Blame It On Vanity

I have loved this woman since I was a kid and to have the privilege of speaking with her on the phone during a prayer call was the best life changing moment in my life. But that only topples my signed copy of her autobiography. That is my pride and joy. I cried the day it came in the mail and I opened it and she had personally signed it. You will never know how much this book means to me. Looking forward to reading her book, I could wait, so I started reading and I couldn’t put it down. I cried, laughed, cursed, prayed, praised and thought, WOW! You never truly knows what demons people are fighting on a daily. I’ve seen my own demons and fighting them on your own is a big no no…you need help that no man can give. I’m so happy that she found Christ and turned her life over the Lord. Her story is a testament to the power of our Holy Father. Denise I’m your biggest fan and I love you more for your realness and honesty.


Denise Matthews is her birth name, I remembers her as the sultry lead singer of the girl group Vanity 6, along with Susan Moonsie and  Brenda Bennett. They hit the airwaves with the sexy smash; Nasty Girl. Man, I was hooked from that point. But I also know her by another name she went by when she was a model and actress (D.D. Winters).

She did a few films under that name. My favorite which is a real cult favorite among her fans…Tanya’s Island. I personally own that dvd. Maybe I’ll ask her to sign it. She was young and fresh faced that you can see that she had something different and unique; her timeless unique beauty is unmatched. I can see why Prince loved her.

Vanity went solo and released her solo smash hit Pretty Mess from her debut solo album Wild Animal. Child, I begged my mother to buy me that cd for months, and as a SHUT-YO-DAMN-MOUTH! I got it! I fell in love with the whole album. Her lyrics were very sexual not as much as they were with Vanity 6.  No matter I still bumped it and tried to be her.  She then later came out with her second and final album :(  Skin on Skin which I truly believe is her BEST album. It shows a completely different side to Vanity and she wrote all the lyrics.  A lot of people slept on this album, which was her best body of work. The video and single Under The Influence from the Skin on Skin album was in the top 100 billboard chart. My favorite songs are…Under the influence, Manhunt, Romantic Voyage & of course the title track Skin on Skin. Her style was fierce, sexy, classy, demure, sophisticated, glamorous, old Hollywood.

 Before there was ever a Beyoncé, Rihanna, there was VANITY the GRAND DAME herself.

After Skin on Skin, Denise over the next decade continued her work in film and television — usually keeping well inside the bounds of the action/thriller genre with which she had now become associated. Appearances in Deadly Illusion (1987), Action Jackson (1988), South Beach (1992), Neon City (1992) and Da Vinci’s War (1993) maintained her presence on the big screen, supplemented by roles in the television movies Memories of Murder (1990) and Lady Boss (1992) and series such as Miami Vice, Mike Hammer, Tales from the Crypt, Silk Stockings, Friday the 13th the series and Highlander. Over the years Denise’s extensive drug abuse had taken a serious toll on her health (causing damage to her liver, eyesight and hearing, and eventually resulting in a heart attack), and following her involvement in the low-budget thriller  Kiss of Death in 1995 she announced that she had been born again and was formally renouncing the hedonistic lifestyle of her past which is Vanity. All ties with the entertainment industry were abandoned, and the former “Vanity” subsequently established her own evangelical ministry.

Her book Blame It On Vanity Hollywood, Hell & Heaven will make you laugh, cry, praise, and rejoice. Denise takes you on a journey into her humble beginnings, and walking you through her most intimate moments of her life. I couldn’t put the book down, it was that kind of …WOW!  OMG! moments and to think that the woman that I admired since my childhood was broken, abused and unloved. I never would have thought she was going through the things she went through. God is alive and very real, to raise her from what was her death bed, she’s here to tell her story and give you her testimony that God is real and so is the devil. She danced the devil’s dance, to sing god’s praises. Blessings comes to those who are open to receive his grace, love, mercy. I love her for being transparent and honest. Who really can tell your story better than you. I love Denise more now as who God has called her to be. I love Vanity as well, for she embodied empowerment for women. Not to be afraid your sexuality and embrace your femininity  and love yourself. I don’t think Vanity was all bad, she had her moments, but I guess it’s the demons we don’t see that can fool you.

“Prior to finding my Lord and Savior I lived in the bottomless pit playground of Hollywood deceit. Lifting me higher and dropping me like a steel beam, Lust, Rock n’ Roll accompanied with drug use, lifted me higher and dropped me like a steel beam.” Sinking down into deep depression I camouflaged my pain with even more makeup and a fake smile”.
“With the devil breathing down my neck, trying desperately to snatch and strangle me for hell, I repented. Yes one sweet day my Jesus reached down with his long extended love and pulled my wretched body up from the darkness. Him only do I seek with a tremendous blast of fiery passion. I live, move, breath, love and have my being in Jesus The Christ. Enslaved to His truth” ~Denise Matthews
To purchase your very own Limited Edition copy head over to http://www.blameitonvanity.com