Vanity

Born on 4 January 1959 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, aspiring actress and model Denise Matthews passed away on 15 February 2016 in Fremont, California, USA, at age 57. She entered the music industry after handing a collection of her lyrics to Prince’s manager, who promptly invited her into the singer’s roster of protégés. Prince gave her the stage name Vanity and assembled the trio Vanity 6 around her; the group’s provocative live performances became a regular feature of his concert productions. Seeking independence, she declined an opportunity to appear in the film Purple Rain and instead joined Motown Records, which billed her as “Miss Audio-Visual 1984” to highlight her striking looks. Her first solo album, Wild Animal, blended rock and funk textures and yielded the charting tracks “Pretty Mess” and “Mechanical Emotion.” The 1986 follow-up Skin On Skin shifted greater attention to her singing, most notably on the single “Under The Influence.” Embracing born-again Christianity during the 1990s, she permanently stepped away from secular recordings. After an extended struggle with kidney failure, she died in Fremont, California, on 15 February 2016.