Diamond Life  Diamond Life is the debut studio album by English band Sade. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling, Sade Adu began backup-singing with British band Pride. During this time Adu and three of the original members of "Pride"—Paul Anthony Cook, Paul Denman and Stuart Matthewman—left the group to form their own band called Sade. After various demos and performances, Sade received interest from record labels and signed to Epic. Recording for the album began in 1983 at Power Plant Studios in London and took six weeks to complete. The album's content was written by the group Sade and the production was handled by Robin Millar. Fifteen songs were recorded. The album contained a variety of musical elements including soul, jazz and sophisti-pop, mostly with love lyrics. The album spawned four singles, including "Your Love Is King" and "Smooth Operator". Music critics acclaimed "Diamond Life" and it was also a commercial success, winning the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Album. The album charted highly in the UK and US, and was later certified multi-platinum in both countries. "Diamond Life" sold over six million copies worldwide, becoming one of the top-selling debut recordings of the era and the best-selling debut album by a British female vocalist, a record that stood for 24 years. It was also among 10 albums nominated for the best British album of the previous 30 years by the Brit Awards in 2010, losing to "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" by Oasis. "Pitchfork" placed the album at number 10 on its list of The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s. After studying fashion design, and later modeling briefly, Sade began backup singing with British band Pride, during this time she formed a songwriting partnership with Pride's guitarist/saxophonist Stewart Matthewman; together, backed by Pride's rhythm section Paul Anthony Cook and Paul Denman, they began doing their own sets at Pride gigs. Her solo performances of the song "Smooth Operator" attracted the attention of record companies, and in 1983, Adu and Matthewman, split from Pride, along with bassist Paul Denman and drummer Paul Anthony Cook to form the band Sade. In May 1983, Sade performed for the first time in the United States, at Danceteria Club in New York.