Helen Folasade Adu CBE (born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( shah-DAY), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead vocalist of her self-titled band. One of the most successful British female artists in history, she is often recognised as an influence on contemporary music. Her success in the music industry was recognised with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2002, and she was made Commander in the 2017 Birthday Honours.

Sade was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, but was brought up in England from the age of four. She studied at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London and gained modest recognition as a fashion designer and part-time model before joining the band Pride in the early 1980s. After gaining attention as a performer, she formed the band Sade, and secured a recording contract with Epic Records in 1983.

A year later the band released the album Diamond Life, which became one of the era’s best-selling albums and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist. In July 1985, Sade was among the performers at the Live Aid charity concert at Wembley Stadium, and the next year, she appeared in the film Absolute Beginners. After releasing their third and fourth albums, Stronger Than Pride (1988) and Love Deluxe (1992), the band went on hiatus after the birth of Sade’s child.

After eight years without an album, the band reunited in 1999 and released Lovers Rock in 2000. The album departed from the jazz-inspired inflections of their previous work, featuring mellower sounds and pop compositions. The band produced no more music until the release of Soldier of Love, ten years later. Since then, they have released two songs, “Flower of the Universe” for the soundtrack of Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, and “The Big Unknown”, part of the soundtrack of Steve McQueen’s film Widows.

Helen Folasade Adu was born on 16 January 1959 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Her middle name, Folasade, means “honour earns the crown”. Her parents are Adebisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer in economics of Yoruba background, and Anne Hayes, an English district nurse; they met in London, married in 1955, and moved to Nigeria. When Sade was four years old, her parents separated. Hayes returned to England with Sade and her elder brother, Banji, to live with their grandparents near Colchester, Essex. When Sade was 11 years old, she moved to Holland-on-Sea, Essex, to live with her mother. After completing her education at Clacton County High School and Colchester Institute at the age of 18, she moved to London and studied fashion design at Saint Martin’s School of Art.

After completing a three-year course in fashion design, and later modelling briefly, Sade began backup singing with British band Pride. During this time, she formed a songwriting partnership with Pride’s guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman; together, backed by Pride’s rhythm section, they began doing their own sets at Pride gigs.

Her solo performances of the song “Smooth Operator”, co-written with Ray St. John, attracted record companies’ attention, and in 1983 Sade and Matthewman split from Pride, along with keyboardist Andrew Hale, bassist Paul Denman, and drummer Paul Cook, to form the band Sade. By the time she performed her first show at London’s Heaven nightclub, she had become so popular that 1,000 people were turned away at the door. In May 1983, Sade performed their first US show at New York City’s Danceteria nightclub. On 18 October 1983, Sade Adu signed with Epic Records. The rest of the band signed in 1984.

Following the record deal, the group began recording their debut album, Diamond Life, which took six weeks to record and was recorded entirely at The Power Plant in London. Diamond Life was released on 16 July 1984, reached number two in the UK Album Chart, sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK, and won the Brit Award for Best British Album in 1985. The album was also a hit internationally, reaching number one in several countries and the top ten in the US, where it has sold in excess of four million copies. Diamond Life had international sales of over six million copies, becoming one of the top-selling debut recordings of the ’80s, and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist.

“Your Love Is King” was released as the album’s lead single on 25 February 1984 and was a success in European territories, charting at number seven in Ireland and number six on the UK Singles Chart. The song was less successful in the US, where it peaked at number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The third single, “Smooth Operator”, was released on 15 September 1984 and became the most successful song in the US from the album Diamond Life. The track peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the US Billboard Hot Black Singles, as well as peaking at number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In Europe the song fared well, peaking at number 19 in the UK, and reaching the top 20 in Austria, Switzerland, France, and Germany.