Singer Denise Matthews, aka Vanity
Vanity, a Prince protege who renounced her sexy stage persona to become a Christian minister, has died. Shewas 57.
The singer and actress, born Denise Matthews, diedMonday at a hospital in Fremont, Calif., said Gisela Hernandez, a spokeswoman forWashington Hospital Health Care System. Hernandez did not give a cause of death, butMatthews had struggled with kidney disease for years.
A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Matthews first rocketed to stardom through her association with Prince and the 80s girl group Vanity 6. During her time in music, Vanity released four albums with MotownandWarnerBrothers and was known for her sultry appearance and sexually-themed music, including “Nasty Girl.” She also appeared in films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including “The Last Dragon,” “52 Pick-Up” and “Action Jackson.”
Matthews’ health took a turn for the worse in 1992 andshewas hospitalized for kidney failure, which she blamed on cocaine and other drug use. “I was sick inside. Iwas a crack cocaine addict and didn’t evenknow how to wake up in the morning without some smoke,” she said in an Associated Press story in 1999.
She renounced her Hollywood lifestyle and became a Christian minister. She married former Oakland Raider Anthony Smith in 1995 and they divorced the next year.
On a GoFundMe page aimed at helping her pay her medical bills, Matthews said four months ago she had gone through 23 surgeries and was on dialysis three times aweek. She said shewas also diagnosed with sclerosis encapsulating peritonitis, a rare benign cause of small bowel obstruction.
Matthews said she had no regrets about leaving her celebrity lifestyle behind.
“When I was Vanity, it was all about me,” she said in 1999. “But when I’m preaching the word of God, it’s Jesus Christ speaking through me. I don’t want people to know who I was back then, but thenewcreature thatGodhasmademe.”
Musicians expressed sorrow at Matthews’ death. Prince, touring in Australia, dedicated several songs to Matthews during a show, according to theHerald Sun newspaper.