man, this sucks hard. I remember seeing her in 1998-99 at a church in Rockford, IL where she was leading worship. She shared her testimony (apart of which included some horrible details of abuse by her former NFL player husband who would hit her in her kidneys among other things) and proceeded to just full immerse herself in worship. it was a beautiful thing to witness. no more pain now, rest well beautiful

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RollingStone Magazine has reported it http://www.rollingstone.c...7-20160215

She apparently died from kidney failure.

http://www.rollingstone.c...7-20160215



She lived a hard early life, but she was able to find some salvation in the end. My BFF told me that she would do prayer circle conference calls with her congregation, and that they just did one two days ago with her. This is so sad.

RIP Denise Matthews. You were beautiful and will be greatly missed.

I wish she hadn't refused a kidney transplant...

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purplethunder3121 said:

I wish she hadn't refused a kidney transplant...

To my knowlege she did get the kidney transplant....It would be nice if motown/warner released her albums on itunes ... shocked she is trending

[Edited 2/15/16 20:17pm]

Thanks for posting that birthday cake picture 728huey. I was hoping someone would post a more recent shot of her. That's a beautiful picture.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Thanks for posting that birthday cake picture 728huey. I was hoping someone would post a more recent shot of her. That's a beautiful picture.

It's something how age changes you, she hardly looks like the same person in that photo.

Excuse me for being behind schedule, but I just found out about 20 minutes ago from THIS:

https://www.yahoo.com/music/prince-discovery-vanity-dies-at-57-020547529.html

The former wild child behind the dance hit “Nasty Girl,” Denise Matthews spent the last decades as a sober Christian evangelist.

Denise Matthews — far better known by her stage name, Vanity — has died at age 57 from kidney failure, the result of years of crack cocaine abuse, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The singer and actress died Monday in a hospital in Fremont, Calif., the Bay Area city she called home.

“She absolute loved God unto salvation,” her friend MC Hammer tweeted Monday night [2] as the Grammy Awards got underway. “She fell ill during the night [and] ended up on life support.”

A sex vixen fashioned in the image of her rock-star mentor and one-time lover, Prince, Matthews had several provocative hits in the early 1980s as lead singer of the group Vanity 6.

The biggest by far was 1982’s “Nasty Girl.” An infectious synth-funk single with overtly sexual lyrics, the song stalled on mainstream radio but managed to reach No. 1 on the Billboard dance charts. It has since gone on to become a dance-floor classic.

Matthews disbanded Vanity 6 after the group’s debut release and signed with Motown Records in 1984, under which she released two solo records, Wild Animal and Skin on Skin. She also embarked on an acting career, starring in the Berry Gordy-produced musical martial-arts film, The Last Dragon, in 1985.

The following year, she was cast opposite John Stamos in Never Too Young to Die, a disastrous send-up of James Bond movies that featured KISS’ Gene Simmons as a cross-dressing villain.

“She was pretty wild,” Stamos recently told THR [3]about his co-star. “She was like Al Pacino in Scarface, blasting these f—ing [prop] machine guns all over the place. We weren’t even rolling!”

Matthews’ reputation as a hard partier in those early years of fame was both widely known and well-founded. As she cycled through rocker boyfriends (Billy Idol, Adam Ant and Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, among them), she developed a dangerous addiction to crack cocaine.

In 1994, that addiction led to near-fatal renal failure. She later said that Jesus Christ appeared to her at that time and offered her a second chance at life if she abandoned her Vanity persona.

Matthews spent the years since sober and a born again Christian. After a kidney transplant in 1997, she became a Christian evangelist. She told her story in a self-published 2010 autobiography, Blame It on Vanity.

Matthews’ health woes took a turn for the worse late last year, however, and she set up a crowdfunding effort [4] to pay for her medical treatment after being diagnosed with sclerosis encapsulating peritonitis, a severely painful kidney condition. She raised $6,599 of the $50,000 she had sought.

purplethunder3121 said:

I wish she hadn't refused a kidney transplant...

CORRECTION: Denise had a kidney transplant in 1997.

[This thread is for paying your respects and comments. And this comment is in bad taste for this thread. Please stay on topic - luv4u]

TonyVanDam said:

purplethunder3121 said:

I wish she hadn't refused a kidney transplant...

CORRECTION: Denise had a kidney transplant in 1997.

After saying she was not going to do it i might add since "THE LAWD WAS KEEPING HER AFLOAT "

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

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i'm sad and selfish 2 miss her, but am happy and joy+full she is in a better place

She was a beautiful lady, both inside and out. At least she's not suffering anymore. RIP Beautiful Denise

Sad Fact:

Denise Matthew's transitioned the same day as 's Mother who passed in 2002.

And we were just watching The Last Dragon the other night and remarking about... the "dancing" by Laura Charles.

And just watched Beverly Hills Cop a few days ago and was reminded of the group during the strip club scene.

who own the rights to her music ? motown,warner and i guess geffen (her last album was suppise to have been released thru them if im not mistaken ...i wonder how far that album was finished ?) ...my fav album by her was wild animal it was ssssooooo camp

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Sad Fact:

Denise Matthew's transitioned the same day as 's Mother who passed in 2002.

I apologize for my outburst. I'm just in shock & not in my right humbled mind..

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EDIT: langebleu - moderator

Off topic - please use org note

Horrible news. RIP Denise.