Prince Protege Vanity Dies at 57

Hernandez did not say when Matthews died or under what circumstances. She said that Matthews had been in a hospital since Saturday night.

She was born in Canada to a Jewish, Polish mother and African-American father and began her career as a model.

After appearing in movies like “Action Jackson” in the mid-80’s and a couple of albums, her fast-paced Hollywood lifestyle took a toll on her health. “I threw her out at about 8 a.m. She was getting insane and telling me about God”. She had such a presence without saying a word.

“Back when I was Vanity, it was all about being sexy, getting slimmer, and getting cuter”, Matthews told VIBE’s Keith Murphy in a 2007 interview.

Matthews died from kidney failure caused as a result of years of crack cocaine abuse. She was discovered by Prince, who made her the lead singer of Vanity 6.

“I was sick inside”.

In the mid 1990s, Matthews became a born-again Christian after a life-threatening overdose.

A drug addiction in the 90s led to her kidney problems and eventually had to undergo almost daily dialysis treatments. “U ARE IN HIS ARMS NOW, NO Pain”, she said.

Musicians around the world expressed sorrow at Matthews’ death. They “used to love each other deeply”, Prince said, according to the newspaper. “Things have changed. Now it’s not the outward appearance, it’s the inward that I’m trying to change”.

Matthews also dabbled in acting, appearing in 1985’s “The Last Dragon“, which was produced by Berry Gordy. “She was such a vibrant human being”.

Rapper MC Hammer paid tribute to Vanity via Twitter on Monday. “Vanity left church after giving a attractive testimony”, he wrote.

Still, she was “one of the most gorgeous women in Niagara Falls”, as her hometown paper put it, and won the Miss Niagara Hospitality Pageant in 1977 at 18.

Vanity 6 the group, toured with Prince in 1999, before Vanity broke out on her own solo career. The Prince-affiliate was well-known for her hit song “Nasty Girl“.

Prince then opened up about a fight in which he threatened to throw Vanity in the pool. Prince chose Apollonia Kotero to play the role instead.