Paul Denman

Biography

Paul Spencer Denman (born 29 July 1957) is an English songwriter and musician. With Sade, Andrew Hale, and Stuart Matthewman, Denman gained worldwide fame as the bass guitarist of the English band Sade. He is also a member of the English band Sweetback. In 2026, Denman, along with the rest of the band, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were nominated previously in 2024.

Early life

Born in Hull, Paul Denman is the son of Ethel Denman. From 1959 to 1979, he lived on Greatfield Estate, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, where Mick Ronson also grew up.
Showing a strong interest in music, Denman's parents bought him a bass guitar for his 13th birthday in July 1970. After watching David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars' performance of "Starman" on the BBC's Top of the Pops prime time broadcast on Thursday 6 July 1972 that poignantly struck teenage Denman: "Every pop star I talk to from my generation... they all go back to Ziggy."
Denman was educated at Greatfield High School. He left that school at the age of 15 after achieving three O‑Level and many CSEs. He then became an apprentice in fabricating metal aircraft components at Hawker Siddeley (HS). The HS became British Aerospace (BA) and he was with the BA for five years; becoming a certified coppersmith. In a 1993 interview he credited his dexterity in playing the guitar partially to his training in metalwork.
After serving his musical apprenticeship on the local Hull circuit, Denman was inspired by the Punk scene and the Sex Pistols and bought a one way train ticket to London in August 1981. This eventually resulted in Denman joining Latin/Funk band Pride, which then evolved into the creation of the band Sade.

Career

Denman is a right-handed bass player and rarely uses guitar picks. He often plays a MusicMan Stingray Bass with natural finish from 1978.

Pride

He was a member of the band Pride from 1981 to 1983, a creative Latin/Funk collection of seven musicians with diverse influences. The band comprised Nick Moxsom, Ray Saint John, Stuart Matthewman, Paul Anthony Cooke, Barbara Robinson, and Sade Adu. They had several notable performances beginning in 1982, including playing on a back of a lorry outside Le Beat Route in London and a performance at Danceteria, New York.

Sweetback

Sweetback was founded as a spinoff from Sade, including Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Denman with various guest vocalists. Their first album, Sweetback, was released October 1996. Their second album, Stage 2, was released on 22 June 2004.

Personal life

Denman has two children, including Joe Dexter, lead singer of the band Orange.