Pop legend Sade Adu is set to release her first brand new song in six years in support of transgender and non-binary artists.
The soul and jazz pop singer broke out in the mid-1980s as part of the band named after her, and became a huge favourite thanks to songs like Your Love is King and Smooth Operator.
After more than a decade out of the spotlight – with the band recording less and less in the 21st century – Sade, now 65, has occasionally contributed songs for movie soundtracks and other one-off projects.
And in November, she’ll be contributing her song Young Lion to the compilation album Transa – a 46-song project aiming to raise awareness for transgender and non-binary artists.
Not much is known about the song, except that it will be dedicated to the singer’s 28-year-old son Izaak Theo, who came out as a transgender man in 2016.
As well as being contributed to by the Sweetest Taboo hitmaker, Transa will also see contributions from Sam Smith and former OutKast rapper and musician Andre 3000.
Dust Reid of the Red Hot Organisation, who curated the album, said that Transa will aim to show the world the ‘gifts’ that transgender and non-binary artists can give them.
‘We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts.’
Dust continued: ‘We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate.
‘We felt this is something everybody should do. Whether you identify as trans or non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender, get in touch with the feeling side of yourself.
‘Maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.’
After sharing his transition journey from 2016 to 2019, Izaak married his wife Emily Margaret Shakeshaft in 2021, tying the knot in Hawaii.
He still regularly shows support for his superstar mum by wearing T-shirts emblazoned with album covers and magazine front pages she was the star of.
Izaak is the only child of Sade and Jamaican reggae producer Bob Morgan. He was born and raised in London but moved with his parents to Gloucestershire aged nine.
In addition to the likes of Sam Smith and Andre 3000, Transa will also feature contributions from Fleet Foxes, Perfume Genius, Julien Baker, Grouper, and Heartstopper soundtrack star Ezra Furman.
Sade hasn’t released a full album since 2010’s Soldier of Love, which, at the time, was her first album in 10 years and only her second album in 18 years.
In 2018, two songs were contributed to the soundtracks of movies A Wrinkle in Time and Widows, while the non-album single Spring in the City was released on its own two years before.
Sade’s first publicised relationship was with writer and broadcaster Robert Elms in the 1980s, before she married Spanish movie director Carlos Pliego in 1989.
After their divorce in 1995, she began dating Bob and had Izaak with him, separating later on. She then entered into a relationship with former Royal Marine Ian Watts and the pair have been married since 2007.
Transa is out on November 22.
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