Brad Pitt and award-winning French producer Damien Quintard are officially reopening Miraval Studios this month. The duo’s plan to renovate and reopen the famed studio located at the Château Miraval in Correns, France, was announced in December. Pitt and Quintard graced the newest cover of Billboard to commemorate the occasion, and Sade fans will want to read it.
The cover story written by Lyndsey Havens confirms Sade “was the first artist to record at the reopened Miraval,” with Pitt calling the four-time Grammy winner and R&B legend “royalty.”
“You could feel the love that she and the band had for this place,” Quintard added. “And when we talked to musicians who came here previously, they all have this special connection with Miraval that can’t really be explained. […] It’s a dream come true to see this place activate again.”
Whatever Sade recorded at Miraval will appear on her forthcoming project, according to a press release, which will mark her first new solo album since 2010’s Soldier Of Love. This month also marks the 30th anniversary of Love Deluxe, her fourth studio album.
Miraval was founded in 1977 by French composer Jacques Loussier, then-owner of the Château Miraval estate that Pitt has frequented since 2008 and co-purchased in 2012 with his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie.
Loussier intended what was then known as Studio Miraval for his own use, but Sade was among artists attracted to the space for their sessions. Other notable artists to have recorded there during its heyday were AC/DC, Pink Floyd, The Cure, and The Cranberries.