deluxe, Epic, 1992.
The Best of Sade, Sony, 1994.
Lovers Rock, Epic, 2000.
Lovers Live, Sony, 2002.
Sources
Books
The Complete Marquis Who’s Who, Marquis Who’s Who, 2001.
Periodicals
Down Beat, August 1985.
Ebony, May 1986.
Entertainment Weekly, March 28, 1997, p. 15.
Essence, March 2001, pp. 42, 48a.
Harper’s Bazaar, January 2001, p. 68.
Newsweek, March 25, 1985.
New York Times, November 27, 1985.
People, February 3, 1986; July 6, 1998, p. 79.
Rolling Stone, April 25, 1985; May 8, 1986.
Village Voice, December 31, 1985.
Washington Post, December 12, 1985.
Online
All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (April 1, 2002).
ARTISTDirect, http://imusic.artistdirect.com (April 3, 2002).
Biography Resource Center, Gale Group, http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (April 1, 2002).
MTV.com, http://www.mtv.com (April 1, 2002).
Recording Industry Association of America, http://www.riaa.org (April 1, 2002).
Rock on the Net, http://www.rockonthenet.com (April 2002).
—Elizabeth Thomas
Sade 1959–
Sade 1959–
Pop singer and songwriter
“Image not available for copyright reasons”
Music writers love Sade’s name almost as much as they love her music. Whenever a critic is trying to describe a pop act with a smooth, laid-back, sophisticated, vaguely jazzy sound, her name is immediately invoked. Since taking the pop world by quiet storm in the mid-1980s, dozens of bands have tried to copy the restrained style she and her band have pioneered. Not one has yet managed to replace Sade as the standard for sultriness.
In 1959, Sade (pronounced Shar-day) was born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father, Adebisi Adu, was a Nigerian-born economics professor. Her mother, Anne, was a British nurse. Her parents met while Adebisi Adu was a graduate student at the London School of Economics. After marrying and having a son, the couple moved to Ibadan, where Adu had landed a teaching job. Sade—a diminutive of Folasade—was born shortly after their arrival in Nigeria. Sade’s unique and exotic looks-her skin is a fairly light shade of brown, while her features have an unmistakably African quality-represent a striking blend of her parents’ ethnic backgrounds.
By the time Sade was four, her parents had separated, and, in 1963, she moved with her mother and brother back to England. They lived with Sade’s grandparents while her mother finished nursing school, after which they moved out on their own. The family eventually settled in a working-class town called Holland-on-Sea, where, according to a 1986 People magazine interview, “50 percent of the population was over 65 [years of age].” In a Chicago Tribune interview the same year, Sade described it as “a miserable little seaside town full of go-carts, old ladies, cotton candy, and poodles.” Sade and her friends found solace from their dismal surroundings in dance clubs. By her teens, Sade had developed a passion for jazz, funk, and soul music.
At 17, Sade left for London to study fashion and design at St. Martin’s College of Art in the city’s West End. Upon graduating, she and a friend launched their own business designing men’s clothing. The design business never became very profitable, and Sade supplemented her income by taking modeling jobs, which she did not especially enjoy. Meanwhile, she continued to spend as much time as possible at dance clubs, where she felt most at home.
At a Glance…
Born Helen FolasadeAdu in 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria; daughter of Adebisi (an economics professor) and Anne (a nurse) Adu; married Carlos (a filmmaker) Scola, c. 1989 (divorced, c. 1990); children: one, with Bob (a record producer) Morgan. Education: St Martin’s College of Art, BA, 1979.
Fashion designer, London, 1979-83; back up singer for the funk band Pride, 1982; formed band Sade, 1983; signed with Epic Records, 1984; toured throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East, 1985-;appeared in the film Absolute Beginners, 1986.
Selected awards: British Phonographic Institute prize for Best Album, 1985; Grammy Awards, Best New Artist, 1986, and Best R&B Duo or Group Performance for “No Ordinary Love,” 1994.
Addresses: Record company— Epic Records, 666 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10103.
Sade’s entry into the music world did not take place through any plan of her own. A popular London funk group called Pride was looking for a backup singer. Her lack of any experience as a vocalist notwithstanding, their manager thought that Sade’s stunning looks made her a good candidate. She auditioned for the spot and was initially rejected. When nobody better showed up over the next few weeks, however, Sade was given the job. She continued designing clothes for a living, but music became her main evening hobby.
As a backup singer, Sade quickly developed a following of her own, and at the suggestion of Pride’s manager, she and a few other members of the band worked up a set of songs to perform during Pride’s between-set breaks, with Sade taking center stage. Sade and Pride saxophonist Stuart Mathewman teamed up to write several catchy songs for the splinter group, and, before long, the newly-dubbed band Sade was overshadowing Pride.
As a band, Sade created a stir almost immediately. Its first break came in 1983, when they were engaged to play a concert at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, sponsored by the glossy British music and fashion magazine The Face. The artsy crowd was captivated by Sade, who was backed only by Mathewman and a small rhythm section. By October of that year, the band, which now included bassist Paul Denman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and drummer Paul Cooke (later replaced by Dave Early), had signed with Epic. Sade’s first single, “Your Love Is King,” was released the following February. The Diamond Life album came out just five months later. With one exception, all of the songs on Diamond Life were cowritten by Sade and Mathewman.
Sade quickly became a favorite among trendy artistic types, and Diamond Life soared to the top of the British charts. Fearing that Sade would not go over as well among American listeners, however, Epic did not release the album in the United States until early in 1985. The company need not have worried. On the strength of the single “Smooth Operator,” the album became a huge hit in there as well.Diamond Life sold six million copies worldwide by the end of 1985, becoming the best selling album ever by a British female singer. It won the British Phonographic Institute’s Best Album prize, and Sade received the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Sade spent much of 1985 touring to promote Diamond Life and recording the follow-up album, which was released late in the year. Like its predecessor, Promise carved a quick path up the charts in both Britain and the United States, fueled by its Top 5 single “Sweetest Taboo.” And like those on the band’s debut album, the new songs were characterized by Sade’s subtle, restrained crooning over smoky, swirling soul/jazz riffs. For eight months in 1986, the band toured across the United States and Europe. As the tour wound down, Sade was surrounded by rumors that she was depressed about a busted love affair, hooked on drugs, having a nervous breakdown, or beset by some combination of the three. Her ongoing aversion to public scrutiny only gave the rumors more room in which to perpetuate themselves.
Exhausted from the tour and put off by the unwanted attention, Sade withdrew from the limelight for a while before returning with a new album, 1988’s Stronger Than Pride. Like Sade’s first two albums, Stronger Than Pride was an instant hit, attaining platinum status after a mere two weeks on the charts. After a huge world tour that included stops in Japan and Australia, and fullblown stadium concerts in the United States, Sade was ready drop out of sight again, this time for an even longer period. She moved to Spain and suffered through an unhappy one-year marriage to documentary film-maker Carlos Scola.
After the breakup of her marriage, Sade moved back to London. There she bought an old house, gutted it almost entirely, and built a fully-equipped recording studio in the basement. She then reassembled the band and began work on their next album, Love Deluxe, released in 1992. In spite of Sade’s extended absence from the public eye, her fans had not forgotten her. The album sold well, remaining on the Billboard charts for 90 weeks and spawning another international tour of sold out concerts in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The featured single, “No Ordinary Love,” earned the Grammy for Best R&B Duo or Group Performance and was featured prominently in the hit film Indecent Proposal.
In 1995, Sade took another career break, this time to have a baby with partner Bob Morgan, a record producer. While she concentrated on parenthood at home in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the rest of the band, working under the name “Sweetback,” released a self-titled album the following year. Meanwhile, Sade concentrated her energies on repackaging her decade’s worth of material into new forms. She released two such products in 1996: a recording called The Best of Sade and Sade Interactive, a multimedia CD-ROM that includes songs, videos, photographs, band biographies, and other information.
Although the gaps between Sade’s new projects seem to be widening, her voice—both as a singer and songwriter—remains a distinctive one in the pop music industry. Until a new star emerges who can out-cool Sade, her periodic reappearances are likely to be greeted with enthusiasm by her millions of fans, loyalists of the laid-back.
Selected discography
Albums
Diamond Life (includes “Your Love Is King” and “Smooth Operator”), Epic, 1984.
Promise (includes “Sweetest Taboo”), Epic, 1985.
Stronger Than Pride, Epic, 1988.
Love Deluxe (includes “No Ordinary Love”) Epic, 1992.
The Best of Sade, Epic, 1996.
CD-ROM
Sade Interactive, OmniMedia, 1996.
Sources
Book
Bego, Mark, Sade!, Paperjacks, 1986.
Periodicals
Ebony, May 1986, p. 155; April 1993, pp. 124-127.
Essence, April 1986, pp. 86-88.
Jet, November 7, 1988, pp. 30-32.
New York Daily News, September 22, 1996, p. 35.
People, February 3, 1986, pp. 46-47.
Rolling Stone, May 23, 1985, pp. 48-49.
Additional information for this profile was obtained from Epic Records publicity materials.
—Robert R. Jacobson
Sade
SADE
Born: Helen Folsade Adu, Ibadan, Nigeria, 16 January 1959
Genre: Rock, R&B
Best-selling album since 1990: Love Deluxe (1992)
Hit songs since 1990: "No Ordinary Love," "Kiss of Life," "By Your Side"
The music of Sade (pronounced SHAH-day) is synonymous with soulful, sultry sophistication. Sade and her band made their first impact in the mid-1980s with the albums Diamond Life (1984), which helped to earn her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1985; Promise (1985); and Stronger Than Pride (1988), which went platinum after just two weeks of release. After a four-year hiatus Sade released the album Love Deluxe (1992), whose track "No Ordinary Love" notched a 1993 Grammy Award for Best R&B by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Sade was born Helen Folsade Adu (Sade is a diminutive of Folsade) in Nigeria. Her Nigerian father was a professor of economics, and her British mother was a nurse. She grew up in England and developed a strong interest in jazz, soul, and funk music by the time she was a teenager. Interested in pursuing a career in fashion design, she entered into the music business, like many successful singers, by accident. The manager of a London funk group called Pride asked her to audition as a backup singer, mostly because of her good looks. (She lacked any experience or formal training as a singer.) Sade was well received and soon developed her own following after teaming up with Pride saxophonist Stuart Mathewman. Epic picked up the newly formed band Sade by the end of 1983.
By the 1990s Sade had released several albums with Top Ten hits, but she did not enjoy the unrelenting public attention. Exhausted and burned out from worldwide tours, the late 1980s found Sade living in Spain in an unhappy marriage to the documentary filmmaker Carlos Scola. Her marriage lasted a year and, after its dissolution in 1990, she moved back to London. Two years later, she released Love Deluxe, a collection of mellow, soulful, and jazzy contemplations on love and relationships. The album became her best-selling release. From the sultry love song "No Ordinary Love" to the soulfully jubilant "I Couldn't Love You More," the album celebrates hard-won love and personal struggle.
In 1995 Sade took time off to have a baby with her partner Rob Morgan. In 2000 she was back in the public eye with Lovers Rock, another classic albeit pared-down batch of jazz-influenced love songs. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard chart. Its stunning success is remarkable considering the commercial climate, which at the time was shaped by teenybopper and bubble gum pop. But few, if any, rival Sade's soulful, understated style. She contrasts sharply with the overtly emotional, melismatic delivery of other R&B singers. In 2001 Lovers Rock earned Sade her third Grammy, for Best Pop Vocal Album.
In a career marked by alternating periods of huge success and extended respites from the music business, Sade has extracted maximum returns from a minimalist vocal technique. She weds a world-weary coolness to emotional honesty through a smoky, alluring voice.
SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:
Diamond Life (Epic, 1984); Promise (Epic, 1985); Stronger Than Pride (Epic, 1988); Love Deluxe (1992, Epic); Best of Sade (Epic, 1996); Lovers Rock (Epic, 2000); Lovers Live (Epic, 2002).
carrie havranek
Sade
Sade ★★ 2000
Director Jacquot takes a lowkey approach to a short period in the life of the notorious Marquis de Sade (Auteuil). In 1794, the fiftyish Sade (Auteuil), who's depicted as a manipulative bon vivant rather than a sexual libertine, is one of many aristocrats imprisoned at a former convent called Picpus during the Reign of Terror. His relatively luxurious abode is thanks to the machinations of a former mistress he's nicknamed Sensible (Denicourt), which she is since she's now under the protection of Fournier (Colin), one of Robespierre's men. Sade enjoys his situation by staging sexual tableaus and plotting the seduction of virginal teen Emilie (Le Besco) by handsome gardener Augustin (Lespert). (All to save her life of course.) Based on the novel “La Terreur du Boudoir” by Serge Bramly. French with subtitles. 100m/C DVD . FR Daniel Auteuil, Marianne (Cuau) Denicourt, Gregoire Colin, Islid Le Besco, Jeanne Balibar, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jalil Lespert; D: Benoit Jacquot; W: Jacques Fieschi, Bernard Minoret; C: Benoit Delhomme.