Iconic British songstress Sade exploded onto the music scene back in 1979, dominating the airwaves in the 1980s. Despite preferring to live away from the spotlight, the 67-year-old is still active, with her latest song coming in 2024, on the compilation album Transa.
The star has served as an inspiration for several iconic singers, including Brandy, Aaliyah, Rakim and Tanya Morgan, while also earning widespread praise from other artists.
But what happened to the iconic singer, and where is she now? Here’s all you need to know…
Sade’s career
After initially starting her career with the band Pride, Sade would go on to form her own band, which bore her name. The band was so popular that during a gig at Heaven, 1,000 punters had to be turned away due to the venue’s size.
The group’s debut album, Diamond Life, came in 1984, with the record producing singles like Your Love Is King and Smooth Operator, and it won a Brit Award for Best Album the following year. Success continued to follow with the group’s subsequent albums, Promise, Stronger Than Pride and Love Deluxe.
In 2000, Sade took a ten-year hiatus, before returning with a new album, Soldier of Love, and during her break from music, the star was living in Jamaica with her son, Izaak.
While Soldier of Love remains the group’s most-recent album, they worked together for tracks on the films A Wrinkle in Time and Widows. In 2024, the singer recorded Young Lion, which she dedicated to her son. The song was included on Transa, a compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization in support of transgender rights.
Sade’s personal and current reclusive life
Sade has only been married once, to the Spanish film director Carlos Pliego, with the pair being a married couple for six years before parting ways in 1995. While living in Jamaica, she entered into a relationship with music producer Bob Morgan, with the pair welcoming a child in 1996, but the couple later separated.
Since 2007, the singer has been in a relationship with former Royal Marine Ian Watts, and she is a stepmother to his son.
Sade’s son is clearly proud of his famous mum, working with her on her 2010 song Babyfather. In 2016, Izaak came out as a transgender man, and in 2019 he publicly praised his mum for helping him with his transition. “Thank you for staying by my side these past six months, mumma,” he wrote. “Thank you for fighting with me to complete the man I am.”
Sade prefers to live out of the spotlight, rarely giving interviews, reportedly due to intrusive questions about her love life. Since 2005 she has lived near Stroud after renovating a nearby cottage.
© InsatgramSpeaking to The Times in 2011 about her life, she reflected: “I’m not someone who needs a lot of money. You could break into this house and leave after half an hour without finding anything worth stealing.”
Sharing a small insight into her life in 2020, she told British Vogue: “Like everyone, we’re on a ship of unknown destination but that’s life … no mutiny yet. There’s always so much to do: there are songs I so want to write, and I’ve rediscovered the joy cooking brings.”
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