*Unless you’re a serious fan, you probably hadn’t even given it a second thought, but on this date in 1959, Helen Folasade Adu was born in the Federal Republic of Nigeria in West Africa.
“Who?,” some are asking right now. Why, Helen Folasade Adu is none other than uber recording artist, Sade.
Yep, more commonly known as Sade, the soulful, sultry singer rose to fame in 1984 with her best-selling debut, Diamond Life, which was fueled by the hit singles “Smooth Operator” and “Your Love is King” and “Hang On To Your Love.”
Since then, Sade, who releases albums very sporadically, has put out five more albums which have all been fantastic sellers. The lovely, stylish vocalist turns 60 years old today.
GREGG LEAKES APOLOGIZES TO NENE WITH EMOTIONAL POST AMID CANCER BATTLE
Here’s more you might not know about Sade:
After her mother returned to England, Adu grew up on the North End of London. Developing a good singing voice in her teens, Adu worked part-time jobs in and outside of the music business. She listened to Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holiday, and studied fashion design at St. Martin’s School of Art in London while also doing some modeling on the side.
Around 1980, she started singing harmony with a Latin funk group called Arriva. One of the more popular numbers that the group performed was an Adu original co-written with bandmember Ray St. John, “Smooth Operator.”
The following year, she joined the eight-piece funk band Pride as a background singer. Pride’s opening acts often featured members of the band in different combinations. Pride and their off-shoots performed often around London and stirred up record company interest. Initially, the labels wanted to sign only Sade — technically a trio featuring Adu, Stuart Matthewman, and Paul Denman — while the whole of Pride wanted a deal.
The members of Pride not involved in the Sade trio eventually told Adu, Matthewman, and Denman to go ahead and sign a deal. Adding keyboardist Andrew Hale, Sade signed to the U.K. division of Epic Records.
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