Logo

NBC News, TMZ, YouTube

1980s Pop Star, Prince Protegee, Dead at 57

Feb 16, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A singer who was a protegee of Prince and became a pop star in the 1980s has died. NBC News reports that Vanity died Monday in a hospital in Fremont, Calif. She was 57.

“Born Denise Katrina Matthews, she sang in girl band Vanity 6,” the story reports. “She also played Laura Charles in the cult urban-kung-fu classic ‘The Last Dragon’ and Sydney Ash in ‘Action Jackson.'”

TMZ.com notes that Vanity battled kidney failure for years and more recently suffered from the intestinal illness sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis. The report notes that she struggled with crack addiction in the 1990s.

Vanity later turned her back on the entertainment business, quit drugs and became a born-again Christian, TMZ notes.

Vanity 6 had its biggest hit, “Nasty Girl,” in 1982. Here’s a clip …

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)