Sade Adu

Sade Adu (2011)

Sade Adu [ ʃɑːdeɪ ], CBE (* 16th January 1959 as Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan , Nigeria ) often only Sade called, is a nigerianisch- British smooth jazz -, Soul - and R & B - singer and multiple Grammy -Preisträgerin. To date it has sold over 50 million records. Her most successful song is the 1984 title Smooth Operator from her debut album Diamond Life .

Personal life and beginnings

Sade Adu and Band, 2011

Sade Adu was born in Nigeria to the Nigerian Bisi Adu and the British Anne Hayes . After her parents separated, she moved to Colchester, England, with her mother and older brother at the age of four . She studied fashion design in London and worked as a photo model before switching to the music business in 1980. First she sang with the group Arriva, then for two years with Pride. There she met the saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, with whom she composed some pieces. From 1989 to 1994 she was married to the Spanish film producer Carlos Scola , after which she lived with the Jamaican producer Bob Morgan. In July 1996 she became a mother.

Career

In 1983 she recorded a four track demo tape with her band , including Your Love Is King and Smooth Operator . At first it was rejected by several record companies because the music sounded too “jazzy” and did not correspond to the music style that was predominant at the time, which was characterized by the use of drum computers . It was only after Sade was featured on the cover of The Face magazine and successfully performed with her band at Heaven nightclub in London that she received a record deal with Epic Records . Within six weeks, 15 tracks were recorded in the studio, of which nine came on the debut album Diamond Life . Sade reserved all decisions about the composition of the album and turned down several producers against the opposition of the record company. Over ten million copies of the album were sold worldwide, almost four million of them in the United States.

From the mid-1980s, Sade enjoyed great success with her pop music inspired by soul and jazz . In 1984 she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and 1985 at Live Aid . In 1985 she won the first Grammy with her band . In 1986 she had a role in the film Absolute Beginners and sang the song Killer Blow in it . In 1994 she received another Grammy for the song No Ordinary Love , which also appears in the soundtrack to the film An Immoral Offer . After a break of several years, during which the rest of the band worked together under the name Sweetback without Sade , they released the studio album Lovers Rock in 2000 and toured the US in 2001 . In 2002, the live album Lovers Live was released on video (DVD / BluRay) and CD from the recordings of this tour . In 2005, Sade recorded the song Mum for the Voices for Darfur project .

After a long break, she returned in early 2010 with the single Soldier of Love , which was particularly successful in North America. In February 2010 the album of the same name was released, which reached number one in the charts in Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. At the end of April 2011, Sade started a new world tour. Also in 2011 a double CD of their greatest hits was released under the title The Ultimate Collection , on which four new songs are included. In 2012, a recording of a September 2011 concert was released that was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Long Form Music Video category. In November 2018, her song The Big Unknown was released as a contribution to the film Widows .

Discography

→ Main article : Sade Adu / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1984	Diamond Life	DE1 platinum (77 weeks)DE	AT1 (10 months) AT	CH1 × 2 Double platinum (34 weeks)CH	UK2 × 4 Quadruple platinum (99 weeks)UK	US5 × 4 Quadruple platinum (81 weeks)US	R&B3 (76 weeks) R&B	First published: July 16, 1984 Sales: + 7,000,000
1985	Promise	DE2 platinum (42 weeks)DE	AT6 (6 months) AT	CH1 (21 weeks) CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (31 weeks)UK	US1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (46 weeks)US	R&B1 (45 weeks) R&B	First published: November 4, 1985 Sales: + 6,300,000
1988	Stronger Than Pride	DE4th gold (36 weeks)DE	AT6 (4 months) AT	CH2 platinum (14 weeks)CH	UK3 platinum (17 weeks)UK	US7th × 3 Triple platinum (45 weeks)US	R&B3 (44 weeks) R&B	First published: May 2nd, 1988 Sales: + 4,500,000
1992	Love Deluxe	DE14th gold (33 weeks)DE	AT11 (16 weeks) AT	CH6th gold (15 weeks)CH	UK10 gold (27 weeks)UK	US3 × 4 Quadruple platinum (103 weeks)US	R&B2 (105 weeks) R&B	First published: October 26, 1992 Sales: + 5,300,000
2000	Lovers rock	DE4th platinum (25 weeks)DE	AT5 gold (19 weeks)AT	CH6th gold (20 weeks)CH	UK18th platinum (22 weeks)UK	US3 × 3 Triple platinum (58 weeks)US	R&B2 (63 weeks) R&B	First published: Nov 13, 2000 Sales: + 4,455,000
2010	Soldier of Love	DE2 gold (20 weeks)DE	AT2 gold (14 weeks)AT	CH1 platinum (23 weeks)CH	UK4th gold (8 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (33 weeks)US	R&B1 (67 weeks) R&B	First published: February 8, 2010 Sales: + 1,700,000

Awards

• 1985
  • BRIT Awards : "Best Album (Diamond Life) "
• 1986
  • Grammy Award : "Best New Artist"
• 1994
  • Grammy Award: "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group (No Ordinary Love) "
• 2002
  • Grammy Award: "Best Pop Vocal Album (Lovers Rock) "
• Order of the British Empire
  • Officer, OBE, awarded in 2002
  • Commander, CBE, awarded in 2017

Web links

Commons : Sade Adu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Web site Sade Adu (English)
• Sade in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Sade biography and albums in cosmopolis.ch

References

1. ↑ http://www.sade.com/biography The biography on their official web site. In: sade.com. January 2007, accessed November 20, 2017.
2. ↑ https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/sades-transgender-son-proudly-flaunts-bare-chest-months-after-breasts-removal-surgery/
3. ↑ Helienne Lindvall: Behind the music: the secrets of Sade's success. In: theguardian.com. The Guardian , May 18, 2011, accessed September 26, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Andreas Margara: Sade live in the Festhalle Frankfurt. In: regioactive.de. May 5, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
5. ^ McGovern, Kyle (February 10, 2013). Grammys 2013 Winners List: Mumford & Sons Win Album of the Year. Spin. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
6. ↑ Sade releases new song. Retrieved November 13, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US1 US R&B albums US R&B singles
8. ^ Order of the British Empire - Commanders of the Order of the British Empire. In: gov.uk. Retrieved November 20, 2017 (PDF; 431 kB, page 12, English).