Net Worth Ranker
What Is Vanity (Denise Katrina Matthews)’s Net Worth?
At the time of her death on February 15, 2016, Denise Katrina Matthews, known professionally as Vanity, had an estimated net worth of $100,000 [1]. Vanity, a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress, gained fame in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s [1, 2].
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Denise Katrina Matthews was born on January 4, 1959, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In 1977, she won the Miss Niagara Hospitality title, marking an early milestone in her career [1, 4]. In 1978, she competed for Miss Canada before transitioning to modeling [1, 4]. By age 17, Matthews moved to New York City and signed with Zoli Modeling Agency [1, 4]. Her early modeling work primarily consisted of commercials and photo shoots, including ads for Pearl Drops toothpaste [1]. Vanity appeared in Playboy magazine twice, in May 1985 and April 1988 [1, 4].
In the 1980s, Vanity met Prince, who played a significant role in her career and personal life [1, 4, 5]. Prince gave her the stage name “Vanity” and appointed her as the lead singer of Vanity 6 [1, 4, 5]. The group’s hit song, “Nasty Girl,” released in 1982, gained substantial recognition, and the album achieved gold certification with 500,000 copies sold [1, 5]. After touring with Prince and The Time, Vanity departed the group in 1984 to embark on a solo career [1, 4].
Solo Music and Acting Career
In 1984, Vanity signed a solo recording contract with Motown Records [1, 4]. She released two studio albums, “Wild Animal” (1984) and “Skin on Skin” (1986) [1, 4]. While she later signed with other record companies, her music career diminished by 1989 [1]. Vanity also pursued an acting career, appearing in films such as “The Last Dragon” (1985), “Never Too Young to Die” (1986), “52 Pick-Up” (1986), and “Action Jackson” (1988) [1, 2, 4]. Additionally, she guest-starred in various TV shows [1].
Later Life and Challenges
In the mid-1990s, Vanity retired from the entertainment industry due to an addiction to crack cocaine [1, 4]. In 1992, she became a born-again Christian evangelist [2, 4]. Years of drug abuse led to kidney problems, requiring peritoneal dialysis multiple times daily [2, 4]. She received a kidney transplant in 1997, but her health continued to decline, and she was later diagnosed with sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis in 2015 [2, 4]. Vanity passed away on February 15, 2016, at the age of 57, due to kidney failure in a Fremont, California, hospital [1, 2, 4].
