”Diamond Life`s” rapid climb up the charts earlier this year made Sade the most mispronounced name in show business since Julio Iglesias.
Not ”Sahd,” not ”Sayd,” not ”Say-dy.”
”Shar-day.”
The name–and its pronunciation–is Nigerian and is simply a derivative of the singer`s full name, Helen Folasade Adu. Sade was born 50 miles outside the Nigerian capital of Lagos to an African father and a British mother.
Almost as confusing was the matter of her band, which also was called Sade. Unlike Blondie, which was a band and not a person (though it took an extensive ad campaign to hammer the point home), here was a band and a person both calling themselves Sade.
Apparently it was more than the American public could bear. Officially, the band is still Sade, but ”it`s not something we`re pushing anymore,” says a publicist. ”In the public`s mind Sade is Sade the woman.”
