After Dinner Speakers: Sade, John Fashanu, UB40

R&B megastar Sade was born in Nigeria in 1959 as Helen Adu, the daughter of a Nigerian father and a British mother. After her parents separated, Sade moved to London with her mother, where as a young woman she worked as a fashion designer and model while performing with the jazz-funk band Pride. By early 1984 she was the lead singer and songwriter for the group, which took her name. Sade's soulful 1984 debut single, "Your Love Is King," reached the Top 10 in the U.K. and Europe, and propelled her first album, Diamond Life, to the top of the charts in Britain and America. Sade won a Grammy for Best New Artist, her debut spending over 80 weeks on the Billboard album charts. Sade's 1985 follow-up, Promise reached No. 1 on the U.S. R&B charts, and contained the Top Five hit "The Sweetest Taboo." Sade toured the U.S., Europe, and Asia and performed at the Live Aid benefit, then retired to Spain to escape from media attention. Sade returned to recording in 1988 with Stronger Than Pride, another R&B smash hit, which was followed by another huge world tour. Once again Sade retired from the spotlight, buying a house in London and turning it into a self-contained recording studio. Her 1992 comeback Love Deluxe stayed on the Billboard charts for 90 weeks and spawned the hit "No Ordinary Love," which was featured on the Indecent Proposal soundtrack. Yet another megatour followed. A "best of" compilation was released by her record company in 1994 while Sade once again returned to seclusion. In 1997 the singer was arrested in Jamaica following a traffic dispute with local police and fled the country, threatened with arrest if she ever returns. In 2000, Epic Records announced that Lovers Rock, Sade's latest album in 8 years, would be released in November.