The band. Not just the lead vocalist.
Although she’s the front woman for the group and probably the only face we can recognise as Sade, this smooth, British jazz band made an impact on the British music scene and the rest of the world in the early 80s. Taking their lead vocalist’s name as their brand, they continue to wow fans and prove critics wrong with timeless music that oozes effortless genius.
It was a performance of Smooth Operator from vocalist Sade Adu that led to the band’s first album, Diamond Life, in 1984. It may have only reached No 2 in the UK charts but music connoisseurs around the world realised that Sade were the real deal, making the album No 1 in many countries. It also won the Best British Album Brit Award in 1985 setting the standard for their No 1 album, Promise. Double platinum in the UK and quadruple platinum in the US, their third album Stronger Than Pride was made platinum and reached No 3 in the UK. Love Deluxe was released in 1992 reaching quadruple platinum in the US whilst achieving No 3 and No 10 in the UK charts.
To further prove that they were a serious band who made real music, Sade were still in demand; even after an eight year gap. Although lead vocalist Sade had retired and the other band members were doing their own thing, with each year that went by, the band’s popularity hadn’t suffered like most artists might experience on today’s scene – it instead seemed to blossom. Miss Adu did come out of retirement in 2000 for a MOBO performance which led to a fifth album from the jazz band, Lovers Rock. Winning a Grammy for the album, it didn’t do as well as it should have. It only reached No 18 in the UK and No 3 in the US. After the eight year break from the music scene, Sade decided to take a ten year break and they finally released another album in 2010, Soldier of Love. This album broke a lot of ‘records’ including becoming the first vocal to reach No 1 on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown. Reaching No 4 in the UK and No 1 in the US, the band received another Grammy Award.
Members of Sade:
Sade Adu – Vocalist and songwriter.
Stuart Matthewman – Guitarist, saxophonist and songwriter.
Paul Spencer Denman – Bassist and songwriter.
Andrew Hale – Keyboardist and songwriter.
As well as their six albums, Sade has two compilation albums, The Best of Sade and The Ultimate Collection, as well as three live and a remix album.
The band has been touring since 1984 and have spread their sophisticated, smooth jazz sound to the masses.