[Music] foreign
is no doubt one of the most notable female music artists to ever grace the industry one thing
that's been Apparent from the beginning and worked in her favor is her intention to keep her private
life well private and let her Artistry take Center Stage Helen folashade Adu was born on January 16
1959 in ibadan Nigeria her middle name from where her stage name would originate means crowning
Glory her Nigerian father an economics professor and her British mother a nurse met in London
married there in the mid-1950s and then moved to Nigeria when charde was just four years old her
parents divorced and her mother then returned to England taking charde and her older brother
with her they really didn't have anywhere to go so they ended up moving in with sharde's grandmother
in essence shade says she did stay in touch with her father who remained in Nigeria throughout her
childhood she grew up listening to Seoul Legends Curtis Mayfield Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye but
unlike many of other singers didn't have any Grand aspirations to become a music Superstar
herself after completing High School Sade moved to London to study fashion design fun fact Sade got
the opportunity to showcase her wardrobe designing skills on popular British New Wave band Spandau
Ballet for a show they were doing in New York her next move was opening her own Boutique in London
where she also modeled the merchandise she's admitted that she ended up in fashion because
she thought she could make a living out of it not because she had some sort of passion for it
in fact she didn't love it at all fate as it were would step in to guide her to a more suitable line
of work a friend of hers had his own singing group called Pride one of their backup singers
had left and with a concert coming up they needed someone to fill the spot he asked Sharday if she
could sing and her reply was she could try so she gave it her best shot during an audition as
charde tells it they initially turned her down but came crawling back when they couldn't find anyone
better she must have had some endearing Talent since she'd eventually take on the lead vocalist
role after another group member left during this time she formed a songwriting partnership with
the band's guitarist and saxophonist Stuart matthewman together backed by Pride's Rhythm
Section they began doing their own sets at the band's shows despite her inexperience Sade became
so popular that upwards of 1 000 people that came to see her at one particular gig ended
up being turned away before long Sade's solo performances began attracting the attention of
record companies in 1983 charde Stewart and fellow Pride members bassist Paul Denman and keyboardist
Andrew Hale left the group to form their own Collective simply named charde drummer Paul
Anthony cook was also a part of the group for a short time rumor has it though that he ended up
getting left out of the mix because Sharde fired him after he objected to her signing a solo deal
yeah Epic Records presented the most attractive options so Sharde signed with them and got
straight to work the group's debut album titled Diamond Live was released in the summer of 1984.
it reached number two on the UK album chart and won the Brit Award for best British album
the album was also a hit internationally reaching the top spot in several countries and the top 10
in the U.S your love is King was released as the album's lead single and was a success in European
territories but less so elsewhere the third single Smooth Operator became the most successful song in
the U.S from the album it peaked at number five on the Hot 100 as well as captured the number
one spot on the adult contemporary chart in late 1985 the band released their second album promise
which peaked at number one in both the UK and the US the project went double platinum in the
UK quadruple platinum in the U.S and spawned three singles the first the sweetest taboo did the best
out of the bunch peaking at number five on the Hot 100 number three on the adult contemporary
chart and number three on the hot r b hip-hop singles chart the following year the band won
a Grammy for Best New Artist Sade's third album Stronger Than Pride was released three years later
and like their previous album became a commercial success going platinum in the UK and three times
platinum in the U.S the album was popularized by four singles most notably the second single
Paradise which became another top 20 pop hit and shot to number one on the r b hip-hop songs chart
becoming the band's first single to do so sharde's person alive took a positive turn the following
year when she wed a Spanish film director and moved to Madrid for a time sadly they're always
turbulent relationship wouldn't last years later Sharde would open up about the immense pain she
felt over the failure of the Union that took her five years to fully recover from love Deluxe was
released as the band's fourth studio album in 1992. it at number three and went on to become
certified four times platinum in the U.S the lead single No Ordinary Love Lockdown another
Grammy win for best r b performance by a duo or Groove with Volvo the four-year gap between this
project and the group's last would be the biggest thus far and cause the lead singer
especially to have to deal with an array of tabloid generated rumors that said she was in
a mental hospital after an emotional breakdown and suffered from a variety of drug abuses
the real reason for the absence she says was simply her need to take time off after the group's
1988 tour came to an end and left her drained we had forgotten what life was all about I think the
best part of what we do is making records if you don't have any time away from the music business
there's nothing that really inspires you to make a record Sade moved briefly to the Caribbean to live
with a Jamaican music producer in the late 90s and gave birth in 1996 to her first child a daughter
named Isla the couple would later separate the island would also serve as the backdrop to the
only Scandal if you could call it that the charde has apparently ever been a part of when she was
arrested for reckless driving and failing to make several Court appearances she claims that
it really wasn't a traffic incident got blown out of proportion and essentially boiled down to a
policeman trying to pressure her into giving him a bribe in order to avoid arrest chardey said she
plans never to return to the island following an eight-year Hiatus the group released their
fifth studio album lovers rock in 2000. it's been eight years since you put out a new a new album
with brand new material on it what have you been up to just living your life ducking and Diving
and weaving just waiting for a peaceful moment in my life so that I could get into studio and
just put myself in totally to making the record just waiting for that break you know the triple
platinum project earned them the Grammy award for best pop vocal album and the lead single by your
side was also nominated for a Grammy award for best female pop vocal performance after
finishing off another tour the following year Sharde retreated to her home in the Gloucester
Countryside to give her young daughter her undivided attention sureday has been in a
relationship with former Marine and firemen turned scientist Ian Watts since 2007. perhaps in a sign
of her domestic happiness she became slightly more forthcoming about her personal life when
asked by her local paper in 2012 describing Ian in as the one I always said that if I could just find
a guy who could chop wood and had a nice smile it didn't bother me if he was an aristocrat or a
thug as long as he was a good guy and I've ended up with an educated Thug I have a lovely stepson
who lives with us and I feel lucky like I've won the lottery finally then Sharde went radio silent
once again this time for an entire decade the group resurfaced in 2010 with their sixth studio
album Soldier of Love it immediately placed atop the billboard 200 in the United States becoming
their first album to debut at number one the album featured the singles baby father the moon and the
sky as well as the title track and Lead single at the 2011 Grammy Awards the title track won best
r b performance by a duo or group of vocals while baby father was nominated for best paw performance
by a duo or group with vocals as usual nothing more was heard from the group until 2018 when
Sharde released the acoustic ballad flower of the universe for the soundtrack to the Disney film A
Wrinkle in Time as well as the big unknown for the motion picture widows also around this time
bandmate and collaborator Stuart matthewman revealed in an exclusive interview to rated R
b.com that they were also working on a new charde album on National Coming Out Day in 2016 chardey's
child now going by the name Isaac Theo wadu came out as a transgender man in 2019 he publicly
thanked his mother for her love and support throughout his transition sharing a photo on
Instagram of the pair cuddled up at a restaurant in October 2022 charde became linked to Brad Pitt
but not for the reason you may think she ended up being the first artist to record
in his newly renovated Mirabelle Studio at the famed Chateau miraval in the south of
France shorty had actually previously recorded portions of the promise album in the original
incarnation of the studio so does this mean we're getting closer to the release of a new
project who knows what we do know for sure at this point can be summed up in the statement
spray painted years ago across some posters in New York City advertising Sade's 2000 song by
your side that came out after her longest absence at the time from the music scene
an unknown Vandal wrote [ __ ] sings when she wants to and yes Sade did see it and loved it
thank you