In the fall of 1992, I received a call from the Epic Records press department in New York City. They asked me if I’d like to write a bio for superstar singer Sade. Like most of the young men I’d known in the ‘80s – from soul boys to b-boys – I’d fallen in love with Sade upon the release of her multiplatinum first albumDiamond Life in 1984.

“Of course,” I replied, her pretty face and haunting voice drifting through my mind. Along with her constant mates Stuart Matthewman (guitars and sax), Andrew Hale (keyboards) and Paul S. Denman (bass), this would be the group’s first album since 1988’s Stronger Than Pride. Indeed, the world was waiting. The following week, Perry escorted me to Sade’s midtown hotel suite overlooking 6th Avenue. As beautifully sweet as she was wickedly talented, Sade was the anti-diva Diva.