Throughout the '80s, Denise Matthews, who gained infamy as Vanity - the remarkably gorgeous girlfriend and pin-up protégé of music icon Prince - was the proverbial wet dream. He created the group Vanity 6 for her and produced the hit album of the same name. After leaving the Prince camp, she had two successful solo albums Wild Animal and Skin On Skin. One song from Wild Animal, called "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'" made the PMRC's infamous filthy 15 list, clocking in at number 4. By the mid-'90s, the sex-drenched rock star and actress cheated death, put away the lingerie and became a Christian Evangelist. She is preparing to release a self-published, tell-all memoir called The Black Box, to demonstrate how her life was transformed through faith in God. The following is a interview from the magazine Vibe.
When you began going around the country to preach, was it hard for folks to get past the fact that you were the same chick that was moaning "Nasty Girl" in her underwear?
Getting past my past? Well, that was a process, a very serious process indeed. My God. As a person, [I'm] constantly changing, trying to be better. Back when I was Vanity, it was all about being sexy, getting slimmer, and getting cuter. Things have changed. Now it's not the outward appearance, it's the inward man that I'm trying to change. And that's the message I bring to the people.
How often do you get the 'Aren't you Vanity?' line?
[Laughs] You know, it depends on where I'm at. If I'm going into a different city, like in the
Your book is very open about your wild partying lifestyle and past cocaine abuse. At one point you were nearly on your deathbed in 1994, blind and deaf, after suffering a stroke, kidney failure and a heart attack. What do you say to the cynical bastard that thinks that most celebrities find religion when it's convenient?
Well, we all make the mistake of thinking, and I did too so many times, that God did this to us. But we kill ourselves and choose who we want to be. I put the drugs in my mouth, I did the fornication, I had all the lust, and I chose the way of "sex sells." I wanted to be famous and rich. I chose to be Vanity.
Your turbulent romantic relationship with Prince, who gave you the name Vanity and created and produced Vanity 6, is the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend. Is it true that when you first met Prince at the American Music Awards in January of '82, that you arrived with Rick James and left with Mr. Nelson?
People have so many renditions of what I did [laughing]. I remember one time somebody said that the reason I left Prince was because I was having his baby [laughing]. Do they make this stuff up? You have to read my book to find out what really happened.
Are you shocked at Prince becoming a Jehovah's Witness? This from the same cat who basically inspired explicit lyrics stickers and was a walking sex act in high heels.
I believe that God is calling him (Prince) like he is calling many others. I cannot judge Prince's heart. Everything takes time, so my heart is just to pray for him and that he finds what he's looking for just as I pray for myself as I continue to find my own way because you can be on the path one day and then go off the wrong path the next.
Obviously, some fans are going to buy your book to read about your wild days as a sex symbol. But what do you really want readers to get out of The Black Box?
I think it's important to understand the title of my book. The black box is the only thing that survives a plane crash, and I want people to know that I'm a survivor. I go to wherever God calls me, wherever the church calls me to come to minister and preach the word of God. God told me, "Speak the
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