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vanity
By Margena A. Christian
JET MAGAZINE

hatever you do, don't call

her by "that" name-Vanity. Denise Matthews, the
artist formerly known as
Vanity, who led the sexy '80s singing trio
Vanity 6, became a born again Christian
about 15 years ago and no longer uses the
name that once brought her fame. She
also shed the racy image that made her
the object of many men's fantasies.
"It's not what you see in the pictures as
it is who is inside," says Matthews, 48, now
an evangelist who preaches across the
country and heads Pure Heart Ministries in
Freemont, CA. "No man or money can
make you whole. If you're empty on the
inside without God, you're just empty...
Vanity was just a name and just a word to
me. It doesn't mean anything to me."
In 1982, Matthews appeared to have it
all. As the lead singer of Vanity 6, the
group created by Prince, she pranced on
stage in erotic lingerie long before Madonna imitated and received credit for
the fashion trend. Matthews moved musiclovers with the song Nasty Girl and won
the heart of Prince, the man who dis-

48

Denise Matthews, formerly known as Vanity.

sang on the 1982 hit Nasty Girls as lead vocalist of
Vanity 6, a group discovered by Prince that also
included Brenda Bennett (I) and Susan Moonsie.
She's been a born again Christian about 15 years
and devotes her life to evangelism.

coveredand datedher.
The next year, in 1983, she and her
group partners, Susan Moonsie and
Brenda Bennett, parted ways when
Matthews decided to embark upon a solo
career. She had moderate music success,
but eventually found the spotlight as an
actress, appearing in films such as The
Last Dragon and Action Jackson.
But a decade of living in Hollywood's
fast lane as Vanity with "sex, drugs and
rock 'n' roll," nearly killed Matthews
when she suffered renal failure.
"[Doctors] said I would die in three
days," Matthews says. "My blood pressure was 250 over 190.1 lost both kidneys. I had internal bleeding with blood
clots on the brain. I was completely blind
and deaf. I had a heart attack and a
stroke. That was 13 years ago. I'm still
alive. Only God could heal me. I repented from all of my dead works as Vanity."
She does peritoneal dialysis at her
home five times a day for 20 minutes.
"I do it manually by myself. Most people do it when they are asleep, but I don't
want to be hooked up to a machine
while I'm sleeping."
Though she is not affiliated with a
specific denomination, she's been evangelizing at least 10 years. She has kept a
busy schedule with speaking and ministry engagements. But she totally left
the music business. "I sing in church. I'm
always preaching for the Lord."
Currently, Matthews is penning a coffee table book with one side titled Blame
It On Vanity and the other side titled The

Blaek Box, the device on airplanes that

accurately recordsflightdata. She's hoping for a release early next year at her
Web site, www.denisematthews.com.
"People have their own synopsis of
me and what the truth is," she says. "The
ti"uth is in the box."
Though she's dated rock stars such
as Billy Idol, Adam Ant and Nikki Sixx
and was married for less than a year to
former NFL player Anthony Smith (JET,
April 17,1995), don't expect to read about
any of them in her book.
'T have been a virgin in Jesus Christ
for almost 10 years," says Matthews, who
lives alone with herfivecats. "It's a great
testimony to have that. I wouldn't even
think about letting anybody touch me. I
look at myself now as a treasure and
respect myself."
One man she will mention in her book
is Prince, but don't expect intimate details. She described the relationship they
shared as "very special," admitting he
was the only man she ever truly loved.
"Everyone thought I was going to
marry Vanity," Prince once told JET in
1997. "She is where I am right now. She's
connected with her spirit."
Though the two have spoken over the
phone, she hasn't seen him in years.
"I look forward to hopefully seeing
him in the future. I'm waiting for God to
supernaturally hook us up. I would love
to see his face. I've been praying for
Prince a very long time and I believe he's
praying for me. God does supernatural
things because He's able." O

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