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Helen Folasade Adu, also known, simply as Sade is 60 years old today. The ageless beauty is one of the great fixtures in popular music. Known for her deeply personal songs and low profile in the world of celebrity, Sade is an international treasure.

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Born in Nigeria and raised in England, Sade’s father is Nigerian and her mother is English. Originally a fashion model, she dropped her first album in 1984 when she was 25 years old. “Diamond Life” was an instant classic with songs like “Smooth Operator,” “Your Love Is King” and “Hang On to Your Love.” The album sold six million copies worldwide and was the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist, a record she held for 24 years — she is also the first Nigerian to win a Grammy. From 1984 to today, Sade would only release six albums and she is famously reclusive.

There are no Twitter feuds or celebrity beefs in Sade’s career. You have to dig hard to find out about her personal life. Back in 2000, with the release of her last album “Lovers Rock” she said, “After you make a record your life changes. Beforehand I was living my little anonymous life. But that whole machine that starts going when you make a record… it was all about how that change was going to affect my life, and my new life as a mother.”

She continued,  “I just want to be who I am in the end, that’s all you are anyway. It doesn’t matter what anybody says about you, you are who you are in the end. Because in the end I breathe and sleep and laugh and cry, and all the things that everybody does. And that is me.”

That said, in honor of Sade rocking  60 years, let’s take a look back at the icon over the years. See below:

Smooth Operator: Photos Of Sade Serving Face, Grace And Beauty  was originally published on globalgrind.com