Prince's Protege, Denise Katrina Matthews Dead at 57: "Vanity" Singer Had Kidney Failure

MStars News has learned that '80s great, and Prince's protege, Denise Katrina Matthews has died at the age of 57. The former Vanity 6 singer had kidney failure, and a recent abdominal illness.

According to TMZ, Matthews, died in a Fremont, CA hospital on Monday, Feb. 15. Source close to the singer's family confirmed the sad news. Before she died, a GoFundMe page was established, which revealed that she was diagnosed with sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, an inflammation of the small intestines.

Matthews' goal was to reach $50k for her medical condition. Right now, the account stands at more than $6k.

The Canadian-born pop singer and actress battled with crack cocaine and overdosed in 1994. That habit left her kidneys damaged and put her on regular dialysis.

Matthews and the singing group, Vanity 6 was on the road to success after their hit song "Nasty Girl." The hit was produced by Prince in 1982, but the girl group would break up soon after and Matthews went solo. The drama, and the rumors that Matthews and Prince were having relationship issues would leave Prince giving Matthews' promised role in his film, Purple Rain, to the beauty Apollonia Kotero.

After that, Matthews began her solo career with Motown and starred in films including: The Last Dragon and Action Jackson.

After leaving Hollywood, Matthews quit drugs and became a born-again Christian. She remained faithful to her local church and even attended service on Saturday evening where she told church members that she was "ready to go home."

Fans and celebrities are mourning the singer's death on social media. Here are some of their posts below:

Prince has yet to comment on Matthews death.

RIP.