| "Soldier of Love" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Sade | |||||||||||
| from the album Soldier of Love | |||||||||||
| Released | 8 December 2009 (see release history) |
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| Format | CD single, digital download | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 2009 | ||||||||||
| Genre | R&B, trip hop, rock | ||||||||||
| Length | 5:58 (Album Version) 5:00 (Video Version) 4:32 (Radio Edit) 3:34 (Short Radio Edit) |
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| Label | Sony | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Sade Adu, Andrew Hale, Stuart Matthewman, Paul Spencer Denman | ||||||||||
| Producer | Sade Adu, Mike Pela | ||||||||||
| Sade singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Soldier of Love" is a single from the English recording group Sade. It premiered worldwide on 8 December 2009, and it was released on iTunes digitally on 12 January 2010. It is also the band's first new material in almost ten years, preceding their long awaited sixth studio album of the same name which was released worldwide on 8 February 2010. The song was #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B.[1] The song debuted at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band's highest debut on the chart.[2] It has peaked at #52, making it the band's highest-peaking single on that chart since 1992's "No Ordinary Love".
The track won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 53rd Grammy Awards ceremony.
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The song was written by Sade Adu along with the other band members and recorded by the end of the summer in 2009.
"Soldier of Love" has been received positively from the music critics, who praised the band's comeback. Pitchfork Media hailed the singer's "incomparable voice, which sounds as passionately poised as it did on 1984's Diamond Life."[3] The Hollywood Reporter gave also a positive review, saying that "It may be just a taste of what's to come, but Sade's latest definitely has its listeners at attention."[4] Digital Spy rated the song four stars out of five, and described it as "a bit of revelation - a rich, atmospheric pop symphony".[5] Rolling Stone called it an "amazing ballad of utter emotional devastation" as well as "classic Sade - a cool and collected song about falling apart."[6]
The single was serviced to radio stations on Tuesday, 8 December, and after only one day of airplay in the chart's tracking week of 19 December 2009 "Soldier of Love" debuted at No. 49 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[7] Since then, it has peaked at No. 6 on the chart, making it the band's first top-ten appearance on the chart since "No Ordinary Love" peaked at No. 9 in 1992.
The track debuted at No. 11 on the Urban Hot AC chart, making it the highest debut of the decade and the third highest all-time on the Urban Hot AC chart.[8] It debuted at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song peaking within the top 50, and remaining on the chart for eleven weeks.[9] The song became the band's first No. 1 on the U.S. Adult R&B chart. The song rose 3-1 in its sixth week, marking the chart's speediest ascent to the top spot since Anita Baker topped the chart in under five weeks with "You're My Everything" in 2004.[10]
"Soldier of Love" became the first ever vocal to hit No. 1 on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 countdown. Each of the tally's 45 previous leaders had been instrumentals.
Junior Vasquez commissioned an exclusive remix from U.S. producer Joel Dickinson for his Soldier Of Love party in the fall of 2010. That remix and dub have been featured on a number of dj compilations in early 2011.
The "Soldier of Love" music video made its premiere onto the internet via Amazon.com on 10 January 2010. It was directed by noted British director Sophie Muller and choreographed by Fatima Robinson. The video, which is rich in odd symbolism, has left many viewers wondering what it means. It has a desert landscape and features soldiers dancing and marching along the song's beats, featuring Sade in a rodeo-esque style as she rides a white stallion, with smoldering and fiery explosions in the back. Sade has said that the soldiers in the video represent her emotions "in the battle ground of life".[11]
| US Wal-Mart CD single | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Soldier of Love" | S. Adu, S. Matthewman, P. S. Denman, A. Hale, P. A. Cook | 5:58 | ||||||
| 2. | "Flow (from the album Lovers Rock)" | S. Adu, S. Matthewman, P. S. Denman, A. Hale | 4:34 | ||||||
| iTunes Edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Soldier of Love (Radio Edit)" | S. Adu, S. Matthewman, P. S. Denman, A. Hale, P. A. Cook | 4:33 | ||||||
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] | 47 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[13] | 9 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] | 84 |
| Dutch Tipparade[15] | 9 |
| France (SNEP) Download Chart[16] | 37 |
| Japan (Japan Hot 100)[17] | 9 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] | 48 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] | 23 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] | 25 |
| United Kingdom (Official UK Charts Company)[21] | 123 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[22] | 52 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[23] | 6 |
| US Jazz Songs (Billboard)[24] | 1 |
| Chart (2010) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Smooth Jazz Songs[25] | 16 |
| Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[26] | 37 |
| Country | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 8 December 2009[8] | Airplay | Sony Music |
| 12 January 2010[27] | Digital download, CD single | ||
| United Kingdom | 8 February 2010[28][29] | Digital download, vinyl |
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