Sade

Sade: Smooth Shoppers Rate Her

Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder: almost ten years since its last album, Sade returned this week with new album Soldier of Love and a stunning debut week sales total of just over half a million. While each of Sade's previous five albums are at least triple-platinum sellers, Lovers Rock (2000) debuted at No.3 with 370,000 sales in a time when record sales were significantly healthier than now. Soldier of Love is also Sade's first No.1 album for 25 years: Promise (1985) went on to quadruple platinum sales. Sade's achievement means that, despite only a 1% week-to-week drop in sales, last week's chart-topper Need You Now by Lady Antebellum drops to No.2. According to Billboard, Need You Now has sold almost 900,000 copies in three weeks. Rounding out the top three is another new entry: Jaheim's Another Round, his fourth Top 10 album, which sold 112,000 in its first week.