Vanity (singer)

With an average build, black hair, and brown eyes, Vanity stood 5'6" and carried herself as a striking presence. She was born Denise Katrina Matthews in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and identified as Canadian with mixed-race (primarily Black) heritage. Her music career spanned from 1977 to 1993, beginning when she was around 18.

Vanity rose to fame as the lead singer of Vanity 6, a trio created by Prince, known for the 1982 hit "Nasty Girl." After the group disbanded in 1983, she pursued a solo career, building an image as a 1980s sex symbol. She also worked as an actress and model. Following years of drug abuse that led to kidney problems, she became a born-again Christian in 1992 and later devoted herself to her church in Fremont, California. She received a kidney transplant in 1997, but her health declined in 2015 after a diagnosis of sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis. Vanity died on February 15, 2016, at age 57.