Helen Folasade Adu was born in Nigeria but raised in Essex England. She was a fashion designer and part time model before joining her first band Pride where she wrote ‘Smooth Operator’. Her performances of this song attracted the attention of record companies. Pride disbanded in 1983 but Helen kept most of the musicians together to form Sade. Their first gig was at London’s Heaven nightclub – where word of mouth was so strong that 1000 people were turned away at the door. Her brand is so strong that very few folk now call her Helen, it is Sade, the woman and the music.