Sade Then: Sade was formed in 1983 by Sade Adu (a former menswear designer born Helen Folasade Adu), Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman. Sade's debut album Diamond Life was released in 1984 and became a UK hit with the single "Your Love Is King." The album came out in the U.S. the following year. The single "Smooth Operator" quickly became an MTV favorite and a US Top 5 hit. That same year, Sade performed at Live Aid. The Promise LP in 1985 went to #1 in the U.S. and established Sade's reputation as a top act. Some of its hits included "The Sweetest Taboo" and "Never As Good As The First Time." Sade also appeared in the film Absolute Beginners and sang on the movie soundtrack. The band would end the 80's releasing 1988's Stronger Than Pride with a US Top 20 single "Paradise". Now: 1992's Love Deluxe was criticized for its lack of musical diversity, but still sold very well. A single that found it's way onto the movie Indecent Proposal "No Ordinary Love" made the US Top 40 and is named one of the Most Performed Songs Of The Year at the annual BMI awards. The Best Of Sade made the top 10 in 1994. During the end of the Love Deluxe tour, three-quarters of the Sade band, without the lady: Hale, Matthewman, and Denman would form Sweetback. Sweetback's music something slightly off-kilter: dubwise but not exactly dub, rich in ambience but not "ambient music." In Jamaica 1997, Sade failed to obey a police officer's signal to stop while driving on the main thoroughfare in Montego Bay. Her failure to stop escalated into a mini-chase, after which she ended up at the police station swearing at officers. In 1998, Sade made things worse by not appearing at the hearing to answer to her reckless driving charges. The police then issued a warrant for her arrest and (at last report) Sade has not returned to the country to face charges. Sade and her band reportedly are working on a new album. by CLB