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Thread started 02/12/06 12:52pm

wonder505

What really happened to Vanity

I just read on the Internet that Denise Matthews was addicted to crack cocaine and suffered a heart attack and stroke and even lost her sight temporarily??? I had no idea this happened? Does anyone know the story on the fallout with her and Prince and her downfall after that? I know I'm late but I don't remember this being on the news or anything.
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Reply #1 posted 02/13/06 2:07am

DavidEye

I think she even lost one of her kidneys too.She's supposed to be writing a book about her life,"Blame It On Vanity".
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Reply #2 posted 02/13/06 11:57am

dreamfirstborn

i could tell ya. and her leaving the camp aint for reason what you thought...
prince is here
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Reply #3 posted 02/14/06 12:20pm

queen627

Denise Matthews Smith was into Rick James and being the most well known groupie of the time. In order for anyone to tell the truth about her you have to poll some folks that didn't spend the 1980's high or drunk. Good Luck on finding anyone like that that was around Prince at that time that was not doing one or the other or both.
sorry if that was over your head...jump up and try to catch the point next time.
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Reply #4 posted 02/14/06 1:48pm

Krystal666

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queen627 said:

Denise Matthews Smith was into Rick James and being the most well known groupie of the time. In order for anyone to tell the truth about her you have to poll some folks that didn't spend the 1980's high or drunk. Good Luck on finding anyone like that that was around Prince at that time that was not doing one or the other or both.


Hmmm Rick James

or

Prince?

Hmmmm...PRINCE no contest!
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Reply #5 posted 02/15/06 9:45am

BlaqueKnight

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[It was news to me that Andre Cymone was hittin' that before Prince was. Denise was WYLD in her day.
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Reply #6 posted 02/15/06 12:17pm

Krystal666

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BlaqueKnight said:

[It was news to me that Andre Cymone was hittin' that before Prince was. Denise was WYLD in her day.


Really? Interesting. Wow, well we all know how competitve Prince can be. Expecialy when it came to Andre.
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Reply #7 posted 02/15/06 1:41pm

Zelaira

I even think she was with Jesse Johnson Cause in an interview in NYC back say in 1985 he was like saying she was really Cool to him and made him feel SPECIal and all. So was she Sleeping with EVERYONE in the TIME and Associated with Prince? See, she Coulda been Really Bad if she wasn't into DRUGS. Carmen Isn't. Ya DON"T NEED DRUGS to be HAPPY or SUCCESSFUL and the Biz may have it but JUST say NO. I mean ya don't need HEAVY DUTY to KILL ya. Anybody smoking on a CRACK or doing BLOWTORCH or HEROIN is a JACKASS! Ya NEED HEALTHY LIVING..... DRUG ADDICTS are IN NEED OF HELP. REHAB Before ya KILL ya ORGANS. Stay AWAY from HARD DRUGS. Ya can be SUCCESSFUL with HARD WORK. DRUGS SUCK BIG TIME!!!!!
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Reply #8 posted 02/15/06 2:27pm

wavesofbliss

Ya DON"T NEED DRUGS to be HAPPY or SUCCESSFUL


yeah but it sounds like you needed to be on something to put up with all Prince's shit back then. lol
Prince #MUSICIANICONLEGEND
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Reply #9 posted 02/15/06 7:24pm

brothaluv

Show business maybe lucrative, but it's also extremely shallow and stressful. This holds particularly true for attractive women. Everyone around you wants to bang your guts out and they'll pull out all the stops to do it. If you're not a well-adjusted person to begin with, you're a sitting duck -- or something that rymes with "duck." Vanity aka Denise Matthews didnt' have a chance. Drugs are certainly not the solution. But addicts use drugs to medicate themselves -- compensate for some emotional deficiency someplace else...
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Reply #10 posted 02/16/06 2:08am

Krystal666

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brothaluv said:

Show business maybe lucrative, but it's also extremely shallow and stressful. This holds particularly true for attractive women. Everyone around you wants to bang your guts out and they'll pull out all the stops to do it. If you're not a well-adjusted person to begin with, you're a sitting duck -- or something that rymes with "duck." Vanity aka Denise Matthews didnt' have a chance. Drugs are certainly not the solution. But addicts use drugs to medicate themselves -- compensate for some emotional deficiency someplace else...


This is soooo true. I'm sure it was extremley hard for Vanity because she seemed to always to have been looking for love and a man to actually care about her as a person.
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Reply #11 posted 02/16/06 9:28am

queen627

Denise is a very sweet person but the alter ego of Vanity was not.
Vanity was with alot of men during her run. But it was with Rick James she was freebasing by then and probably doesn't remember alot of the things she did.
She did sort of date Nikki Sixx and Miki Free during the 1980's but mostly the saying she was dating Prince was to boost her own career as a model and actress.
The friendship was all but over by the time the 1983 Rolling Stone cover was done. She was totally out of it that she wouldn't even show up to film her scences in Purple Rain.
sorry if that was over your head...jump up and try to catch the point next time.
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Reply #12 posted 02/16/06 1:44pm

brothaluv

Anyone else ever get the impression that Vanity (aka Denise Matthews) didn't have a great relationship with her parents? Particularly her father. And you would've thought her mom would warn her to beware of freaks bearing gifts. ...

Oh and one more thing. You ever notice how self professed "pimps and mack-daddies" always push drugs on women? Why? If they're such great lovers or the reincarnation of Casanova, whither the need to inebriate someone? Hell, anybody can sleep with a woman strung out on cocaine or GHB.Thats not seduction, fellas -- it's breaking and entering...
[Edited 2/16/06 13:46pm]
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Reply #13 posted 02/19/06 2:05am

CandaceS

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"I would say that Prince's top thirty percent is great. Of that thirty percent, I'll bet the public has heard twenty percent of it." - Susan Rogers, "Hunting for Prince's Vault", BBC, 2015
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Reply #14 posted 02/20/06 2:04pm

queen627

brothaluv said:

Anyone else ever get the impression that Vanity (aka Denise Matthews) didn't have a great relationship with her parents? Particularly her father. And you would've thought her mom would warn her to beware of freaks bearing gifts. ...

Oh and one more thing. You ever notice how self professed "pimps and mack-daddies" always push drugs on women? Why? If they're such great lovers or the reincarnation of Casanova, whither the need to inebriate someone? Hell, anybody can sleep with a woman strung out on cocaine or GHB.Thats not seduction, fellas -- it's breaking and entering...
[Edited 2/16/06 13:46pm]


Both of her parents suffered from mental illnesses so they could barely take care of themselves yet the odds are higher that she(Denise) and sibs may have inherited some of their tendiences. Her parents married after only knowing each other for what two days!!!
sorry if that was over your head...jump up and try to catch the point next time.
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Reply #15 posted 02/20/06 3:14pm

brothaluv

queen627 said:

brothaluv said:

Anyone else ever get the impression that Vanity (aka Denise Matthews) didn't have a great relationship with her parents? Particularly her father. And you would've thought her mom would warn her to beware of freaks bearing gifts. ...

Oh and one more thing. You ever notice how self professed "pimps and mack-daddies" always push drugs on women? Why? If they're such great lovers or the reincarnation of Casanova, whither the need to inebriate someone? Hell, anybody can sleep with a woman strung out on cocaine or GHB.Thats not seduction, fellas -- it's breaking and entering...
[Edited 2/16/06 13:46pm]


Both of her parents suffered from mental illnesses so they could barely take care of themselves yet the odds are higher that she(Denise) and sibs may have inherited some of their tendiences. Her parents married after only knowing each other for what two days!!!


Yeah that makes my point. How you gonna bash someone for being promiscuous whent they come from a background like that? She's fortunate to have gotten out of the lifestyle at all.
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Reply #16 posted 02/23/06 3:46pm

Krystal666

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brothaluv said:

queen627 said:



Both of her parents suffered from mental illnesses so they could barely take care of themselves yet the odds are higher that she(Denise) and sibs may have inherited some of their tendiences. Her parents married after only knowing each other for what two days!!!


Yeah that makes my point. How you gonna bash someone for being promiscuous whent they come from a background like that? She's fortunate to have gotten out of the lifestyle at all.


Your right. She's a beautiful person. It's sad that she abused herself so much. It is nice to know that one can go to the depths of hell and still survive. wink
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Reply #17 posted 02/23/06 4:21pm

nurse

CandaceS said:

http://www.denisematthews.com/




She's still beautiful. Thanks for the web address wink . How wonderful it must be to have a good relationship with the CREATOR. We can only hope to be so lucky like Denise.


eye heart music.
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Reply #18 posted 02/23/06 7:26pm

ThePunisher

Zelaira said:

I even think she was with Jesse Johnson Cause in an interview in NYC back say in 1985 he was like saying she was really Cool to him and made him feel SPECIal and all. So was she Sleeping with EVERYONE in the TIME and Associated with Prince? See, she Coulda been Really Bad if she wasn't into DRUGS. Carmen Isn't. Ya DON"T NEED DRUGS to be HAPPY or SUCCESSFUL and the Biz may have it but JUST say NO. I mean ya don't need HEAVY DUTY to KILL ya. Anybody smoking on a CRACK or doing BLOWTORCH or HEROIN is a JACKASS! Ya NEED HEALTHY LIVING..... DRUG ADDICTS are IN NEED OF HELP. REHAB Before ya KILL ya ORGANS. Stay AWAY from HARD DRUGS. Ya can be SUCCESSFUL with HARD WORK. DRUGS SUCK BIG TIME!!!!!
I find it very interesting that all the artists that i listened to when I was a kid. All got strung out on drugs. It's a shame what the pressures of the business can do to people. Thumbs up to Prince for not getting strung out.
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Reply #19 posted 02/23/06 7:33pm

nurse

ThePunisher said:

Zelaira said:

I even think she was with Jesse Johnson Cause in an interview in NYC back say in 1985 he was like saying she was really Cool to him and made him feel SPECIal and all. So was she Sleeping with EVERYONE in the TIME and Associated with Prince? See, she Coulda been Really Bad if she wasn't into DRUGS. Carmen Isn't. Ya DON"T NEED DRUGS to be HAPPY or SUCCESSFUL and the Biz may have it but JUST say NO. I mean ya don't need HEAVY DUTY to KILL ya. Anybody smoking on a CRACK or doing BLOWTORCH or HEROIN is a JACKASS! Ya NEED HEALTHY LIVING..... DRUG ADDICTS are IN NEED OF HELP. REHAB Before ya KILL ya ORGANS. Stay AWAY from HARD DRUGS. Ya can be SUCCESSFUL with HARD WORK. DRUGS SUCK BIG TIME!!!!!
I find it very interesting that all the artists that i listened to when I was a kid. All got strung out on drugs. It's a shame what the pressures of the business can do to people. Thumbs up to Prince for not getting strung out.



Yeah-but wasn't he taking ectasy at one point in his career?Anybody know?

eye heart music.
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Reply #20 posted 02/27/06 4:49pm

queen627

nurse said:

ThePunisher said:

I find it very interesting that all the artists that i listened to when I was a kid. All got strung out on drugs. It's a shame what the pressures of the business can do to people. Thumbs up to Prince for not getting strung out.



Yeah-but wasn't he taking ectasy at one point in his career?Anybody know?

eye heart music.



Let the truth be told "Cat" had a problem with estacy but claims she gave some to P but I don't see how when the man wouldn't take baby aspirin for a headache....
sorry if that was over your head...jump up and try to catch the point next time.
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