Vanity (singer)

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Vanity (* 4. January 1959 as Denise Katrina Matthews in Niagara Falls , Ontario ; † 15. February 2016 in Fremont , California , USA ) was a Canadian singer , actress and model . Her career lasted from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. From 1981 to 1983 she was the lead singer of the band Vanity 6 .

Career

Matthews started modeling before moving to Toronto . She was elected Miss Niagara Hospitality in 1977 and took part in the 1978 Miss Canada election. She moved to New York City at the age of 17 . She signed a contract with Zoli Model Agency and limited herself to photo shoots as she was too small for the catwalk.

In 1980 she met the singer Prince at the American Music Awards . He called her "Vanity" (German: vanity ) and suggested her for a job at Vanity 6 . He also produced the hit song Nasty Girl . Vanity 6 became known for its provocative and lascivious demeanor and accompanied Prince on his 1999 tour from 1982 to 1983.

After an album, Vanity left the group. She signed with Motown Records in 1984 and recorded two solo albums, Wild Animal and Skin on Skin . Shortly thereafter, she left Motown and went to A&M Records . She later moved to Geffen Records . In 2010 she published the autobiography Blame It on Vanity .

Acting

In 1980 Matthews made a brief appearance in the horror film Terror Train . She starred in the B-movie Tanya’s Island and The Last Dragon , as an agent in Never Too Young to Die and as a stripper in 52 Pick-Up . In 1988 she starred as a drug addict nightclub singer in Action Jackson alongside Carl Weathers , Craig T. Nelson and Sharon Stone . She contributed songs to the film's soundtrack; Faraway Eyes became one of their most famous hits. From the mid-1980s, she appeared more often in television series. Meinolf Zurhorst wrote about Vanity in 1990 that it did not succeed in setting an acting accent, so that it was only the object of a voyeuristic cinema that always needed new attractions.

Personal

Vanity had African and Polish ancestry. In addition to Prince, she had relationships with Adam Ant and Billy Idol . In 1987 she had a relationship with the bassist Nikki Sixx of the glam metal band Mötley Crüe , based on mutual drug use. In 1995 she married the football player Anthony Smith of the Oakland Raiders ; the marriage ended in divorce a year later.

When her music career came to an end in the late 1980s, she became a drug addict . Vanity lost a kidney through abuse of stimulating substances, and the drugs also damaged her eyes and hearing. After these experiences Vanity found God and devoted herself to religion by becoming a preacher and temporarily able to overcome addiction. In 1994 she suffered kidney failure as a result of an overdose , of which she died in February 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US
1982 Vanity 6 US45 (31 weeks)
US
First published: August 11, 1982
with Vanity 6
1984 Wild animal US62 (23 weeks)
US
First published: November 10, 1984
1986 Skin on skin US66 (20 weeks)
US
First published: May 24, 1986

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US
1984 Pretty Mess
Wild Animal 		US75 (7 weeks)
US
First published: September 7, 1984
1986 Under the Influence
Skin on Skin 		US56 (7 weeks)
US
First published: April 12, 1986

More singles

  • 1982: He's So Dull (with Vanity 6)
  • 1982: Nasty Girl (with Vanity 6)
  • 1982: Drive Me Wild (with Vanity 6)
  • 1985: Mechanical Emotion
  • 1986: Animals
  • 1988: Undress Me

Filmography (selection)

cinemamovies

  • 1980: Klondike Fever (not mentioned)
  • 1980: Monster in the night express ( Terror Train , as DD Winters)
  • 1980: Tanya's Insel (as DD Winters)
  • 1985: The Last Dragon
  • 1986: Lance Never Too Young to Die
  • 1986: 52 pick-ups
  • 1987: Deadly Illusion
  • 1988: Action Jackson
  • 1992: Neon City
  • 1993: Dangerous Action (South Beach)
  • 1993: Da Vinci's War - In the Clutches of the CIA (Da Vinci's War)
  • 1997: Kiss of Death

Television films and series

  • 1987: Miami Vice (Episode: By Hooker By Crook)
  • 1987: Mike Hammer (Episode: Green Lipstick / Mike's Daughter)
  • 1988: T and T (Episode: A Secret No More)
  • 1989: Heirs of the Curse ( Friday the 13th: The Series , Episode: The Secret Agenda of Mesmer's Bauble)
  • 1989: Booker (Episode: Deals and Wheels: Part 1)
  • 1990: Memories of Murder , TV movie
  • 1991: Tales from the Crypt ( Tales from the Crypt , Episode: Dead Wait)
  • 1991: Tropical Heat ( Sweating Bullets , Episode: Mafia Mistress)
  • 1992: Palm Beach Duo ( Silk Stalkings , Episode: Powder Burn)
  • 1992: Lady Boss (mini-television series)
  • 1992: Highlander (Episode: Revenge Is Sweet)
  • 1993: Counterstrike (Episode: Muerte)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Denise Matthews Formerly Known As Vanity: "I Knew I Wasn't Fit For The Kingdom" . In: elev8.com . Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  2. ↑ Happy Birthday to Denise Matthews (Formerly Known As Vanity) . In: according2g.com . Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b Buchalter, Gail. (October 15, 1984) Her Romance with Prince Hit the Rocks, but Vanity's Singing Career Is Going Grrr-Eat . Peopledf.com. Retrieved August 18, 2010
  4. ↑ Blame It On Vanity . Blame It On Vanity. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  5. ↑ Meinolf Zurhorst: Die neue Sexgöttinnen , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1990, p. 232
  6. ↑ Milloy Courtland: Former Siren Is Singing A New Song , The Washington Post. June 4, 1997. Retrieved April 15, 2010  .: "Denise K. Matthews, of Niagara Falls ... daughter of an African American father and a Polish Jewish mother ..."
  7. ^ Mötley Crüe : The Dirt . Autobiography of the glam metal band Mötley Crüe, co-authored with Neil Strauss , from the American by Kirsten Borchardt , Hannibal Verlag , Höfen , 2nd edition, 2002. pp. 184 ff. + 216
  8. ^ Mötley Crüe : The Dirt . Autobiography of the glam metal band Mötley Crüe, co-authored with Neil Strauss , from the American by Kirsten Borchardt , Hannibal Verlag , Höfen , 2nd edition, 2002. p. 216
  9. ^ My Donation Page , accessed February 17, 2016
  10. ↑ Denise 'Vanity' Matthews, Reformed Pop Star And Prince Protégé, Dead At 57. Huffington Post. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  11. ↑ a b Chart sources: US1 US2
personal data
SURNAME Vanity
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matthews, Denise Katrina (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian actress, model, singer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th January 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Niagara Falls , Ontario , Canada
DATE OF DEATH 15th February 2016
Place of death Fremont , California , United States