Musician-Actress Vanity Recalls Abuse and Drugs

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Denise Matthews, a former sidekick to the pop artist Prince, recalled an abusive childhood and years of cocaine abuse in an hourlong sermon that enlivened a church crowd.

Matthews, 42, was known as Vanity while in Prince’s band in the 1980s. She cut four solo albums and appeared in 17 movies, but said she wasn’t happy until she recently found God.

“I have learned now how to be abased, to suffer need,” Matthews told the packed crowd at Owensboro’s Church Alive. “I’ve learned these things through Christ.”

She said she has been drug-free for nine years and has learned to overcome her bitterness about her childhood. She travels to churches across the country preaching and urging others to turn to religion to overcome their problems.