Eighties pop star Vanity, who was best known as Prince’s protegée, has died at the age of 57.The former singer, whose real name was Denise Matthews, had been battling severe kidney complications for more than two decades after a near-fatal overdose in 1994.On Monday, her family confirmed her death in Fremont, California, as a result of a small intestine infection. Scroll down for video +6Eighties pop star Vanity (pictured in 1982) was best known as Prince’s protegée. She has died at the age of 57, two decades after a near-fatal crack cocaine overdose in 1994 left her with severe kidney complications+6The pop power couple posed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine together in April 1983. Prince paid tribute to Matthews on Tuesday at a gig in Melbourne, Australia, saying ‘her and I used to love each other deeply”WE USED TO LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY’: PRINCE SINGS TRIBUTE TO VANITY ON AUSTRALIA TOUROn Tuesday, Prince paid tribute to Matthews during a solo performance in Melbourne, Australia.The 57-year-old told the sold-out crowd at the city’s State Theatre on Tuesday that he had just heard the news of her death. In tribute, he dedicated a medley of Little Red Corvette and Dirty Mind to the late singer.’Someone dear to us has passed away, I’m gonna dedicate this song to her,’ The Herald Sun reported.He also changed the lyrics to The Ladder to describe his relationship with Vanity and, for an encore, replaced the final words of The Beautiful Ones, ‘my knees’, with ‘Denise’. ‘Her and I used to love each other deeply,’ he said after the song tribute.’She loved me for the artist I was, I loved her for the artist she was trying to be.’In her 1997 book, Blame It On Vanity, Denise claimed that Prince was the only man she ever truly loved. Canada-born Matthews was a B movie actress and occasional model in 1982 when she was handpicked by Prince to front Vanity 6 a year after he formed the girl band.Initially the R&B-funk group was called The Hookers, fronted by his then-girlfriend Susan Moonsie, along with two of his friends Jamie Shoup and Brenda Bennett.But on meeting Matthews, Prince was dazzled. He recruited her as the lead, renamed her Vanity, renamed the band Vanity 6, and dropped Jamie Shoup.The two went on to date as Prince mentored the band into the charts with the song Nasty Girl. In her 1997 book, Blame It On Vanity, Denise claimed that Prince was the only man she ever truly loved, Jet Magazine reported. They first met at the 1980 American Music Awards and Prince later asked her to be the lead singer of Vanity 6, a band known for their sexually explicit lyrics. The pop power couple later famously posed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine together in April 1983.But 18 months later, after supporting Prince’s 1999 tour in 1982-1983, Matthews quit the band.She signed with Motown records and dabbled with a new career as an actress with leading roles in The Last Dragon and Action Jackson.In 1994, she suffered a near-fatal overdose on crack cocaine that left her kidneys so damaged she required regular dialysis for the rest of her life.That year, she became a born-again Christian – and even denounced her years as a performer, saying that she wasn’t happy at the time.Last year she issued a plea on a GoFundMe page asking for help paying her medical bills.’Boy, it is not fun suffering in this body of weak flesh,’ she said, ‘but Jesus is straightening out all my crooked places in my heart as I go through this time of pain.’On Tuesday, Prince paid tribute to Matthews during a solo performance in Melbourne, Australia.The 57-year-old told the sold-out crowd at the city’s State Theatre on Tuesday that he had just heard the news of her death. In tribute, he dedicated a medley of Little Red Corvette and Dirty Mind to the late singer.RELATED ARTICLESPrevious1NextColdplay to make music history as they are confirmed as the…’We used to love each other deeply’: Prince dedicates songs…SHARE THIS ARTICLEShare’Someone dear to us has passed away, I’m gonna dedicate this song to her,’ The Herald Sun reported.He also changed the lyrics to The Ladder to describe his relationship with Vanity and, for an encore, replaced the final words of The Beautiful Ones, ‘my knees’, with ‘Denise’. ‘Her and I used to love each other deeply,’ he said after the song tribute.’She loved me for the artist I was, I loved her for the artist she was trying to be.’In the couple’s raunchy Rolling Stone photo shoot in April 1983, Denise could be seen reaching for Prince’s crotch and sliding a finger seductively below his waistband.The front page headline boldly stated: ‘Prince’s Hot Rock’.Besides Prince, Denise was romantically linked to punk rockers Adam Ant, 61, and Billy Idol, 60.She later dated Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, and told reporters in 1987 they were engaged. They never married.  

Source: Vanity, Prince’s protegée, dies in hospital aged 57 after years of ill health | Daily Mail Online