Sade was born in Ibadan, Ọyọ State, Nigeria. Her name, Folasade, means honor confers a crown. Her parents, Bisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer in economics of Yoruba background, and Anne Hayes, an English nurse, met in London and moved to west Africa. Later, when the marriage ran into difficulties, Anne returned to Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, England, taking four-year-old Sade and her older brother Banji to live with her parents. Living in Colchester, Essex, Sade read a good deal, developed an interest in fashion, acquired a taste for dancing and listened to soul artists like Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Marvin Gaye.

In 1977, Sade arrived in London for a three-year course in fashion design at St. Martin's College. On graduating, she set up a small fashion company, making men's clothes, in London's Chalk Farm, with a friend, Gioia Mellor. She also found work as a photographic model.

In 1982, she joined Ray St. John's band Pride, which also included guitarist Stuart Matthewman, bassist Paul Denman, and drummer Paul Cooke. However, St. John left Pride shortly after, later resurfacing in the band Halo James, and Pride eventually petered out.

The other four members then formed a new group, the eponymous "Sade" and began to write their own material. Keyboardist Andrew Hale joined the band as a keyboard player in mid-1983, and in 1983 she signed a solo deal with Epic Records and sister imprint Portrait Records for the U.S. and Canada until In 1985 Sade appeared in the film Absolute Beginners, directed by Julien Temple. She played singer Athene Duncannon, performing "Killer Blow," co-written by her with Simon Booth of soul/jazz band Working Week.

In 2005, Sade recorded a new track, "Mum", which appeared on a DVD Voices for Darfur to support charity concert of the same name at the Royal Albert Hall in London, to raise awareness and funding for the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.