Sade | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | |
| Spinoff of | Pride |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | sade |
Sade (/ˈʃɑːdeɪ/SHAH-day or/ʃɑːˈdeɪ/shah-DAY)[6][7][8] are an English band, formed in London in 1982 and named after their lead singer,Sade Adu. The band consists of Sade (vocals),Paul Denman (bass),Stuart Matthewman (saxophones, guitars) and Andrew Hale (keyboards, piano); the band does not have a drummer, but employ session musicians for recordings and live shows. Sade's musical style spans genres such assoul,quiet storm,smooth jazz andsophisti-pop.
Sade's debut studio album,Diamond Life (1984), topped the charts of several countries, sold over four million copies worldwide, won theBrit Award for Best British Album.[9] The band's second studio effort,Promise (1985), was certifieddouble platinum in the UK, andquadruple platinum in the US, peaking at number one in both territories;[10][11] it also won the band their firstGrammy Award.[3] Their following two albums,Stronger Than Pride (1988) andLove Deluxe (1992), drew further success andawards.
AfterLove Deluxe, Sade went on a hiatus. They returned with their fifth studio album,Lovers Rock (2000), which won theGrammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Their sixth and most recent studio album,Soldier of Love (2010), became their first number one debut in the US sincePromise;[12] it won the band its fourth Grammy forBest R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[3]
All of Sade's albums, including compilations and a live album, have charted in the US Top Ten.[13] As of 2012, their sales in the US stood at 23 million units,[14] and by 2014, their sales worldwide stood at 75 million.[15] The band was ranked at number 50 onVH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and nominated for theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.[16][17]
The musical group Sade was formed in London in 1982, by members of theLatin soul band Pride.Sade Adu,Stuart Matthewman (sax),Paul Denman (bass), and Paul Anthony Cooke (drums), formed the break-away group and began to write its material. They named the band after lead singer Sade Adu, and made its debut performance in December 1982 atRonnie Scott's Club in London in support of Pride. In May 1983, the band performed its first US show atDanceteria in New York City. Andrew Hale joined on keyboards in mid-1983; Cooke was replaced on drums by Dave Early in early 1984.[18]
Sade received more attention from the media and record companies than Pride had, and eventually separated from that group altogether. On 18 October 1983, the singer signed withCBS Records (which was absorbed by its parent label,Epic Records, in 1986). When singer Sade and her band of the same name were establishing themselves, its record company, Epic, printed "Pronounced Shar-day" on the record labels of its releases,[19] which led to mispronunciation inrhotic North American accents.
In February 1984, Sade released its first single, "Your Love Is King", which became a Top Ten hit. A second single, "When Am I Going to Make a Living" barely made the Top 40, but the band's debut album,Diamond Life, was released in July 1984 and peaked at No. 2.[10] It spent over six months in the UK Top Ten and was later certified 4× platinum by theBPI.Diamond Life won the 1985Brit Award forBest British Album,[9] and was later included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20]
The band embarked on its first major UK tour, augmented by Dave Early (drums), Martin Ditcham (percussion), Terry Bailey (trumpet) and Gordon Matthewman (trombone). A third single, "Smooth Operator", was released from the album with a video directed byJulien Temple. The single became its first US hit in spring 1985, propelling the album in the US Top Ten. Also in 1985, the band were nominated for twoMTV Video Music Awards—"Best Female Video" and "Best New Artist".
On 13 July 1985, Sade performed at theLive Aid atWembley Stadium in London. Sade Adu became the only African-born artist to appear in front of the live audience of 75,000 and an estimated worldwide television audience of 1.4 billion in 170 countries.
In late 1985, Sade released its second album,Promise, which peaked at No. 1 in both the UK and the US.[10][11] It was certified double platinum by theBPI in the UK, and quadruple platinum in the US. In 1986, Adu was nominated for anAmerican Music Awards for FavoriteSoul/R&B Female Video Artist, and the band won aGrammy Award forBest New Artist.[3] On 28 June 1986, after touring for the album, the band performed at the Artists Against Apartheid Concert in the Freedom Festival onClapham Common in London. In 1987 the band was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group forPromise.
Sade's third album,Stronger Than Pride, was released in May 1988. The album peaked at No. 3 in the UK and has been certified platinum by theBPI. It was preceded by the single "Paradise", which made the UK Top 30 and US Top 20.[10][11] The band toured across the world again, augmented byBlair Cunningham (drums), Martin Ditcham (percussion), Leroy Osbourne (vocals), Gordon Hunte (guitar),James McMillan (trumpet) and Jake Jacas (trombone & vocals). In 1989, Sade Adu was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.
Sade's fourth album,Love Deluxe, was released in November 1992. The album peaked at No. 3 on the US Album charts and was certified quadruple-Platinum,[21] and peaked at No. 10 in the UK and was certified Gold by the BPI.[22]
In 1993, the band recorded a cover of thePercy Mayfield song, "Please Send Me Someone to Love", for theAcademy Award-winning filmPhiladelphia, before launching theLove Deluxe world tour. Joining the band were Leroy Osbourne (vocals), Gordon Hunte (guitar), Trevor Murrell (drums), Karl Vanden Bossche (percussion), andRick Braun (trumpet).
The 1994Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded to Sade for "No Ordinary Love", featured in the 1993 filmIndecent Proposal. In November the group released its first compilation album,The Best of Sade. The album was another Top Ten hit in both the UK and US[23] and was certified Platinum and Quadruple-Platinum respectively.[24] In 1996 Hale, Denman, and Matthewman formed their own band as a side project,Sweetback, and released a self-titled album.
In October 2000, Sade Adu came out of retirement to perform at the prestigiousMOBO Awards, her first live performance in several years. The following month, Sade released its fifth studio album,Lovers Rock, its first album in eight years. The album peaked at number 18 in the UK (its only studio album not to make the top 10) though was certified Gold by theBPI.[10] It fared better in the US, peaking at number 3.[11] It also won theGrammy Award forBest Pop Vocal Album in 2002.[3] The band toured the US throughout 2001. The tour resulted in a live album,Lovers Live, which was released in the UK and US in February 2002. In 2005 the band contributed the track "Mum" to theVoices for Darfur DVD.
In mid-2009, when social media was in its early stages, Sade fans from around the world were excited to hear the news of an up-coming Sade album with a predicted release date of 24 November 2009. This date was posted on an official-looking website (sade2009.com) beforeSony Music released any news or marketing for an upcoming album.
Sony denied having any affiliation with the site.[25]Billboard Charts contacted the site's owner to confirm the release date and was told the date was official, but soon after, the date was removed.
Die-hard Sade fans got together on the official Sade website forums to investigate this new website and release date, what they uncovered was the registered owner of the site's name was Thomas Roman, a web developer, freelancedigital marketing andSEO specialist. Roman, a seasoned web developer, utilized the buzz he generated with the release date and got traffic to his site where he cashed in onpay per click advertisements. To date it is not known how he predicted a release date so close to the release of their first single and studio album,Soldier of Love,[26] in a decade.
Sade's sixth studio albumSoldier of Love was released worldwide on 8 February 2010, the band's first album of new material in ten years.[27] Following the release of the "Soldier of Love" single on 8 December 2009, the track debuted at number 11 on the Urban Hot AC chart, making it the highest debut of the decade and the third-highest all-time on the Urban Hot AC chart. "Soldier of Love" debuted at number 5 on the Smooth Jazz airplay chart and became the first-ever vocal to hit number 1 on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown.[26]
The album peaked at No. 4 in the UK.[10] In the US the album sold 502,000 copies in its first week and topped theBillboard 200 chart.[12] The album stayed at No. 1 in the US for three weeks.[28] The group released the second single from the album, "Babyfather", in April 2010, followed by a video in May. On 13 April 2010, the band performed "Babyfather" and "The Sweetest Taboo" on the US TV showDancing With The Stars. In September 2010 the group announced the first dates of its global tour,Sade Live, to begin in April 2011.[29]
In 2011, Sade received its fourth Grammy Award (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals) forSoldier of Love, and released a secondgreatest hits album,The Ultimate Collection, which made the UK Top Ten.[3] A new video for the track "Love Is Found" premiered in July 2011.
The band returned in 2018 for the soundtrack to theDisney filmA Wrinkle in Time with the song "Flower of the Universe" and for the song "The Big Unknown" for the motion pictureWidows.[30][31]
On 13 July 2018, Sade bandmateStuart Matthewman toldRated R&B in an interview that the band is in the studio working on its seventh studio album. He said, "We're working on a new album. When we're happy, then we'll let everyone else hear it."[32]
In September 2020, Sade announced a remastered vinyl set of its six albums. The boxset, titledThis Far, was released on 9 October 2020.[33][34][35] Their engineer and co-producer,Mike Pela, died in 2022.[36] The band reportedly began recording new material for a seventh album in the summer 2022 at the rebuiltMiraval Studios[37] (where they previously recordedPromise andStronger Than Pride).
Former members
Sweetback is an English band composed of members from the band Sade, excluding the frontwoman, Sade Adu. They are a jazz/funk band with R&B overtones. Membership includes Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman, and Andrew Hale.
The group was formed in 1994 at the conclusion of Sade’s Love Deluxe World Tour. They released two studio albums: Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004). Their albums feature a host of guest vocalists, such as Leroy Osbourne,Amel Larrieux,Maxwell, Aya (Lysa Aya Trenier),Bahamadia,Chocolate Genius andEl DeBarge.[39] Their first album was re-released on vinyl in 2016.[40]
The band is credited with influencing the musical genre ofneo soul and achieving success in the 1980s with songs that featured asophisti-pop style, incorporating elements ofsoul,pop,smooth jazz andquiet storm.[41] The band was part of a new wave of BritishR&B-oriented artists during the late-1980s and early-1990s that also included artistsSoul II Soul,Caron Wheeler,The Brand New Heavies,Simply Red,Jamiroquai andLisa Stansfield.[42]AllMusic's Alex Henderson writes that, "Many of the British artists who emerged during that period had a neo-soul outlook and were able to blend influences from different eras".[42] Following the coining of the term "quiet storm" bySmokey Robinson, Sade was credited for helping give the genre a worldwide audience.[43]
The band's work has influenced and been recognized by several musical artists. RapperRakim ofEric B. & Rakim stated he grew up listening to Sade's music and was influenced by the singer's voice and style. Rakim has also referenced its song "Smooth Operator" in his rap song "Paid in Full" (1987).[44] Hip hop groupSouls of Mischief stated they grew up listening to Sade's music.[44] Hip hop groupTanya Morgan also described Sade as one of its favorite artists.[44]
FrontmanChino Moreno of thealternative metal bandDeftones has citedLove Deluxe as one of his top 13 favorite albums.[45] In an interview withThe Quietus, Moreno said, "I've always loved it, it was a big inspiration on me. It's sort of classy, another cocktail and cityscape record."[45] The band alsocovered the lead single "No Ordinary Love" in collaboration with singerJonah Matranga for the band's 2005 compilation album,B-Sides & Rarities.[46]
SingerKeri Hilson said, "My Dad would whistle Sade melodies randomly all the time. As a kid, I used to try to whistle along to 'Cherish the Day' or 'The Sweetest Taboo.' He was a real Sade fan and made me one, too!"[44] In reaction to the newly released albumSoldier of Love, rapperKanye West wrote, "This is why i still have a blog. To be a part of moments like this ... new Sade ... How much better this ... than everything else?".[44] RapperRick Ross stated in an interview that "People may know my infatuation with Sade. There's never been a bad Sade track. I love all different sides."[47] Other individuals such as Formula One driverCarlos Sainz have quoted Sade's songs.
The group were nominated for induction to theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.[48]
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