Singer, actress Denise Matthews, known as Vanity, dies

Vanity, a Prince protege who renounced her sexy stage persona to become a Christian minister, has died. She was 57.

The singer and actress, born Denise Matthews, died Monday at a hospital in Fremont, Calif., said Gisela Hernandez, a spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Health Care System. Hernandez did not give a cause of death, but Matthews had struggled with kidney disease for years.

A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Matthews first rocketed to stardom through her association with Prince and the 80s girl group Vanity 6. During her time in music, Vanity released four albums with Motown and Warner Brothers and was known for her sultry appearance and sexually-themed music, including "Nasty Girl." She also appeared in films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Last Dragon," ''52 Pick-Up" and "Action Jackson."

Matthews' health took a turn for the worse in 1992 and she was hospitalized for kidney failure, which she blamed on cocaine and other drug use.

"I was sick inside. I was a crack cocaine addict and didn't even know how to wake up in the morning without some smoke," she said in an Associated Press story in 1999.

She renounced her Hollywood lifestyle and became a Christian minister. She married former Oakland Raider Anthony Smith in 1995 and they divorced the next year.