Sade speaks out - on events in singer's life since 1989

Ebony, April, 1993 by Aldore Collier

ONE would be hard-pressed to find many, if any, physical changes in Sade since she all but disappeared from the public's eye four years ago. At 34, she is still slim, sports that trademark ponytail and her features especially her sensuous lips and high cheekbones) are as exotic as ever.

Personally, though, a great deal has changed since she virtually vanished after her last recording in 1989. She had a brief, "problematic" marriage and has been the subject of a myriad of rumors, including stories about drug abuse, a nervous breakdown, constant depression and an alleged onstage confession urging fans to hold on to their loves because she had lost hers.

The whole thing, she says, was unexpected, unbelievable and brutal, but ultimately, it was educational for her. "I was angry about the rumors--angry and frustrated. You're never ready for that type of thing; you can't go to school to learn what it's like when 20 million people read something about you which is a lie," says the alluring, Nigeria-born singer who admits that she was a bit naive about some of the negatives that usually come along with stardom. "Lots of things were being said about me that made me into somebody I wasn't. But I have gotten to the point where it's not going to get to me."

Since Sade burst onto the music scene in 1985 with her highly successful Diamond Life album, a cloak of mystery has surrounded her, primarily because she is an intensely private person. And that, she says, made her a ready target for speculation and rumors.

Much of that speculation began in 1989 after Sade moved from London to Madrid, Spain, and essentially put her career on hold. "I needed to take a break and regroup," she says with a thick British accent while relaxing at an exclusive hotel in Los Angeles, where she came to rehearse for her extensive United States and European concert tour that began last month in Oakland, Calif. "You can trap yourself in a situation where nothing matters but your work. I just wanted to live a bit, pursue my life and slow down a bit. "

During that so-called slow-down period, Sade examined her inner feelings and perhaps took the biggest step in her personal life when she married documentary filmmaker Carlos Scola. Surprisingly the couple separated a year after exchanging wedding vows, and the ill-fated marriage is still one part of the singer's life that's difficult for her to talk about. "I married. I had a terrible relationship. It didn't work out. I got divorced," she says. "I'm not one of those who tell their problems. Things just didn't work out between us and I didn't feel I could stay there [in Madrid]."

So the 5-foot-7 Grammy Award winner decided to go back to where her career began and start all over again. Upon her return to London (where she had been raised by her British mother who had divorced her Nigerian father), it quickly became clear just what effect the prolonged absence had on her career. She was stunned when a fan asked her, "Did you use to be Sade?"

After that embarrassing encounter, she immediately reassembled her band, built a studio and immersed herself in the day-to-day activity of producing other recording artists. She also began writing music for herself, and those efforts led to the smooth, jazz-tinged pop sounds on her fourth and current album, Love Deluxe.

Although the pop scene changed rapidly and dramatically during Sade's hiatus, her music and delivery remain very much the same. As it was with the Diamond Life, Promise and Stronger Than Pride albums, her latest product is tinged with the melancholy and teardrenched vocals that have come to be characteristic of her music. And as further evidence to support the popular notion that most of her tunes are about unrequited love, in the movie Boomerang, Eddie Murphy's character--after a failed relationship--only wanted to go into seclusion and engulf himself in self-pity while listening to Sade's music.

This continuous association with sadness and pain, and Sade's emotional delivery you believe she has lived every lyric. Naturally that has prompted many fans to wonder it in fact, her lyrics are autobiographical and confessional, while others believe the subdued music is a direct reflection of her depressed emotional state. But she says neither theory is correct. "Generally, I'm a pretty happy person; if you look around the world and see what's going on, I don't think you can spend your life being ecstatic," says the former model and men's clothing designer who loves to work in her garden. "I don't think the music is necessarily sad music. I know there's a sense of melancholy in the tone of my voice, but most of the songs have hope. "

Despite the melancholy tones, there are few who can deliver a song with the style and passion of Sade. She grew up listening to the music of Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield, and those influences led her to develop a different kind of sound, a brand of lounge music with a pop flavor that has been accepted worldwide.