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Sade Is Not A Brand, Sade Is A Band

Sade is boring.

No, I don't mean their music is boring. I mean they are boring.

Sade is just one of those solid bands who chug along, year after year, making great music while keeping their names out of the tabloids. They're quite refreshing, especially in an era where many musical artists achieve more notoriety for their antics than for their albums.

Of course, Sade's music is anything but banal. The English quartet blends jazz, soul, R&B, soft rock, and funk into a sophisticated and complex sound. Their music is both challenging and comforting; their songs are unmistakable yet multifarious.

If there is anything remotely controversial about Sade it's their name. Sade is both the moniker of the band and the sobriquet of its lead singer, Sade Adu (her real name is Helen Folasade Adu). Sometimes the media refers to "Sade" as a band (them) and other times they refer to "Sade" as a person (her).

You may ask why name a band after its frontwoman and cause so much confusion? Well, you can't go wrong naming a band after a drop-dead gorgeous singer with a sultry voice. Of course, Adu is more than just the face of the group; she's also the driving force behind their music.

Regardless of whether you refer to Sade as "them" or "her," the Grammy Award-winning entity has sold nearly 60 million albums, seen every one of their releases (8) peak inside the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and vended thousands of Sade concert tickets all over the world.

Sade can trace its beginnings to 1982. At that time, Sade's Adu (singer), Stuart Matthewman (guitar and saxophone), and Paul Spencer Denman (bass) were part of a Latin-soul band called Pride. On the side, the threesome formed another band which they dubbed Sade. This new band began to write their own material and eventually became Pride's regular opening act. However, it didn't take long before Sade eclipsed Pride in both popularity and notoriety. Once that happened, the two bands split ties and went their separate ways. In 1983, Andrew Hale joined the fray as the Sade's keyboardist and has remained with the band ever since.

In October of 1983, Sade signed a recording contract. Their first album, Diamond life, was released the following July. The band's debut featured what many critics consider their seminal single, "Smooth Operator." The album peaked at number five on the U.S. album charts and was certified 4x Platinum in early 1995. Diamond Life also produced the singles "Your Love is King," "When Am I Going to Make a Living," and "Hang onto Your Love."

In July of 1985, Sade performed at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium. The concert was organized to raise money for famine victims in the African country of Ethiopia. Oddly enough, Sade Adu was the only performer at Live Aid that was actually born in Africa. Adu entered this mortal coil in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1959.

The band's sophomore effort, Promise, dropped in 1985 and featured the smash hit single, "The Sweetest Taboo." Promise was the band first's number one album, and like Diamond Life, it was eventually certified 4x Platinum.

Just a little over a year passed between the release of Diamond Life and the release of Promise. This would be the last time the band worked that quickly. Their third album, Stronger Than Pride, came out in 1988 and their next offering, Love Deluxe, hit store shelves in 1992. Both records peaked inside the top ten and together they sold more than 7 million units.

Eight years would pass before Sade released their next studio album, Lovers Rock. It dropped on Nov. 14, 2000. The critically acclaimed opus sold 4 million copies and earned the band a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Sade released their sixth studio album, Solider of Love, nearly a decade later on Feb. 5, 2010. The oeuvre was Sade's second number one album coming 25 years after their first. Solider was also the third best selling record of 2010 and earned the band two Grammy Award nominations.

To support their blockbuster offering, Sade embarked on a world tour in the spring of 2011. The band played 50 dates in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It was Sade's first road trip since their highly successful "Lovers Live Tour" in 2001. On that outing, Sade drew more than one million concert goers.

Throughout their career, Sade has delighted fans with their passionate, exotic, and superlative music. Then have done so with a high level of genuineness and integrity. This legendary band is probably best summed up by Adu when she said, "I only make records when I feel I have something to say. I'm not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand."