Sade Adu
She was born in Ibadan.
Also recorded as Helen Folasade Adu · Sade
Sade Adu

Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Full name
- Helen Fọláṣadé Adu.
- Born
- 1959. · Ibadan.
- Nationality
- Nigeria.
- Occupation
- singer, songwriter, singer-songwriter, composer, model and musician.
- Fields
- music composing.
- Education
- Saint Martin's School of Art, Colchester Institute, The Stanway School and Clacton County High School.
- Known for
- By Your Side, Smooth Operator and Your Love Is King.
- Honours
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
- Languages
- English and Yoruba.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
She was born in Ibadan.
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- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
museum · 3c6a1239-9858-4ec6-8bf2-208fd2659c68 · wikidata · Q194187
In this article
Identity
Identity
Sade Adu studied at Saint Martin's School of Art, Colchester Institute and The Stanway School. The recorded working language is English and Yoruba. The field of work recorded is music composing. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are soul, jazz, funk and rhythm and blues. Residence is recorded at Cotswolds and Ibadan. Works named in the authority record are By Your Side, Smooth Operator and Your Love Is King. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Sade Adu is recorded as having received Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Sade Adu and Band at SAP-Arena, Mannheim, Germany, 2011-11-16.
Thilo Parg

Sade Adu at SAP-Arena Mannheim, Germany 2011-11-16.
Thilo Parg
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1959
Sade Adu born at Ibadan.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cotswolds, Ibadan and Ekiti State.
Residences
Ibadan.
Birth place
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Sade Adu
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q194187: Sade Adu
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Sade AduMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q194187: Sade AduWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Sade Adu was recorded at birth as Helen Fọláṣadé Adu. She also worked under the name Sade. The authorities additionally record the headings Helen Folasade Adu and Sade. Her recorded languages were English and Yoruba. Work and production. Works recorded as notable number 3: By Your Side, Smooth Operator and Your Love Is King. Her recorded genres are soul, jazz, funk, rhythm and blues and soft rock. Connected to 2 other published records in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Identity and origins
Within the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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