Sade named the band after its singer and quietly took over the charts

Sade is both a person and a band. The group was formed in London in 1982 by members of the Latin soul band Pride, and it was named after lead singer Sade Adu. Alongside her were Stuart Matthewman on saxophone and guitar, Paul Denman on bass and, from mid-1983, keyboardist Andrew Hale. Their first show was in December 1982 at Ronnie Scott's Club in London, supporting Pride.

Sade soon attracted more attention than Pride had and separated from it altogether. Adu signed with CBS Records in October 1983. Epic printed “Pronounced Shar-day” on the labels after North American accents mispronounced the name. In February 1984 came the first single, “Your Love Is King”, a top-ten hit, followed by “When Am I Going to Make a Living”. Their debut album Diamond Life appeared in July 1984, peaked at number two and won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Album.

“Smooth Operator”, with a video directed by Julien Temple, became their first US hit in spring 1985 and pushed the album into the American top ten. On 13 July 1985 they performed at Live Aid at Wembley, where Adu was the only African-born artist to appear in front of the live audience of 75,000. Promise followed at the end of the year and reached number one in both the UK and US. The band has had no drummer since 1986 and uses session musicians.

Success lasted. Stronger Than Pride in 1988 and Love Deluxe in 1992 added awards, and after an eight-year gap Lovers Rock in 2000 won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. Soldier of Love in 2010 became their first US number-one debut. Every album has charted in the US top ten, worldwide sales reached 75 million by 2014, and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026.