Helen Folasade Adu CBE (Yoruba: Fọláṣadé Adú [fɔ̄láʃādé ādú]; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( shah-DAY), is a British Nigerian singer and songwriter. Backed by members Paul S. Denman, Andrew Hale and Stuart Matthewman, she gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the English band Sade.
Following stints as a fashion designer of men's clothing and part-time model, Sade began singing backup for the band Pride in the early 1980s. Growing attention from record labels led her and other band members to split from Pride and form the band Sade. After a record deal with Epic Records, the band released their debut album Diamond Life (1984), which sold over six million copies worldwide, became one of the top-selling debut recordings of the 1980s and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist. The band went on to release a string of multi-platinum selling albums.
Sade made her acting debut in the British film, Absolute Beginners (1986), before the release of the band's third studio album, Stronger Than Pride (1988). After the release of their fifth album, Lovers Rock (2000), the band embarked on a ten-year hiatus during which Sade raised her son. Following the hiatus, the band returned with their sixth album, Soldier of Love (2010), which became a commercial success and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. In 2010, The Sunday Times described Sade as the most successful solo British female artist in history. In 2012, she was listed at number 30 on VH1's "100 Greatest Women In Music". She hadn’t released new music since a greatest-hits collection in 2011 until the song "Flower of the Universe" featured in the movie A Wrinkle in Time.
