Naija Soul Sistahs (part 2)

SADE

Helen Folasade Adu, (born 16 January 1959), better known as Sade, is a Nigerian-British singer songwriter, composer, and record producer. She first achieved success in the 1980s as the frontwoman and lead vocalist of the popular Brit and Grammy award winning English group, Sade.


Sade was born in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. Her middle name, Folasade, means 'honour confers your crown.' Her parents, Bisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer in economics, and Anne Hayes, an English district nurse, met in London, married in 1955 and moved to Nigeria. Later, when the marriage ran into difficulties, Anne Hayes returned to England with four-year-old Sade and her older brother Banji to live with her parents. 


She was influenced by American soul music, particularly 70's artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Bill Withers.


She studied fashion at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. While at college, she joined a soul band, Pride, in which she sang backing vocals. Her solo performances of the song Smooth operator attracted the attention of record companies and in 1983, she signed a solo deal with Epic Records taking three members of the band, with her. Sade and her band produced the first of a string of hit albums, the debut album Diamond Life in 1984, and have subsequently sold over 50 million albums. 


The unstressed, understated elegance of her music in conjunction with her look- exotic and effortlessly sophisticated, launched her as the  female face of the style decade of the 80's. She is the most successful solo female artist in British history.


Her newest album Soldier of Love was released 2010. To know more about Sade and her music visit her website @ http://www.sade.com/gb/home/

Listen to 'Soldier of Love' below: