Birth name Patrick Henry Wade Name Adam Wade | Instruments VocalsDrums Role Singer Years active 1959–present | |
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Genres Easy listeningTraditional popular music Spouse Jeree P. Wade (m. 1989), Kay A. Wade (m. 1956–1973) Children Jamel Wade, Patrice L. Wade, Sheldon W. Wade Movies and TV shows Musical Chairs, Claudine, Search for Tomorrow, The Super Globetrotters, Across 110th Street | ||
Occupation(s) Singer, drummer, actor | ||
Adam Wade (born Patrick Henry Wade, March 17, 1935) is an American singer, drummer and television actor. He is noted for his stint as the host of the 1975 CBS game show Musical Chairs, which made him the first African-American game show host.
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Early career
Wade worked for a time as a lab assistant with Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio research team. He wanted to pursue a recording career and signed with Coed Records in late 1959. He had his first major hit with a song called "Ruby" in early 1960, a cover of the hit movie song of 1953. Wade was popular in the early 1960s with vocal styling similar to that of Johnny Mathis. In 1961 three of Wade's recordings ("Take Good Care of Her" (#7), "As If I Didn't Know" (#10) and "The Writing on the Wall" (#5) made the Top Ten in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. These songs also made the Top Five of Billboard's Easy Listening (later Adult Contemporary) survey.
He released the following albums in the United Kingdom: 1961 Adam and Evening, HMV CLP 1451, Adam Wade One Is A Lonely Number, mono Columbia 33SX1501, stereo Columbia SCX3474, both 1962. He also released an EP in 1960, And Then Came Adam, HMV 7EG 8620.
"Take Good Care of Her" reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1961.
In 1975, Wade become the first African-American to host a television game show, with the premiere of Musical Chairs. He starred in the production Guys and Dolls in 1978, and hosted the talk show Mid-Morning LA. On TV he was seen in the soap operas "The Guiding Light" and "Search for Tomorrow," and was a familiar presence on the popular black-oriented sitcoms such as "Sanford & Son," "The Jeffersons," "What's Happening" and "Good Times. His handsome face lit up the room and allowed his natural mannerism to take over the scene.
1970 to the present
In the late 1970s and early 1980s Wade began to concentrate on acting, and appeared in several of the so-called blaxploitation movies, including Gordon's War. He briefly returned to recording, producing a self-titled album on the Kirschner record label. This was a venture into a more soulful singing genre. It met with moderate success and is still a favorite with his loyal fans. He appeared in one episode of The Dukes of Hazzard as mobile dentist Dr. Homer Willis, DDS (Season 2 Episode 2, "Gold Fever"). His latest theatrical appearance was with the 2008 touring company of the play The Color Purple. Wade and his wife have a music production firm, Songbird, whose headquarters are in New Jersey.
Personal life
Wade was married 1956-1973 to Kay Wade, with whom he had 3 children:
Wade has been married since 1989 to Jeree Wade, an entertainer. They often perform together. Wade revealed in an interview that he actually met her on Musical Chairs.