Grammys flashback: Sade was a smooth operator in 2001, beating Janet Jackson and NSYNC

Jaime Rodriguez
Updated ·5 min read
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Best Pop Vocal Album is undoubtedly one of my favorite Grammy categories. The award has gone to many greats in pop music, from The Beatles to Billie Eilish. But one of my personal favorites has to be Sade’s 2001 win for their iconic album, “Lovers Rock,” one of the band’s most celebrated works. While Sade winning a Grammy wasn’t unusual, “Lovers Rock” differs from what you’d typically expect in a Best Pop Vocal Album winner, showing how much respect the band had from their peers against some heavy competition.

Sade was already well-liked by the Grammys before “Lovers Rock.” The group took home the coveted Best New Artist award in 1986 thanks to the success of their debut album, “Diamond Life,” as well as their sophomore release, “Promise,” which was peaking while voting was occurring. Their next win would come in 1994 for “No Ordinary Love,” the lead single off their fourth record, “Love Deluxe.” Then the band took a hiatus before coming back in full swing with their new record.

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Sade’s own disillusionment with fame plays an integral part in the “Lovers Rock” story. In an interview with Sade for The Fader, Ekow Eshun wrote, “’Lovers Rock’ bubbles with restless discontent, as though its spartan form can barely hold the weight of its emotions. Much of the reason for that — beyond Sade’s own natural inclination toward somber lyrics — has to do with what’s happened in the eight years between her last two albums.”

In hindsight, it’s not strange to think that the media’s constant rumors would not only affect her public persona but her music itself. Hence, when “Lovers Rock” was released, the music reflected a quieter tone and more poignant and diverse lyricism from Sade, to reflect the somberness and turmoil of those eight years. This change-up in sound came with acclaim for the band.

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While “Lovers Rock” was celebrated, it wasn’t the band’s biggest hit, not really scoring a huge single like their earlier albums. But even though the Grammys’ pop field today is usually not far off from a Billboard Music Awards lineup, back in 2002 Grammy voters were less swayed by commercialism, and were perhaps even put off by it. I’d argue this wasn’t necessarily positive, as many deserving pop acts never won a Grammy due to the bias, but it did give us a lot of great wins that might not have happened any other time.

Alongside “Lovers Rock,” the nominees that year included Elton John’s “Songs from the West Coast,” which I’d imagine came in fifth based on the relative lack of hype for that record; Nelly Furtado’s “Whoa, Nelly!,” the singer’s debut which did earn a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “I’m Like A Bird”; and then probably its two biggest competitors: Janet Jackson’s “All For You” and NSYNC’s “Celebrity.” The latter was a blockbuster success, but likely suffered from the popstar bias, not to mention it wasn’t necessarily the definitive NSYNC album.

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Jackson vs. Sade was a weird match-up though, especially considering Jackson had similar appeal: highly publicized years before the album, a more experimental approach, and a career reinvention. In contrast to “Lovers Rock” though, “All For You” was a massive album in all aspects, achieving a year-end number-one single with the title track, which won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording, as well as another top-10 hit.

Knowing just how big Jackson was that year, and how the album also had acclaim equal to Sade’s, she would likely be perceived as the favorite in today’s world. However, surprisingly, most media predictions at the time dismissed Jackson almost completely, whether it was Associated Press, Slant or Hollywood Magazine. Sade was in fact perceived as one of the frontrunners, not least because of her softer approach and more “serious” tone than her fellow nominees. And in the end, they indeed won.

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Sade’s win is interesting for a few reasons. First, it’s amazing that they had enough appeal to beat such gigantic records with their somber, quieter sound. But it also poses a question as to when the Grammys changed. “Lovers Rock” is arguably the last of its kind in the Best Pop Album category. After it, all the albums that have won have been huge sellers, even an album like Ray Charles’s “Genius Loves Company,” which won for reasons other than just its sales (it was a posthumous win for Charles).

So it seems almost impossible for an album like “Lovers Rock” to win in this day and age over such huge competition. Whether that is good or bad is up for each to decide; perhaps great poppier albums like Taylor Swift’s “1989” and Lady Gaga’s “The Fame Monster” would’ve been unfairly snubbed back in the early 2000s. But regardless, “Lovers Rock” remains one of the most unique albums to take home the award, and holds up today as a testament to Sade Adu’s immense contributions to the soundtrack of our lives, regardless of the sound she ventured into.

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