Born in Nigeria, where her Nigerian father was an economics professor and her English mother a nurse, Sade Adu (her stage name) was educated in London. After studying fashion design, and later modeling briefly, Sade landed a spot as backup singer with the British R&B band Pride. There she formed a writing partnership with Pride's guitarist/saxophonist Stewart Matthewman; together, backed by Pride's rhythm section, they began doing their own sets at Pride gigs.