Cherish the Band: Sade

We want to smooth things up a bit and throw a serious vibe into the mix. Yes, we are talking about the actual smooth operators of music, Sade. There is just this feeling that comes with listening to Sade that fills our souls with so much love and peace. Sade is THEE vibe of vibes.

Helen Folasade Adu, formed her R&B band Sade, named after her middle name which means “wealth confers a crown”, after her performances at Saint Martin’s School of Art. They signed a contract with Epic Records in 1983 and started the climb to stardom. Sade released the best-selling album of the era, Diamond Life, which happened to be their first album. “Smooth Operator” was on repeat when this album dropped. We are pretty sure it is in some playlists we have today. Adu became the best-selling British woman vocalist reaching number two on the UK Album chart and won the Brit Award for Best British Album. The band was an instant international success when their album topped charts in several other countries including the US. Sade was in the limelight everywhere and it felt so good for them to grace the scene and give us their tranquil sounds.

Following the success of Diamond Life, Sade released their second album, Promise. This album reached number one in both the UK and the US. Severe vibes came from this piece of art. They gave us “The Sweetest Taboo” and it was everything we never knew we needed. Sade became so popular the radio reinstated playing album tracks and added “Is It a Crime” and a few others to the playlists. Sade released their third and fourth albums in the late 80s and early 90s of which both albums reached peak success again in both the UK and US. Sade was hot and there was nothing anyone could do to cool them off. The meaning of their name began to speak for itself.

Sade sold so many copies of their albums, one would think there was more than just music in it. In fact, they poured their soul into those lyrics, the instruments, and fed it to the world and we were so grateful to just be on the receiving end of greatness. Over the next 2 decades, Sade took hiatuses to focus on their personal life but each time they returned to music they showed up and always showed out. The most recent album, Soldier of Love, was released in 2010. This album was the band’s first album to debut at number one and was just as successful as the previous ones. Sade never missed over the course of their career.

Currently, Sade is on another hiatus, but that has not stopped us from playing their music like it was just released. Sade is no ordinary love for us, they are true love wrapped in a musically package and given to us to cherish forever. We Were Funky honors a woman and her band as one of the funkiest R&B bands we have out of the UK.