We are wishing a very Happy Birthday to Helen Folasade Adu, butter known to music fans around the world as Sade, born on January 16, 1959.
The Nigerian born singer-songwriter burst onto the scene with her self-named band in 1984, wowing pop, soul and jazz audiences with the #1 hit “Smooth Operator” and the accompanying album, Diamond Life. Bearing a sound unlike anything else out there, Sade created the template for a new breed of artists, blurring lines between musical categories, and delivering music that appealed across generational lines.
Over the next eight years, Sade would continue her reign on top, with four smash albums and now-iconic songs like “The Sweetest Taboo,” “Never As Good As The First Time,” “No Ordinary Love,” and “Paradise.” Her output slowed down in the new millennium, but her two 21st century albums, Lovers Rock and Soldier Of Love, kept the quality and the interest of her fans at high levels.
While we wait to hear long-anticipated new music from her, today we celebrate this one of a kind artist. Happy birthday, Sade!