Adam Wade

Patrick Henry "Adam" Wade was born on March 17, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Pauline Simpson and Henry Oliver Wade, Jr. Raised by his grandparents in the East Liberty neighborhood, he attended Westinghouse High School, graduating in 1952. He subsequently enrolled at Virginia State University before leaving in his sophomore year. Wade went on to become a singer, musician, and actor whose career spanned recording, television, film, and the stage, including Broadway appearances between 2002 and 2007.

Before pursuing entertainment, Wade worked as a laboratory assistant under Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio research team. He signed with Coed Records in late 1959 and released his first charting single, "Ruby," a cover of the 1953 film song, in early 1960, where it reached No. 58 on the charts. His commercial peak came in 1961, when three recordings — "Take Good Care of Her" (No. 7), "As If I Didn't Know" (No. 10), and "The Writing on the Wall" (No. 5) — all reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Each of those songs also placed in the Top Five of Billboard's Easy Listening survey. "Take Good Care of Her" additionally reached No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1961. His vocal style drew frequent comparisons to Johnny Mathis, though Wade identified Nat King Cole as his primary influence, an admiration his father introduced him to during childhood. His studio output during this period included the albums And Then Came Adam (1960), Adam and Evening (1961), Adam Wade's Greatest Hits (1962), One Is a Lonely Number (1962), What Kind of Fool Am I? (1963), and A Very Good Year for Girls (1963), with the 1961 and 1962 albums also released in the United Kingdom.

Wade later broadened his career into acting and hosting. In 1975 he became the first African American to host a television game show when Musical Chairs premiered. He also hosted the talk show Mid-Morning LA. His television acting credits included recurring appearances on the soap operas The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow, as well as guest roles on Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, What's Happening!!, Good Times, and The Dukes of Hazzard. On film, he appeared in the blaxploitation feature Gordon's War. His stage work during this period included a 1978 production of Guys and Dolls and a 1979 co-starring role alongside Della Reese in Same Time, Next Year. He also returned to recording with a self-titled album on the Kirshner label, distributed by Columbia Records, which moved toward a more soulful genre.

On Broadway, Wade appeared in I'm Not Rappaport and The Color Purple during his credited run from 2002 to 2007. He later joined the 2008 touring company of The Color Purple. Wade and his second wife, Jeree, whom he met on the set of Musical Chairs and married in 1989, operated a music production firm called Songbird, headquartered in New Jersey.

Wade was married twice. His first marriage, to his high school sweetheart Kay A. Wade, lasted from 1956 to 1973, and together they had three children: Sheldon (Ramel) Wade, Patrice Johnson Wade, and Michael (Jamel) Wade. Following his 1989 marriage to Jeree, Wade resided in Montclair, New Jersey. He battled Parkinson's disease in his later years and died in Montclair on July 7, 2022, at the age of 87.