Sade eclipses Adele in American money list

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sade, the London-based singer famed for her 1980s hits Smooth Operator and Your Love Is King, was the top-earning British musician in America last year, eclipsing Adele, The Telegraph reported.

The Nigerian-born singer, 53, earned $16.4 million (£10.4m) last year after her first tour in North America for a decade and the release of The Ultimate Collection. Adele, the only other Brit in the top 10, who earned $13.1m.

Taylor Swift topped the list, according to trade publication Billboard's calculations, with earnings of $35.7m. Adele's earnings would have been higher had she not been forced to cancel 10 sold-out US shows after undergoing throat surgery.

Sade, the sixth-highest earner in the list, is the name of the singer and songwriter behind the four-piece band of the same name. Their career has spanned more than a quarter of a century during which time they have sold more than 23 million albums.

The jazz singer was born Helen Folsade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, and came to England at the age of four when her parents separated. She became a musician by chance, after friends approached her to sing while she was studying fashion.

After chart success in the 1980s, she had enormous success in 2010 with Soldier of Love, which earned the band a Grammy for best R&B performance in 2011.