BALTIMORE, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Sade made their return to U.S. shores last night when they opened their 54-date North American tour with a jubilant, sold-out performance at Baltimore‘s 1st Mariner Arena.  Their first tour in over a decade, the 120-minute set featured all of Sade’s best known songs, including their recent Grammy-winning hit, “Soldier of Love.”

Directed by longtime collaborator Sophie Muller, and with production and lighting design by Baz Halpin, the tour is groundbreaking from a visual perspective.  With a 23′ x 52′ high resolution LED screen behind the band, and enormous projection screens all around the stage, beautiful, larger than life images accompany the music which has made Sade one of the most adored and enduring live bands in the world.  The result is a visually stunning setting in which to hear one of the world’s greatest bands on tour for the first time since 2001.

John Legend, the acclaimed singer, songwriter and pianist who is opening for Sade on all of the dates, treated fans to a long list of his well known songs.

The tour continues on to Pittsburgh on June 18th with a performance at Consol Energy Center and includes multiple nights in Atlanta, Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles and Anaheim before finishing in mid-September.

Known for their one of a kind timeless sound, Sade has enjoyed phenomenal success both internationally and stateside throughout the span of their twenty-seven year career. Since the release of their debut album, Diamond Life, in 1984 the band has seen all five of their studio albums land in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart selling a total of more than 55 million albums worldwide to date. They’ve been nominated for American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and have won four Grammy Awards – first in 1986 for Best New Artist, then in 1994 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group for “No Ordinary Love,” again in 2002 for Best Pop Vocal Album with Lovers Rock and most recently in 2011 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group for “Soldier Of Love.”  The band also recently released The Ultimate Collection, a 28 track, 2-CD set of their best known songs.

Tickets are still available for some dates.  Please check Sade.com, JohnLegend.com, Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com for more information.

OPENING NIGHT HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTO AVAILABLE AT: http://www.wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=506626&nbc1=1